Résumé
Few versatile software allowing for the precise simulation of drying processes in a whole industrial plant are available. This work was done during the creation of a generic convective drying simulator for food solid particle in ProSimPlus®, a chemical engineering software. Modelling approaches are discussed and among them a compromise between first-principle modeling, reduced lab work, ability to accurately predict kinetics on a wide range of drying conditions and low simulation time, is presented. Predictive models of some required food product properties are examined. Two toolboxes were created: one estimating physical properties of foodstuffs and another simulating transfers in air and product. This approach is validated on 4 food products (with various formulations and shapes).