Dried apples in cube shape with a side length of 1.2 cm were spread in a single row in the belt dryer. Hot air flows parallel to the surface of the belt. The drying air entering the dryer is first heated in an electric heater. The air entering the heater is at 25C and 50% relative humidity and exits the heater at 90C. The air coming out of the heater is used as drying air in the dryer. 1000 kg of chopped apples will be dried and the water content is 92% on a wet weight basis. At the end of drying, the water content was reduced to 8% on wet weight basis. The drying rate is 40 kg water/m2sec. The temperature of the air leaving the dryer is 45C. Drying takes place on all 6 surfaces of cube-shaped apples. Drying is considered to occur at a constant rate. a- How many hours did the drying process take, calculate and show? b- If the energy cost of the electric heater is 0.97 TL per kWh, what is the electricity cost for heating the air? c- Find how much air is consumed per hour for the drying process? . 1 kW=3600 kJ/hour = 1kJ/second