Isosteric Heats of Water Vapor Sorption in Two Castor Varieties

Equilibrium moisture content-water activity data for two varieties of castor (GSS and WBS) at temperatures 30, 40, 50, 60 and 70°C and water activity range of 0.07-0.98 were determined using the static gravimetric method. A nonlinear regression programme was used to fit four sorption isotherm models (modified Halsey, modified Henderson, modified Oswin and modified Guggenheim-Anderson-de Boer (GAB)) to the experimental data. These models were then compared using standard error of estimate and randomness of residuals. The sorption isosteric heats were determined by the application of Clausius-Clapeyron equation. The modified Oswin and modified Halsey proved the best for predicting equilibrium moisture content of castor with standard error of estimate of 0.238 and 0.242 for GSS and WBS respectively. The isosteric heats decreased exponentially with increase in moisture content and approached the latent heat of pure water at a free water point of between 13 and 16% moisture content (d.b). The difference in isosteric heats of both varieties was not significant