In the field of drying, an important part of our work concentrates on the study of transport processes taking place at the scale
of a product, during its drying. We have been interested in various products, from baker's yeast pellets to soils, colloidal
suspensions, peppercorns or cocoa beans, in different kind of devices/geometries (laboratory tunnel dryer, fluidized bed, spray dryer,
sessile drop, Hele-Shaw cell…). By combining experiments and mathematical modeling, we try to highlight and characterize the key
phenomena involved and to develop models, validated experimentally, of the drying kinetics of these products. From the
experimental point of view, we have developed various devices, combining continuous measurement of the drying rate and optical
characterizations (by the use of microscopes or infrared cameras). From a more fundamental point of view, we are also interested in the
quantification and the modeling of the competition that can exist in a porous medium between the evaporation of the liquid and the
convective motion induced by capillarity (imbibition).

At the scale of the dryer, we participate in several projects aiming at the
development, based on a rational approach, of solar dryers, to be implemented within farmer cooperatives in developing countries
(Uganda, Cambodia...). As part of a long-standing collaboration with Polytechnique Montréal, we are also interested in the
development of alternative devices for the drying of yeast grains (rotary dryer, conical spouted bed...).

Selected publications :

Van
Engeland, C., Spreutels, L., Legros, R., & Haut, B. Convective drying of baker’s yeast containing a carrier. Accepted in
Drying Technology. 2018

Sobac, S., Colinet, P., Larbi, Z., & Haut, B. Mathematical modeling of the drying of a spherical
colloïdal drop. Submitted to Journal of Colloïd and Interface Science. 2018

Herman, C., Spreutels, L., Turomzsa, N., Konagano, E.,
& Haut, B. Convective drying of fermented Amazonian cocoa beans (Theobroma cacao var. Forasteiro). Experiments and
mathematical modeling. Food and Bioproducts Processing, 108, 81-94. 2018

Talbot, P., Lhote, M., Heilporn, C., Schubert, A., Willaert,
F.X., & Haut, B. Ventilated tunnel solar dryers for small-scale farmers organizations: theoretical and practical aspects. Drying
Technology, 97, 803-817. 2016