Electrical equivalent circuit of stem wall substitution of plant materials in electroosmotic dewatering processes

Abstract

Improving the energy efficiency of electroosmotic dehydration of plant materials, their electro-spark and electro-impulse treatment, and electroplasmolysis requires substantiation of the main directions for reducing irrational energy consumption that do not lead to the desired results of the above mentioned electro-technologies. In this case, the plant material acts as an element of an electric circuit and modeling its electrical properties is impossible without analyzing its electrical equivalent circuit of substitution. The research goal is to synthesize the electrical equivalent substitution circuit of the stem wall of forage and other grasses. The basic provisions of the theory of electrochemical kinetics, biophysics, membrane processes, and theoretical foundations of electrical engineering were used. The developed scheme of stem wall substitution consists of two parallel branches ("forward" and "reverse"); each of them functions only in one of the half-periods of sinusoidal voltage. The time-separated operation of the branches of the substitution scheme is ensured by the inclusion of an ideal diode in each of them. The current flowing through the stem wall is the sum of the "forward" and "reverse" currents. The value of the "forward" current is determined by the concentration of the current-detecting ion on the inner surface of the stem wall, and the “reverse" current on the outer surface. Each of these currents, in turn, consists of a transfer current and a through-conduction current. Heating of plant tissue of forage grasses is mainly determined by the value of the current of through conduction which increases with increasing frequency of electromagnetic oscillations. The technological action of electric current is due to the transfer current in the "forward" direction, and the rate of moisture transfer is proportional to its instantaneous value. Technological effect decreases with the increase of "reverse" current and current of through conduction. The constructed substitution scheme reflects the presence of three potential barriers at the stem wall: two boundary barriers represented by the resistance of the interface "stem wall-electrolyte", and one internal barrier represented directly by the resistance of the stem wall.