III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
A. Drying characteristics The initial moisture content (Mi) and equilibrium moisture content (Me) of coconut residue were calculated 1.56 and 0.065 gwater/gdry matter as an average of the results obtained. The time required to dry coconut residue during fluidized bed drying from the initial moisture contents to the final moisture content of 0.084 gwater/gdry matter was achieved in 250, 280, 390 and 490 sec at 70, 80, 90 and
100oC of drying temperature, respectively. As expected, the moisture ratio (MR) was rapidly decreased from the beginning, and then showed down considerably as time went by Fig.1 showed the drying curves of coconut residue using fluidized bed dryer for different temperatures under a constant air velocity of 1.0 m/s. The moisture ratio of coconut residue reduced exponentially as the drying time increased. Drying air temperature had a significant effect on drying. At higher drying temperature, the drying time reduced due to the increase in water vapor pressure within the coconut residue, which increased the moisture removal.