Corn,Rice, and Wheat Seed Drying by Two-Stage Concept

Corn, rice, and wheat seeds with an initial moisture content (IMC) of 20–25% wb were dried to moisture content below 18% wb at 40–80°C in a fluidized bed dryer (FBD) and spouted bed dryer (SBD) and the seeds with IMC 18% wb were dried to below 14% wb at air temperatures 18–30°C and relative humidity 60–70% by an in-store dryer (ISD). As a result, it appears that a two-stage drying concept is feasible in drying high-moisture-content seeds due to the high germination rate of dried seeds. Nonetheless, the drying temperature must be carefully selected. A drying temperature of 40°C was clearly safe for all samples, whereas more than 90% of wheat seeds still germinated after drying at 60°C in FBD. Furthermore, drying seeds with IMC 18% wb by ISD was safe under specified drying conditions.     

A Method for Determination of Porosity Change from Shrinkage Curves of Deformable Materials

The novel low-cost band thermodynamic dryer equipped with a solar collector, a parabolic focusing collector, a heat exchanger, screw fan, and a drying cabinet with a band was designed and tested. The maximum temperature in the solar collector reached 85°C, which was 55°C above the ambient temperature. The required drying time was 4.5 h, much reduced from the traditional solar drying time of 48 h. The final moisture content of the Roselle calyx was 12% w.b., which is the recommended storage moisture content. Measurements of ambient temperature and humidity, air temperature, and relative humidity inside the dryer as well as solids moisture loss-in-weight data are employed as a means to study the performance of the dryer. Solar drying was compared with conventional sun drying and heated air drying, using the following evaluation criteria: drying time, dried Roselle color, texture, taste, and production cost. For evaluation, a model-based Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) methodology was used. After the evaluation, the proposed continuous solar dryer was found to be better than conventional drying and heated air drying due to slower drying rate and better quality of the dried Roselle.     

Experimental and Simulated Performances of a Batch-Type Longan Dryer with Air Flow Reversal Using Biomass Burner as a Heat Source

This article presents experimental performance of a batch-type longan dryer using a biomass burner with air flow reversal and also presents modeling of the longan dryer for drying of whole longan. The dryer essentially consists of a biomass burner and a drying bin with an arrangement for periodic air flow reversal. Three drying runs with loading capacity of 2,000, 1,500, and 1,000 kg of whole longan were carried out. There was no significant difference in temperatures in different positions (except inlet and outlet) inside the dryer (p < 0.05) or moisture content inside the dryer (p < 0.05). Whole longan was dried from an initial moisture content of 74% (wb) to a final moisture content of 14% (wb). The drying time of whole longan in the longan dryer was 60, 54, and 48 h for 2,000, 1,500, and 1,000 kg loading, respectively. The quality of dried product was also good in comparison to the high-quality product in markets.

To simulate the performance of the longan dryer for drying of whole longan, a set of partial differential equations was developed and the equations were solved using the finite difference technique. The numerical solution was programmed in Compaq Visual FORTRAN version 6.5 (Compaq Computer Corp., TX). The simulated moisture contents agreed well with the experimental data. This model can be used to provide the design data and it is also essential for optimal dryer design.     

Design and Performance Evaluation of a Solar-Assisted Biomass Drying System with Thermal Storage

A solar biomass hybrid air heating system that does not require a conventional auxiliary heater but can still provide a daily load fraction exceeding 90% and supply hot air at a steady temperature and flow rate continuously for 24 h a day has been developed. The system, which combines an unglazed transpired solar collector, rock bed, and a biomass gasifier stove with heat exchanger, was evaluated by drying chilli using air at 60°C and 90 m³/h. The chilli was dried from 76.7% moisture (w.b.) to 8.4% over 32.5 h of continuous drying. The dryer reduced the drying time by 66% compared to open sun drying and provided 91.6% load fraction during the 24-h operation. The temperature of hot air supplied was stable at 60±3°C for about 21 h during the entire drying duration.     

Drying Kinetics of Tomato Slices in Vacuum Assisted Solar and Open Sun Drying Methods

A lab model vacuum-assisted solar dryer was developed to study the drying kinetics of tomato slices (4, 6, and 8 mm thicknesses) compared with open sun drying under the weather conditions of Montreal, Canada. The drying study showed that the time taken for drying of tomato slices of 4, 6, and 8 mm thicknesses from the initial moisture content of 94.0% to the final moisture content of around 11.5 ± 0.5% (w.b.) was 360, 480, and 600 min in vacuum-assisted solar dryer and 450, 600, and 750 min in open sun drying, respectively. During drying, it was observed that the temperature inside the vacuum chamber was increased to 48°C when the maximum ambient temperature was only 30°C. The quality of tomato slices dried under vacuum-assisted solar dryer was of superior quality in terms of color retention and rehydration ratio. The drying kinetics using thin-layer drying models and the influence of weather parameters such as ambient air temperature, relative humidity, solar insolation, and wind velocity on drying of tomato slices were evaluated.     

PERFORMANCE STUDY OF A RE-CIRCULATING CABINET DRYER USING A HOUSEHOLD DEHUMIDIFIER

ABSTRACT

The performance and operating characteristics of a low temperature re-circulating cabinet dryer using a dehumidifier loop were studied using alfalfa. Chopped alfalfa, initially at 70% moisture content, was dried to 10% moisture content in the dryer. Two dryer setups were used. The dryers in each case had a partitioned cabinet with trays of material on one side and a stack of one or two small household dehumidifiers on the other side. Air was re-circulated through the material from bottom to the top and back through the dehumidifiers. Two drying configurations were tested. In one, the material was left on the trays until drying was complete (batch or fixed tray drying). In the other configuration, the trays were moved from top to bottom, introducing a new tray at the top while removing an old tray from bottom. Drying air temperature ranged from 25 to 45°C. The average air velocity through the material was 0.38 m/s. Alfalfa chops dried in 5 h in the fixed tray drying and in 4 h in the moving tray drying. The specific moisture extraction rate ranged from 0.35 to 1.02 kg/kWh for batch drying and stayed at an average value of 0.50 kg/kWh for continuous/moving tray drying.     

Influence of Temperature and Air Velocity on Drying Time and Quality Parameters of Pistachio (Pistacia vera L.)

Abstract

Drying is one of the important steps in pistachio processing. In this step kernel moisture content is decreased from 50 to less than 5% (d.b.) which will result in suitable condition for storage. Study of effective parameters in pistachio drying is important since these parameters influence drying time and kernel quality. In this research, a mono layer of pistachios was dried at three different temperatures (60, 75, and 90°C), and three levels of drying air velocity (1.5, 2, and 2.5 m/s). Changes of drying time, protein, fat and peroxide value were investigated for two common Iranian pistachio varieties Kalehghouchi and Fandoghi. Sensory tests were also used to check flavor of pistachios dried at the three temperature levels (60, 75, and 90°C). Statistical analysis of the data indicated that increasing the temperature to 90°C reduced drying time down by about 37% and caused a change in pistachio flavour. Taste tests indicated a consumer preference for pistachios dried at 75°C. If the air velocity is increased from 1.5 to 2.5 m/s, drying time reduces about 10 percent. Changes in temperature and air velocity have no significant effects on protein and fat content of pistachios, but if temperature reaches 90°C, peroxide value will increase to 0.55 meq/kg, which is still within the permissible limit for processed pistachios.     

Solar Drying of Peeled Longan Using a Side Loading Type Solar Tunnel Dryer: Experimental and Simulated Performance

This article presents experimental and simulated results of drying of peeled longan in a side-loading solar tunnel dryer. This new type of solar tunnel dryer consists of a flat-plate solar air heater and a drying unit with a provision for loading and unloading from windows at one side of the dryer. These are connected in series and covered with glass plates. A DC fan driven by a 15-W solar cell module supplies hot air in the drying system. To investigate the experimental performance, five full-scale experimental runs were conducted and 100 kg of peeled longan was dried in each experimental run. The drying air temperature varied from 32 to 76°C. The drying time in the solar tunnel dryer was 16 h to dry peeled longan from an initial moisture content of 84% (w.b.) to a final moisture content of 12% (w.b.), whereas it required 16 h of natural sun drying under similar conditions to reach a moisture content of 40% (w.b.). The quality of solar-dried product was also good in comparison to the high-quality product in markets in terms of color, taste, and flavor. A system of partial differential equations describing heat and moisture transfer during drying of peeled longan in this solar tunnel dryer was developed and this system of nonlinear partial differential equations was solved numerically by the finite difference method. The numerical solution was programmed in Compaq Visual FORTRAN version 6.5. The simulated results agreed well with the experimental data for solar drying. This model can be used to provide the design data and it is essential for optimal design of the dryer.     

Simulation Study for Pneumatic Conveying Drying of Sawdust for Pellet Production

Pneumatic conveying drying (PCD) is a combination of heat and mass transfer and pneumatic handling technology. This technology has been extensively used in chemical, pharmaceutical, and food industries, as well as many others. The PCD technique is beneficial for agricultural products, because it can achieve high-quality drying with reduced heat damage in a very short time. In this study, one-dimensional and three-dimensional mathematical models for the drying of sawdust particles in a pneumatic dryer were developed and verified with experiments. The three-dimensional modeling was done with a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) package (ANSYS FLUENT, Ver. 13.0, Ansys, Inc.), in which the gas phase is modeled as a continuum using the Euler approach, and the droplet/particle phase is modeled by a discrete phase model with a Lagrange approach. One-dimensional analysis was performed in MATLAB (Ver. 7.0). The experiments were carried out to validate the model in a pneumatic dryer with a horizontal length of 1 m, vertical height of 1.1 m, and diameter of 0.14 m. Sawdust, a raw material used for producing pellets, was prepared from well-seasoned pinewood timber. The initial moisture content of the sawdust was 22% (wb). The hot air inlet temperature in the dryer was fixed at 100°C. The variations in air pressure, air velocity, air temperature, and particle moisture content were investigated along the length of the dryer. The final moisture contents of sawdust and air temperature were reduced by 2% (wb) and 5°C, respectively. The simulated values were in good agreement with the experimental values. The developed model was then employed for the design of a pilot-scale pneumatic dryer (length 7 m and diameter 0.14 m). The final moisture content of the sawdust particles was reduced to 14% (wb) when the dryer length was increased from 1 to 7 m. In addition, the modeling was performed using buffers in the pilot-scale dryers. The use of a buffer noticeably increased the drying efficiency.     

Modeling Drying Kinetics of Pistachio Nuts with Multilayer Feed-Forward Neural Network

Drying kinetics of pistachio nuts (Akbari v.) was simulated using a multilayer feed-forward neural network (MFNN). Experiments were performed at five drying air temperatures (ranging from 40 to 80°C) and four input air flow velocities (ranging from 0.5 to 2 m/s) with three replicates in a thin-layer dryer. Initial moisture content in all experiments was held at about 0.3 kg/kg d.b. To find the optimum model, various multilayer perceptron (MLP) topologies, having one and/or two hidden layers of neurons, were investigated and their prediction performances were evaluated. The (3-8-5-1)-MLP, namely, a network having eight neurons in the first hidden layer and five neurons in the second hidden layer resulted in the best-suited model estimating the moisture content of the pistachio nuts at all drying runs. For this topology, R² and MSE values were 0.9989 and 4.20E-06, respectively. A comparative study among MFNN and empirical models was also carried out. Among the empirical models, the logarithmic model, with MSE = 7.29E-6 and R² = 0.9982, gave better predictions than the others. However, the MFNN model performed better than the Lewis, Henderson and Pabis, two-term, and Page models and was marginally better than the logarithmic model.     

Drying kinetics study of irregular fibril materials in a “differential” laboratory rotary dryer: Case study for cut tobacco

Rotary dryers are commonly used in the modern large-scale tobacco drying industry that consumes huge amounts of energy. In fact, rotary dryers are commonly used in chemical industry in general. It is difficult to investigate the drying behavior at industrial scale. A “differential” laboratory rotary dryer was therefore designed and tested. The large diameter of the industrial dryer was preserved, but the width was a section of the industrial dryer. The drying characteristics of cut tobacco from top leaves and bottom leaves with initial moisture contents (22.5?±?1.0% on the wet basis) were studied in the “differential” dryer at air temperatures of 65, 85, 105, 125, and 145°C, respectively. The results show that increasing drying temperature accelerated the drying process, whereas the surface temperatures of the cut tobacco samples stayed in the temperature range of 48–71°C when their moisture contents were reduced to 12.0?±?1.0% (wb). This 12.0% (wb) was required by commercial operations. Uniquely, the drying kinetics was captured using the reaction engineering approach (REA). Although different settings were applied, the model can be used to describe all the data well. The unique relationship between the normalized activation energy and the moisture content is approximated which is independent of the drying air temperature and the tobacco origin. The different drying behaviors for the cut tobacco from top leaves and bottom leaves can be attributed to their different equilibrium isotherms. Through controlling the drying time as predicted by REA model, the outlet moisture contents of cut tobacco from top leaves dried at 95°C/RH0.034/320?s and 115°C/RH0.017/250?s were shown to be 12.3 and 11.8% (wb), with the relative deviations of 2.5 and 1.7%, respectively, and these were within the industrial permissible range.     

Optimization of Vegetal Pear Drying Using Response Surface Methodology

The aim of this work was to optimize the drying process of vegetal pear and minimize energy resources (cost) under prefixed limits involving vegetal pear moisture, color, and productivity. The optimization of vegetal pear drying was made by using response surface methodology (RSM) for minimum process cost and color difference between fresh and dried samples (moisture ≤0.10 g water g d.m.^?1). A pilot-plant dryer was used for dehydrating vegetal pear slices (0.5 cm thickness). The tests were carried out at different air temperature (60 to 70°C), samples diameter (4 to 7 cm), and pretreatment with ascorbic acid solutions (0–0.1% w/w). The optimum drying conditions were found at air temperature of 63°C with 5-cm sample diameter and 0.075% of ascorbic acid concentration. On the optimized drying conditions, dried vegetal pear presented values with moisture content of 0.052 g water g d.m.^?1, color difference of 11.65, production rate of 0.0073 kg h^?1, and total cost of $30.58/kg dried product^?1     

Heat and Moisture Transfer Model for Onion Drying

Abstract

Onion slices of 3 mm thick were dried in an atmospheric batch tray dryer in order to investigate the influence of air temperature and drying time on parameters such as sample moisture content and drying rate. A model is proposed which takes into account both moisture and temperature distributions in the sample and is in a fair agreement with the experimental data. The models suggested so far by other workers take only the moisture distributions into account for onion drying.     

Effect of Fluidized Bed Drying Temperature on Various Quality Attributes of Paddy

Abstract

As reported by many researchers, it was found that fluidized bed paddy drying using high drying air temperatures of over 100°C affected the head rice yield and whiteness of dried rice. However, only a few studies on fluidized bed paddy drying with drying air temperatures below 100°C were so far reported. The main objective of this work was therefore to study the effect of fluidized bed drying air temperature on various quality parameters of Suphanburi 1 and Pathumthani 1 Indica rice. Paddy was dried from the initial moisture contents of 25.0, 28.8, and 32.5% dry basis to 22.5 ± 1.2% dry basis using inlet drying air temperatures between 40 and 150°C at 10°C/step. After fluidized bed drying, paddy was tempered and followed by ambient air aeration until its final moisture content was reduced to 16.3 ± 0.5% dry basis. The results showed that the head rice yield of Suphanburi 1 was significantly related to the inlet drying temperature and initial moisture content whilst there was no significant relationship between the head rice yield, drying temperature and initial moisture content for Pathumthani 1. The whiteness of the two rice varieties was slightly decreased with increase in drying air temperature and initial moisture content. It was also found that the hardness of both cooked rice varieties exhibited insignificant difference (p < 0.05) comparing to rewetted rice, which was gently dried by ambient air aeration in thin layer. The thermal analysis by DSC also showed that partial gelatinization occurred during drying at higher temperatures. Using inlet drying air temperatures in the range of 40–150°C therefore did not affected the quality of cooked rice and paddy. The milling quality of paddy was also well maintained.     

MOBILE FLUIDIZED BED PADDY DRYER

ABSTRACT

The objectives of this research are to design, construct and test a mobile fluidized bed paddy dryer with a drying capacity of 2.5-4.0 t/h. Suitable drying conditions are recommended as follows : drying capacity 3.8 t/h, bed velocity 2.8 m/s, average drying air temperature 144 °C, bed height 13.5 cm, fraction of air recycled 0.8. Residence time of paddy was approximately 1.3 minutes. Test results showed that moisture content of paddy was reduced from 32.6 % dry-basis to 25.8 % dry-basis. Consumption of electrical power and diesel fuel was 12.9 kW and 21.71 1/h respectively. Primary energy consumption was 910.9 MJ/h. The dryer could evaporate water 218.8 kg/h. Specific primary energy consumption was 4.2 MJ/kg-water evaporated. Cost of paddy drying was 1.48 baht/kg-water evaporated of which 0.53 was fixed cost and 0.95 was energy cost (US$1 =34baht).     

Energy and exergy analysis in solar drying of pistachio with air recycling system

A solar drier with and without air recycling (Methods I and II) along with a sun drying system (Method III) were used to reduce the moisture content of pistachio from 40 to ～5% (wet basis) at similar weight conditions. Although the ΔT’s of ambient air in Methods I and II reached, respectively, to 18 and 14°C, it did not increase more than 2°C in Method III. The drying air of Method I obtained ～55% more enthalpy from its solar collectors and transferred ～35% more heating energy to the product than the one in Method II. Consequently it’s thermal and pickup efficiencies became, respectively, 40 and 80% more than Method II. Although the highest exergy efficiencies of Methods I and II were equal to each other (～95%), the maximum exergy loss of Method I was higher than Method II due to its higher air temperature and pressure loss (because of continuous air circulation). Although its energy utilization ratio and drying rate were, respectively, 30% more than Method II and 20% higher than Method III, its drying time was 20 and 30% less than the ones in Methods II and III. Overall, the pistachio dried with Method I used much less energy than those dried with other methods and had a higher quality than those dried with commercial driers due to drying temperature <50°C.     

Dehydration of Garlic Slices by Combined Microwave-Vacuum and Air Drying

Abstract

Combination of microwave-vacuum drying and air drying was investigated as a potential mean for drying garlic slices. The sample was dried by microwave-vacuum until the moisture content reached 10% (wet basis), and then by conventional hot-air drying at the temperature of 45°C to final moisture content less than 5% (wet basis). Pungency, color, texture, and rehydration ratio of garlic slices dried by this method were evaluated and compared with those dried by freeze drying and conventional hot-air drying. The comparison showed that the quality of garlic slices dried by the current method was close to that of freeze dried garlic slices and much better than that of conventional hot-air dried ones. The lab microwave-vacuum dryer which the materials to be dried could be rotated in the cavity was developed by the authors.     

Effect of Convective Air Attributes with Microwave Drying of Soybean: Model Prediction and Experimental Validation

The heat and mass transfer that occurred during drying of soybeans by a combined process using microwave (MW) and convective hot air was studied. A coupled mathematical model was developed to simulate this phenomenon. The soybean samples were re-wetted to 20% wet basis, the selected level of initial moisture content (IMC), and then dried in a domestic microwave oven under various MW power levels from 300 to 390 W, using inlet air with relative humidity of 35, 55, 75, and 95%. The simulated moisture loss profiles obtained from the coupled model compared well with those obtained in the experiments. Results showed that the drying rate decreased from 6.235 × 10^?5 to 6.192 × 10^?5 kg water/(kg wb s) as the inlet air temperature increased from 30 to 60°C. Furthermore, the drying rate was observed to increase from 6.192 × 10^?5 to 6.211 × 10^?5 kg water/(kg wb s) as the relative humidity (RH) increased from 35 to 95%.     

THIN LAYER SOLAR DRYING OF SOME VEGETABLES

In this study, a solar cabinet dryer consisting of a solar air heater and a drying cabinet, was used in drying experiments. Pumpkin, green pepper, stuffed pepper, green bean, and onion were dried in thin layers. Three different drying air velocities were applied to the process of drying to determine their effects on drying time. Fresh materials were dried by a natural sun drying method. In order to explain drying curves of these products different moisture ratio models were performed and evaluated based on their determination coefficients (R²). Our results revealed that drying air temperature could increase up to about 46°C. Drying air velocity had an important effect on drying process. Drying time changed between 30.29 and 90.43 hours for different vegetables by the solar drying. This drying time was between 48.59 and 121.81 hours for the natural sun drying. Drying curves could be explained by determined thin layer drying models satisfactorily with very high determination coeffcients.     

Analysis of Energy and Environmental Parameters during Solar Cabinet Drying of Apple and Carrot

A modular solar cabinet dryer equipped with an air collector including a drying chamber with different tray arrangements was developed to determine moisture changes in different sizes and forms (slices and cubes) of apple and carrot pieces and to carry out serial measurements of temperatures, solar radiation, and air humidity distributions during the drying process. The initial and final moisture contents (w.b.) of fresh products were 88 and 26% for apple and 71 and 13% for carrot with initial weights of 1.56 and 3 kg, respectively. The results revealed that the temperature inside the chamber was strongly negatively correlated with air humidity (R² = 0.91) and that the length of the drying period was influenced by the weather conditions, as the cloudy weather retarded drying of carrots. It was possible to reach an air drying temperature over 41°C with a daily total solar energy incident on the collector's surface of 857.2 kJ/(m² day) for apples and 753.20 kJ/(m² day) for carrots. The analysis of energy requirements to remove moisture from apples and carrots during the total drying period showed values of 3300.19 and 7428.28 kJ/kg, respectively. The amount of air to remove water from the samples was also determined as 126.93 m³ for apples and 928.56 m³ for carrots.