Synthesis of Rice Processing Plants. I. Development of Simplified Models

This article, the first of three articles on the synthesis of rice processing plants, focuses on the development of simplified mathematical models necessary for use in optimizing rice processing plants. The second concentrates on the optimal synthesis of a rice plant and the third on the sensitivity of the optimization to uncertainty in model parameters. Existing models for rice processing unit operations are not suitable for flowsheet optimization and new models need to be developed to overcome numerical difficulties that occur in optimization applications, specifically in mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) applications. Simplified models of the drying, cooling, and tempering units are developed. In addition head rice yield models, used as a quality indicator, energy consumption, and economic models were also developed. Naturally, the new models exhibit some mismatch with respect to the existing models from which they were developed. However, a sensitivity analysis, presented in Part III, has shown that the optimal flowsheet structure was not sensitive to a lack of fit between the simplified and complex models. The simplified models were found adequate to be appropriate for use at the synthesis stage.     

Optimal Control of the Primary Drying Stage of Freeze Drying of Solutions in Vials Using Variational Calculus

The problem of operating freeze drying of pharmaceutical products in vials placed in trays of a freeze dryer to remove free water (in frozen state) at a minimum time was formulated as an optimal control problem. Two different types of freeze dryer designs were considered. In type I freeze dryer design, upper and lower plate temperatures were controlled together, while in type II freeze dryer design, upper and lower plate temperatures were controlled independently. The heat input to the material being dried and the drying chamber pressure were considered as control variables. Constraints were placed on the system state variables by the melting and scorch temperatures during primary drying stage. Necessary conditions of optimality for the primary drying stage of freeze drying process in vials are derived and presented. Furthermore, an approach for constructing the optimal control policies that would minimize the drying time for the primary drying stage was given. In order to analyze optimal control policy for the primary drying stage of the freeze-drying process in vials, a rigorous multi-dimensional unsteady state mathematical model was used. The theoretical approach presented in this work was applied in the freeze drying of skim milk. Significant reductions in the drying times of primary drying stage of freeze drying process in vials were obtained, as compared to the drying times obtained from conventional operational policies.     

微波干燥在气相超稳Y型分子筛制备中的应用研究

研究了微波干燥在气相超稳Y型分子筛制备中的应用。结果表明，分子筛经微波干燥后，其理化性质有所改善，结晶度提高，经气相超稳化反应后其产品结构及物化性质与传统电加热干燥后的气相超稳产品基本一致，说明微波干燥可替代传统干燥方式。与传统电加热干燥方式相比，微波干燥能缩短干燥时间，有效降低能耗。     

防止干燥塔塔顶及锥节产生焦粉的方法

描述及分析了干燥塔在生产乳粉过程中出现的塔顶及锥节焦粉现象，并提出了改进方法。     

Potential of in-field and low temperature drying for reducing chlorophyll contents in canola (Brassica napus L)

The presence of green seeds in canola arises primarily from the common practice of swathing the crop prematurely in order to hasten the harvesting process and reduce the shattering losses. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of plant maturity, swathing and duration of swathing on moisture and chlorophyll contents of canola seeds (Brassica napus L cv Westar), and to determine the effect of canola conditioning with air at 25·C and 90% RH on chlorophyll content. A standing crop of canola with 50% to 10% (w/w) seed moisture content was sampled at regular intervals in two consecutive harvest years (1989 and 1990). Canola was also swathed at three different stages of maturity, and seeds were checked for chlorophyll at 2-3 day intervals and compared with chlorophyll contents of seed from standing crop. Samples were conditioned in a thin layer with air at 25·C and 90% RH for 24 h, and chlorophyll was determined before and after conditioning. The chlorophyll of seeds decreased exponentially with a decrease in moisture content. Conditioning canola seeds decreased chlorophyll content by an average of 16% (SD = ± 12%).     

Critical-point drying versus freeze drying for scanning electron microscopy: a quantitative and qualitative study on isolated hepatocytes

Critical-point drying and freeze drying were compared both quantitatively and qualitatively as preparative procedures for scanning electron microscopy. Isolated hepatocytes were used as model cells. Nomarski differential interference contrast microscopy was used for light microscopic measurements of the hepatocytes in the unfixed, the glutaraldehyde fixed, the glutaraldehyde + OsO₄ fixed, the critical-point dried and the freeze dried states. Critical-point dried hepatocytes were found to shrink to 38% of glutaraldehyde + OsO₄ fixed volume, whereas optimal freeze dried hepatocytes (frozen in water saturated with chloroform and freeze dried at 183 K for 84 h) were found to shrink to 51% of glutaraldehyde + OsO₄ fixed volume. Transmission and scanning electron micrographs of the critical-point dried cells showed well-preserved ultrastructure and surface structure. Micrographs of the freeze dried cells showed ultrastructure destroyed by internal ice crystals and surface structure destroyed by external ice crystals. Double-fixed isolated hepatocytes were shown to swell during storage in buffer and to shrink during storage after critical-point drying. For low magnification scanning electron microscopy (up to about 3000 times) both critical-point drying and freeze drying can be used. However, for high magnification scanning electron microscopy, critical-point drying is superior to freeze drying.     

啤酒废酵母干燥工艺设计的研究

该文设计了一套适用于年产量5万吨以上啤酒厂废酵母干燥的生产工艺，提出了设计要点，并对干燥工艺进行了适用性分析。     

Characteristics of Milk Powders Produced by Spray Freeze Drying

Skim and whole milk powders were manufactured at lab scale by spray freeze drying (SFD), using liquid nitrogen as the cryogen. The polydispersity of droplet/particle sizes was limited using an encapsulator nozzle to atomize the feed. Particle morphology was examined using a scanning electron microscope. Samples were compared with equivalent spray-dried powders in tests of wettability and dissolution in water. The spray freeze-dried powders were found to be highly porous, with a uniform structure of pores throughout the entire particles. When tested in water, SFD skim milk powders wetted roughly three times as fast as industrially spray-dried agglomerated skim milk powders and were observed to dissolve rapidly by breaking down into smaller particles.     

Effect of Wall Surface Properties at Different Drying Kinetics on the Deposition Problem in Spray Drying

Current methods in alleviating the wall deposition problem in spray drying emphasize mainly controlling the stickiness of the drying particles and less attention is placed on the properties of the dryer wall. In this experimental study, the effect of wall surface properties on the deposition mechanism has been investigated. Properties considered in classifying different wall materials were surface energy, roughness, and dielectric properties. The model solution contained sucrose, representing low-molecular-weight sugars commonly encountered in spray drying of fruit and vegetable juices. The effect of wall properties on deposition was explored at different drying rates producing particles of different surface rigidity. Larger surface roughness produced higher deposition fluxes for particles with high impact velocity and moisture. Surface energy and surface roughness were found to have no significant effect for dry rigid particles at the middle and bottom elevation of the drying chamber. However, material with lower surface energy (Teflon) exhibited less deposition for rubbery particles at such elevations. Analysis shows that dielectric wall material (Teflon) tends to enhance deposition of dry particles because of attrition at the surface. Higher wall temperature was found to produce slightly more deposition. The results of this work give a general indication of the effect of wall material on the deposition problem and provide the fundamental understanding for further studies along this line. Proper selection of dryer wall material will provide potential alternatives for reducing the deposition problem.     

Behaviors of concrete-filled steel tubular members subjected to combined loading

The present study is an investigation on the behaviors of concrete-filled thin-walled steel tubular members subjected to combined loading, such as compression and torsion, bending and torsion, compression, bending and torsion. ABAQUS software is used in this paper for the finite element analysis (FEA). A comparison of results calculated using this modeling shows generally good agreement with test results. The FEA modeling is then used to investigate the influence of important parameters that determine the ultimate strength of the composite members under combined loading, such as compression and torsion, bending and torsion, compression, bending and torsion. The parametric studies provide information for the development of formulae for calculating the ultimate strength of the composite members subjected to combined loading.