Evaluation of Solid Desiccant based Drying System for Energy-Efficient Drying of Agricultural Products

摘要

Drying air conditions of agricultural produce, including the temperature and humidity affect the quality and appearance of the dried product. High temperature and higher humidity cause to loss of nutrient and color. Control of the latent load of drying air prior to use for drying seems more effective approach for the preservation of delicate and temperature sensitive nutrient present in agricultural produce. Desiccant drying system (DDS) removes the moisture from the drying air and makes it possible to dry at low temperature and low humidity. In present study the pertinence of DDS with two desiccant materials LiCl and Silica gel were analyzed in order to find the optimum drying conditions for wheat and rice. Results showed that in case of desiccant material LiCl, process air temperature found higher and humidity lowers, thus provided more pressure deficit and speedup drying as compared to the silica gel. The value of drying potential per watt also showed that desiccant material LiCl found more economical to use as compared to silica gel for all range of regeneration temperature. However for different type of grains, optimum ranges of regeneration temperatures is different i.e. 55-60°C for wheat and 60-65°C for rice.