CROP DRYING

Crop Drying
1. Natural Drying
ü Standing in the field
ü Stacked in the field
ü Spread in thin layers @ the homestead
ü Ventilated structures (cribs)
Advantage & Disadvantages
 Crop Drying cont…
2. Artificial Drying
Advantages
ü Field losses reduced
ü Facilitates planning of seasonal activities
- Early crop removal-commence land preparations
- Retention of soil mc
- Efficient use of labour and machinery
ü Early cash return from crop
- For debt servicing
- For purchase of inputs
- Early delivery premiums
 Crop Drying cont…
Advantages
üBenefits might compensate for additional
expenses of artificial drying
üTo meet GMB standards
Crop MC wb (%)
Cereals 12.5
Soya beans 11.0
Shelled g’nuts 6.5
Unshelled g’nuts 8.0
Sunflower seed 9.5
 Crop Drying cont…
Disadvantages
üHigh mc grain more susceptible to damage
üSheller damage increases rapidly at mc >20%
üFinal product quality can be adversely affected
therefore need great care during drying
operation
 Grain Drying Theory
ü Drying Process involves:
• Migration of moisture from the interior to kernel
surface
• Evaporation of moisture from kernel surface

From internal to surface – Diffusion & Capillary

ü Rate determined by- grain temp, moisture content,
kernel size
From surface to atmosphere - Evaporation
ü Influenced by degree of air movement, temp, RH of
air
 Grain Drying
Principles
ü Most common systems use heated air forced
through grain
ü Air causes grain moisture to evaporate and
carried of the water vapour from grain mass
ü Rate of drying depends on :
- Temp of drying air
- Air velocity through grain
- Uniformity of distribution of air
Max temp of drying air
üIncreased temp => increased drying rate
üQuality reduced at very high temp
üSafe temp depends on crop type, initial mc
and intended use as well as drying system
used
 Rates of drying
ü The max allowable grain temperatures depend on the:
a. Initial moisture content of the grain
b. Type of grain
c. End use of the grain
• Seed 40- 50 ⁰C
• Milling 50- 65 ⁰C
• Feed 100 – 120 ⁰C
ü Physical and chemical damage can be avoided by
a. Using low temperature for drying
b. Cooling heated grain slowly
c. Removing small amounts of moisture at a time and
tampering
d. Using high humidity air at high temperatures for dying
 Drying Theory

1 = constant rate period of drying

- drying takes from grain surface
- similar to evaporation from free
water surface
- very short in farm crops

2 & 4 = critical point where actual

drying begins

3 & 5 = falling rate periods

-Involves movement of moisture with in the material to the surface by liquid diffusion
-Removal of moisture from the surface
-Drying of cereal grains mainly falls into this period

6 = Equilibrium between drying air and grain is reached

- No more drying takes place
 Rice Drying
• Rice kernels are prone to cracking or checking
• Quality polished rice must be whole.
• During milling, the percentage of head rice must
be high
• Causes of cracking and checking
a. Rewetting
b. Blending
c. Rapid drying
• Need to suitable drying techniques:
A multi pass drying of rice
 Coffee Drying
• Objective: to reduce the moisture content to a
safe level of storage
• Stages of drying
a. Skin drying mc from > 45%
b. Main drying – until 11.5%
 Methods of coffee drying
• Natural drying
- Slow 2 to 3 weeks or even more
- Large drying area 40 m2/tonne wet parchment
- Continuous turning required
• Artificial drying
- Faster-four days or less
- Less labour
- Less space required
 Groundnut drying
• High oil and protein content => exercise care
• Dried to 6.5 -8%mc
• Maximum depth of pods 1.5m
• If in bags 2 bags deep
• Maximum air velocity 15ms-1
• Maximum air temp 35 oC
• Drying rate must not exceed 0.5% hr-1
(For details refer to Agritex Farm management
handbook)
• Stop drying at about 9%mc to avoid over drying
 Sun Drying – Pros and Cons

Advantages Disadvantages
1. Free energy 1. Cannot control temperature
can result in stress-cracking
2. No pollution 2. Unreliable source of energy
3. Decreases on fossil fuel 3. Risk of nutrient and flavour/
colour loss
4. Low maintenance cost 4. Large floor area required
5. Can be used in remote areas 5. High losses due to shattering
of the country and attack by vertebrate pests

6. Viability/Baking qualities 6. Lack of hygiene – exposed to

preserved contamination
 Solar Drying
• Modification of sun drying
• Sun’s rays collected in a specially designed
unit with adequate ventilation for removal of
most air
• Temp in unit usually 20 to 30 0C higher
Solar Drying of Fruits and Vegetables
• Solar dryers are special structures that enhance
the insolation and protect the agricultural
products from dust, dirt and insects
• The basic principle of a solar dryer - the air is
heated by the sun in a collector and then passed
over to the material (which is to be dried).
• When the mc is low we can preserve the food
and use it for longer time
Basic processes in solar drying
 Classification of solar dryers
• Mode of air movement
• Exposure to insolation
• Direction of air flow
• Arrangement of the dryer
• Status of solar contribution
Primary classification is according to heating
modes and manner in which solar heat is used
• Active solar-energy drying systems (mostly
termed hybrid solar dryers)
• Passive solar-energy dryer systems
(conventionally termed natural-circulation
solar drying systems)
 Direct solar dryers
• These are the dryers in which the product
receives the direct heat from the sun .
• The best example for a direct solar dryer is ‘The
Box Type Solar Dryer’
• They are used in the areas which receives the
direct sun rays for longer duration of time.
• Usually rectangular in shape and painted black
from inside to create green house effect. It is
covered by a plastic membrane or we can even
use a transparent glass sheet
Direct Solar dryer
 Indirect solar dryers
• The sun's heat is first collected in the solar
collectors and then ducted into the drying
chamber.
• The best example of this type of dryer is ‘Bin-
type Grain Dryers’.
• In these type of dryers, the bin is fitted at the
top and the super heated air is ducted from
the bottom of the chamber
 Indirect solar dryer

The solar chimney provides a column of

warm air that increases the thermal
draught of air through the dryer

Disadvantages
• high structural profile poses stability
problems in windy conditions
• Need to replace polythene sheet
regularly
Solar tunnel dryer
Selection of Dryers
 Why so many dryer types?
• Over 500 reported in literature studies; over
100 commercially available
• Over 50,000 materials are dried commercially
at rates of a few kg/hr to 30 T/hr or more
• Wide range of feeds (liquid, solid, semi-solid,
particulate, pasty; sludge-like; sticky etc)
• Diverse product specs
• Different sources of energy input (conduction,
convection, radiation etc)
• Energy input continuous or intermittent
• Batch, continuous or semi-continuous
operation
• Quality is key parameter for many products
 …this is why..
• Drying times (residence times within drying
chamber) can range from 1/3 sec. to 5 months
• Numerous constraints on physical/chemical
properties of feed as well as dried product
require a bewildering array of dryer designs
• Over 500 dryer types reported in literature;
over 100 commercialized!
 Criteria for selection of dryers
• Numerous criteria, with different weights
• Choice depends on:
– mode of operation;
– power source,
– physical form of feed and dried product desired;
– heat sensitivity;
– quality requirements;
– production rate;
– whether non-aqueous solvents are present in feed;
– whether material is toxic/inflammable or friable etc
• Key criterion-dryer must be able to handle the
product-move it from feed to exit!
• Expertise needed to make right choice!
• Energy, environment, safety and cost are
important considerations in selection.
 Why select dryer carefully?
• Can affect profit margins
• Product quality , energy usage affected by choice
• Choose right drying system-not jut dryer
• Weakest link decides ultimate soundness of
system choice
• Expert systems exist for selection. Different
expert systems give different selections
• Know product and process well before choosing
drying system; imitation can cause problems!
• Do not copy dryer or dryer system used
elsewhere without critical evaluation from
square 1!
• Local fuel availability and relative costs of
different energy sources, environmental
requirements as well as legislation can change
selection of dryer for same application
 Dryer Classification
• Important to know what is available in market
• Do not leave final selection to vendor-sometimes
one can force-fit a wrong dryer !
• Check energy consumption figures where
possible. Operating cost maybe 10-20 times
capital cost over life of dryer
• Dryers classified under different criteria
– Each is characterized by some advantages and some
limitations
• Brief comments will be made on the main
features where significant
 Crop Drying
Off – farm drying
üHigh capacity, high temperature driers
üThey are continuous flow dryers (see next
diagram)
Mixed flow dryer
 Types of dryers
Write notes on
• Types of dryers
• How to measure
• How to improve dryer efficiency