DRYING OF OILSEEDS

Abstract

Abstract Drying of oilseeds is a post harvest operation required for safe storage of harvested seeds. Oilseeds have gained importance in India over the last few years. Fluidized bed (FB) drying and Spouted Bed (SB) drying of oilseeds were studied as potential dryers for these seeds. Experimental pilot fluidized bed dryers were developed and a 2 TPH capacity (mustard seed) FB dryer plant was designed and installed in the lab. Experimental units and a pilot spouted bed dryer were also developed. The dryer units and the plant have been extensively tested and satisfactory drying performance has been achieved. Drying data and drying characteristics have been generated for different oilseeds such as mustard, sunflower, soybean and groundnut etc. The drying rates in different regimes of drying characterized by constant rate and falling rate periods have been evaluated. The salient results of the work are briefly outlined. Keywords: DryingOilseedsFluidized bedSpouted bed ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors gratefully acknowledge the continuous support and encouragement of the Director, Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute, Durgapur for the work and thanks for permission to publish the paper. The support of TMOP&M, Government of India on the project is acknowledged. The authors also acknowledge the work of other members of the project team particularly, Mr K L Das, Mr H D Chakravarty, Mr A Mitter and Mr S S Nandi, Scientists on the experimental aspects and Dr (Ms) R Das, Scientist on computation work.