Saving energy is considered about by much more people nowadays. The energy use of industrial drying occupies a large part of total energy usage. Not only the governments, but also the industry owners are trying to find ways to cut down the usage of energy. The aim of this work is to find suitable technologies for industrial drying of berries which can be energy-efficient at the same time. More specifically, to find suitable dryers for drying aronia berry in Sweden. The research is based on secondary data collected by literature review. Good options for other circumstances like fluidized bed drying, freeze drying and solar drying were not discussed in detail. After the study, a continuous hot air dryer with explosion puffing system and heat pumping system seems to be the best solution for drying aronia berry in Sweden. It is easy to be controlled, cost acceptable (both capital and operational costs), environmental friendly and has high drying rate and high product quality. The extra means for improve drying process such as combined with dielectric or conductive dryer, adding pre-treatment such as osmotic drying were also discussed. Combined dryers can reduce the drying time and osmotic drying can cut the operation cost. Careful experiments shall be done before large amount of investment due to the complexity of dehydration.

Submitted by Maria Medeiros (maria.dilva1@ufcg.edu.br) on 2018-08-20T14:53:19Z No. of bitstreams: 1 RAFAEL FELICIANO DE MACEDO - DISSERTAÇÃO (PPGEM) 2016.pdf: 2450378 bytes, checksum: 8713991eb748af68688b453a22a55116 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-20T14:53:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 RAFAEL FELICIANO DE MACEDO - DISSERTAÇÃO (PPGEM) 2016.pdf: 2450378 bytes, checksum: 8713991eb748af68688b453a22a55116 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-12-19 / Capes / O presente trabalho trata do estudo teórico e experimental do processo de secagem de argila bentonita em secador rotativo contínuo industrial. Foram realizados testes experimentais em campo, onde foi possível coletar e medir parâmetros geométricos do secador, fluxo mássico, temperatura do ar e do material. Foi estabelecido um modelo matemático a ser utilizado para a análise da eficiência global teórica idealizada e real do secador rotativo. Resultados teóricos do teor de umidade, temperatura do ar e do material na saída do secador, além da eficiência global do equipamento em várias condições de secagem foram apresentados e analisados. Verificou-se que o modelo real da simulação mostrou que o secador rotativo quando operado em certas condições ambientes na planta de instalação possui eficiência e desempenho adequado conforme sugere a literatura. Parâmetros como tempo de residência, velocidade rotacional e velocidade do ar quando manipulados corretamente pode-se obter melhores resultados na secagem do produto de argila bentonita visando a redução do consumo de combustível. Além dos testes dos parâmetros, sugestões para futuros estudos como, a determinação da cinética de secagem e curvas de sorção da argila são de essencial importância para garantir a especificação do teor de umidade final do produto. / The present work deals with the theoretical and experimental study of the drying process of bentonita clay in an industrial continuous rotary dryer. Experimental tests were performed in the field, where it was possible to collect and measure geometric parameters of the dryer, mass flow, air and material temperature. It was proposed a mathematical model to be used for the analysis of the idealized and real theoretical global efficiency of the rotary dryer. Theoretical results of moisture content, air temperature and material at the dryer outlet, besides the overall equipment efficiency under various drying conditions were presented and analyzed. It was verified that the real simulation model showed that the rotary dryer when operated in certain ambient conditions in the installation plant has efficiency and adequate performance as suggested by the literature. Parameters such as residence time, speed of rotation and air velocity when handled properly, better results can be obtained in the drying of the bentonita clay product in order to reduce fuel consumption. In addition to the parameter tests, as future studies, the determination of drying kinetics and sorption curves of the clay are of essential importance to ensure the specification of the final moisture content of the product.

The main aim of this thesis is to provide and explore main factors that affect a drying process. The first part contains brief description of the drying process and focuses on a convectional industrial drying process. The following section discusses the theory of an experiment planning followed by an experiment design of the compact tumble industrial dryer. The thesis also includes an exact description of the executed experiment, then outputs of the measurements and model characterizing the drying process of the tested dryer. The last part deals with the methodology and recommendations for the measurements in operating conditions.