RESEARCH OF GRAIN CROPSDRYING PROCESS

doi: 10.25712/ASTU.2072-8921.2021.04.002

Abstract

The study of the process of grain crops moisture-thermal treatment: wheat, oats, barley, corn, peas, bran and others was carried out in the work. The research of the drying process was carried out on a drying unit with a stirred layer with a height of the material fill from 100 to 400 mm. The experiment was carried out with a change in the temperature of the drying agent in the range from 100 to 170 °C, air speed from 0.5 to 2.0 m / s, and the duration of treatment from 3 to 20 minutes. The maximum height of the processed layer for this type of unit was 250-300 mm. It was found out that the best results were obtained at a drying agent temperature of 120-130 °C. The temperature of the flakes increased to 90-100 °C within 8-9 minutes, and the moisture content of the product decreased from 23% to 13-14% during the drying process. The results were obtained with different conditions of the layer: in a dense, non-agitated layer, heating of the flakes occured unevenly, and drying also turned out to be uneven. The study of the drying process influence on the product quality showed that with the best mode, the quality indicators of the flakes after drying change insignificantly in comparison with the flakes before drying. As a rational drying mode, the flakes initial moisture content is recommended to be 22-24%: the temperature of the drying agent is 120-130 °C; the drying time - 8-9 minutes; the layer blowing speed - 0.7-0.8 m/s; the height of the blown layer is 250-300 mm. The flakes cooling process was also investigated. As a result, uneven product cooling was observed at an air speed of 0.7-0.8 m/s in a dense layer at a height of more than 150 mm. Mechanical stirring helps to even the product temperature along the layer height. Thus, the optimal layer height with stirring is set - 250-300 mm.