Multi fans forced convection system in a cocoa platform dryer
A platform type cocoa dryer mostly applied by estate factory is equipped with a large capacity of single fan driven by a high powered electric-motor. The increasing cost of energy combined with a high initial cost of fan have substantially enhanced the drying cost. An effort therefore has been made to reduce the size of electric motor and consequently low energy requirement by introducing multi fanned convection system into the dryer. A model of multi fanned dryer has been installed and tested in the Experimental Station of the Indonesian Coffee and Cocoa Research Institute. The dimension of the dryer is 2.4 m wide and 4 m long having the capacity of about 3 tonnes of wet fermented cocoa beans. The dryer consisted of four plenums. Each was 1 m wide and 2.4 m long and was individually provided with an independent 1/4 HP fan. The drying performance of the model was relatively the same with that of the existing platform dryer. Thus, the power requirement could be significantly reduced to about 20 - 25 kwh per ton of dried cocoa beans instead of 90 - 120 kwh per ton for the existing one. From cost point of view, the price of cumulatively small size of fans was considerably cheaper compared to that of the large capacity one.
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| Format: | biblioteca |
| Published: |
Oct
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| Subjects: | THEOBROMA CACAO, SECADO, SECADORAS, CALIDAD, COSTOS, |
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