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Drying Strategies for Fluidized-Bed Drying of

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International Journal of Food

Engineering
Volume 5, Issue 2

2009

Article 6

Drying Strategies for Fluidized-Bed Drying of

Paddy
Supawan Tirawanichakul

Somkiat Prachayawarakorn

Warunee Varanyanond

Somchart Soponronnarit

Prince of Songkla University, supawan.t@psu.ac.th

King Mongkuts University of Technology Thonburi, somkiat.pra@kmutt.ac.th

Kasetsart University, ifrwnv@ku.ac.th

King Mongkuts University of Technology Thonburi, isomarit@cc.kmutt.ac.th

c
Copyright 2009
The Berkeley Electronic Press. All rights reserved.

Drying Strategies for Fluidized-Bed Drying of

Paddy
Supawan Tirawanichakul, Somkiat Prachayawarakorn, Warunee Varanyanond,
and Somchart Soponronnarit

Abstract
The main objective of this work was to determine an effective moisture diffusivity of long
grain rice during fluidized-bed drying (FBD) with inlet drying temperatures ranging of 40-150 C
by 10 C/step and to investigate the specific energy consumption of the FBD process. Three initial
moisture contents of the local indica paddy were set at 25.0, 28.8 and 32.5% dry-basis. The experimental results of thin-layer fluidized-bed drying for the long grain rice variety were determined
and statistically analyzed by non-linear regression method. The results showed that an effective
diffusion coefficient was highly dependent on the drying temperature, compared to initial moisture content. Consequently, the mathematical simulation of FBD, using the developed thin-layer
drying mentioned above, was evaluated and used for predicting the paddy drying system. The
simulated value of energy consumption in each of the drying conditions was comparatively simulated. The simulated results showed that a FBD with low temperatures and low initial moisture
content gave higher specific energy consumption than drying with high temperatures and high initial moisture contents. The total specific energy consumption increased with a decreased fraction
of re-circulated outlet drying air. According to the simulation results and our previous work, the
conclusion is that the long grain paddy drying with FBD technique under a high initial moisture
content and drying air temperature over 100 C is the good drying condition for recommendation.
KEYWORDS: effective diffusivity, energy consumption, long grain paddy, mathematical modeling, non-glutinous rice

The authors wish to express our sincere thanks to the Thailand Research Fund (TRF); the Japan
International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS); the Institute of Food Research
and Product Development (IFRPD), Kasetsart University; the Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Energy Technology, School of Energy Environment
and Materials, King Mongkuts University of Technology Thonburi; and the Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Prince of Songkla University for their support and their
facilities.

Tirawanichakul et al.: Drying Strategies for Fluidized-Bed Drying of Paddy

1. Introduction
Normally, fresh paddy after harvesting contains moisture content of 24-35% drybasis. The high moisture content paddy is easy to deteriorate, especially storage in
tropical climate surrounding. These moisture content values must be removed to
preserve the storage life of the grain (Quitco, 1982; Soponronnarit and
Nathakaranakule, 1990; Sutherland and Ghaly, 1990; Siebenmorgen et al., 1998;
Zhou et al., 2002; Tirawanichakul et al., 2003) and to reduce handling cost.
Drying is the most common forms of grain, cereal grain and food preservation. In
addition, drying provides long term storage and extends grain shelf life without
deterioration. Even a solar drying is regularly used for reducing moisture content
of fresh paddy but sometimes, it is difficult to practice in tropical areas during
rainy season period. Some researchers recommended that fresh paddy with a
moisture content over 24% dry-basis should be first removed to 22% dry-basis
within 24 hours by the fast hot air drying (using high temperature with a short
drying time) and then followed by natural air drying (using low temperature)
(Driscoll and Adamczak, 1988; Soponronnarit et al., 1999; Poomsa-ad et al.,
2002). Thus, an force convection air drying such as the cross-flow dryer, spoutedbed and fluidized-bed is an appropriate method to solve this problem because
drying time for high percentages of moisture removal is relatively short such as
the spouted-bed (Devahastin and Mujumdar, 2001) and fluidized-bed drying;
(Soponronnarit and Prachayawarakorn, 1994). The fluidized-bed drying is an
effective approach and of the main interest in this work. This is because a hot air
fluidized-bed drying is one of the drying techniques that provides faster moisture
reduction and uniformity of drying. Consequently, this drying technique improves
the physical quality in terms of head rice yield and maintains some qualities
(Tirawanichakul et al., 2004). However, many researchers were interested in
paddy FBD with inlet air temperature over 100C (Soponronnarit et al., 1996;
Soponronnarit et al., 1999; Tirawanichakul et al., 2004). Despite of the popularity
of fluidized-bed dryer for paddy, there are a few reports concerning theoretical
drying model using effective diffusivity and development of mathematical
fluidized-bed paddy drying model for predicting evolution of moisture transfer
and energy consumption covering wide ranges of drying temperature.
Therefore, the aims of this research were to use the mathematical model
developed for continuous fluidized-bed paddy dryer to simulate drying kinetic of
paddy with various initial moisture contents of 25.0-32.5% dry-basis and to
determine the specific energy consumptions when the dryer is ideally operated at
different drying conditions. The effective diffusivity of paddy determined by nonlinear regression analysis was used in the theoretical thin-layer drying equation in
this simulation. Finally, comparative study between experimental data and
simulated data are presented.
Published by The Berkeley Electronic Press, 2009

International Journal of Food Engineering, Vol. 5 [2009], Iss. 2, Art. 6

2. Materials and Methods

(A) Experimental procedure
The dryer comprised of a cylindrical shaped drying chamber, a 4x4 kW electric
heating unit and a backward curved blade centrifugal fan driven by a 1.5 kW
motor. The Suphanburi 1 (SP1) and Pathumthani 1 rice varieties (PT1) provided
by the Rice Research Institute (Pathumthani province), was used for this
experiment. The average initial moisture content of paddy was varied from 25.0 to
32.5% dry-basis. Fresh paddy was dried at the inlet drying air temperatures of
40C to 150C by 10C/step. A constant air velocity of 2.2 m/s was set up for the
bed depth of 0.015 m. The inlet drying air temperature, outlet air temperature and
ambient air temperature were measured by K-typed thermocouple connected to a
data logger with an accuracy of 0.5C. The moisture contents of paddy were
determined followed by AOAC method (AOAC, 1995). The experiments were
measured by means of triplication. These drying conditions were the same as the
previous work which dried samples were studied in terms of physical, chemical,
physico-chemical and tasting analysis (Tirawanichakul et al., 2004).
(B) Development of moisture diffusion models
The moisture is actually transferred by liquid diffusion. Thus, in this work, the
assumption is that water moves out from paddy by liquid diffusion and the water
vapour moves out in the directions of radial and axial coordinates and finally, the
shrinkage of paddy is negligible during the drying. The paddy kernel is an
isotropic solid and is in a form of short cylindrical shape (so-called as a finite
cylinder). Thus, the partial differential equation of moisture diffusion for a single
paddy kernel, considered geometrically as a finite cylindrical shape, can be
followed by the previous work (Crank, 1975) while an effective diffusion
coefficient (D) is namely described by the Arrhenius type equation as follows:
Ea

D = Dexp
RTabs

where
D

Ea
R
Tabs

=
=
=

(1)

the effective diffusivity accounting for the heterogeneous

solid, m2/h or m2/s
the activated energy, kJ/kmol-K
universal gas constant, kJ/kmol-K
absolute temperature, K

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Tirawanichakul et al.: Drying Strategies for Fluidized-Bed Drying of Paddy

and D is the Arrhenius factor and depends on the drying air temperature and the
moisture content or a constant value (Hebber and Rastogi, 2001). Some previous
researchers also reported that the Arrhenius factor ( D ) was in the form of the
second order polynomial in relation with moisture content of paddy kernel. The
D and Ea values were determined by the non-linear regression analysis from the
experimental data.
(C) Mathematical model
Considering the energy analysis of continuous fluidized-bed dryer, a schematic
diagram of a fluidized-bed dryer was illustrated in Figure 1. The assumptions of
the mathematical model of a continuous fluidized-bed drying are in the thermal
equilibrium between moist air and paddy, the walls of dryer are adiabatic, the
moisture is transferred by liquid diffusion and the shrinkage is negligible during
the drying. The flow chart of calculation procedure is shown in Figure 2. A
mathematical model for predicting the moisture reduction and temperature in this
work was corresponded to that previously described by Soponronnarit et al.,
(1996). The derivations of energy and mass equations are written based on basic
physical laws.
(1) Basic parameters of continuous fluidized-bed drying
Mean residence time is defined as the time which paddy stays in drying chamber
until it leaves from it, is calculated by the following equation

Hold up
F

where

F
Hold up

=
=
=

(2)

mean residence time, min

feed rate of paddy, kg/min
mass of fresh paddy in drying chamber, kg and the hold
up can be calculated as follows

Hold up = (AC)(pw))(Hi)
where
AC
pw
Hi

=
=
=

(3)

cross section area of drying chamber, m2

density of paddy, kg/m3
height of weir, m

Published by The Berkeley Electronic Press, 2009

International Journal of Food Engineering, Vol. 5 [2009], Iss. 2, Art. 6

In this present work, the model of continuous fluidized-bed is composed of

series of thin layers. As shown in control volume 1(CV1), the paddy bed in drying
chamber is horizontally divided into n layers.
t =

(4)

Air mass flow rate at the ith layer is given by

& mixi =
m

& mix
m
n

(5)

and holdup of paddy is also written as:

hp i

hp
n

where
t

hpi
& mix
m
& mixi
m
n

=
=
=
=

(6)

time used for moving from the ith layer to the (i+1)th
layer, min
dry mass of paddy at the ith layer, kg
air mass flow rate, kg/min
air mass flow rate at the ith layer, kg/min
number of layer for paddy

A mathematical model for predicting the evolution of moisture transfer and

temperature profile in this work was similar to that previously described by
Soponronnarit et al., (1992). The derivations of energy and mass equations are
written based on basic physical laws. The analytical solution for the moisture
inside a single kernel is expressed by the following equation (Crank, 1975).
The initial and boundary conditions for fluidized-bed paddy drying are
given by
t =
t >
t >

0, 0 r r0
l z +l
0, r = r0
z = l
0, r = 0

M =
M =
M =
M =
M
=0
r

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Min
Min
Meq
Meq

Tirawanichakul et al.: Drying Strategies for Fluidized-Bed Drying of Paddy

MR(r,l, t) =

M(r,l,t) - Meq
Min - Meq

2m Dt
r
4
2
J

exp
2

0 m
m=1 m2 J1 (m ) r0
r0

2 n + 1 cos

n =0

2 (2 n + 1) 2 Dt
(2 n + 1) z

exp
2l
4l

where
MR
t
m
r
z
l
M
Min
n

=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=

(-1) n

(7)

moisture ratio, decimal

drying time, h or s
root of the Bessel function of the nth kind of zero order
radius of the cylinder material, m
height of the cylinder material, m
half length of cylinder, m
moisture content at any time t, decimal (dry-basis)
initial moisture content, decimal (dry-basis)
number of layer for paddy

The equilibrium moisture content (EMC, Meq) for paddy was modified in
form of Hendersons equation (Henderson, 1952). By integrating of Eqn.(7) over
the volume of cylinder and dividing by its total volume, the average moisture
content can be expressed as:
2 Dt
2 (2 n + 1) 2 Dt
1
8 4

MR = 2 2 exp m 2
exp
2
4l
m =1 m

ro n =0 (2 n + 1)

(8)

(2) Energy conservation of drying chamber

Considering a given thin layer drying, the energy equation is derived based on the
first law of Thermodynamics. It is assumed that the flow of paddy in drying
chamber is the plug flow type and uniform hot air flow passing though each
paddy layer is considered. As shown in Figure 1 for the control volume CV1,
change of enthalpy of air and internal energy change of paddy and drying
chamber are equal to total heat transfer between drying chamber and environment.
To determine the outlet air temperature from the ith drying layer, the following
equation can be written as:
& mixi + c a Tmix + (h fg + c v Tmix )Wmix = c a Tfi + (h fg + c v Tfi )Wfi + u p
Q 1 /m

(9)

or

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International Journal of Food Engineering, Vol. 5 [2009], Iss. 2, Art. 6

& mixi + c a Tmix + (h fg + c v Tmix )Wmix (Wfi h fg ) u p ]/(c a + Wfi c v ) (10)

Tfi = [Q1 /m

and
Q1

UA(T)

where
ca
cv
hfg
Q1

=
=
=
=

U
A
T

=
=
=

Tfi
up

=
=

Wfi
Wmixi

=
=

(11)

specific heat of dry air, kJ/kg-C

specific heat of water vapour, kJ/kg-C
latent heat of vaporization of water, kJ/kg-water
heat losses from control volume CV1 to surrounding,
kW
overall heat transfer coefficient, kW/m2-C
surface area of system (CV1), m2
temperature difference between system (CV1) and
surrounding, C
outlet air temperature at the ith layer, C
change of internal energy of paddy per unit mass of dry
air, kJ/ kg-dry air
humidity ratio of air at the ith layer, kg-water/kg-dry air
humidity ratio of air at the ith layer, kg-water/kg-dry air

(3) Mass conservation at drying chamber

In a small time interval of t, a certain amount of moisture evaporates from the

grain bed at the ith layer into the air, resulting in a change of the humidity ratio of
inlet air. The equation of mass balance can thus be written as
& mixi t i
(Wfi Wmix )m

= (M i M f ) hp i

or
Wfi

where
Wfi
Wi

hp i (M i M i +1 )
+ Wmix
& mixi t i ]
[m

=
=

(12)

outlet humidity ratio of air, kg water/kg dry air

inlet humidity ratio of air, kg water/kg dry air

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Tirawanichakul et al.: Drying Strategies for Fluidized-Bed Drying of Paddy

Mi
Mf

=
=

mp
ti

=
=

average moisture content at time = t, decimal (dry-basis)

average moisture content at time = t+t, decimal (drybasis)
dry mass of sample, kg
drying time of paddy in the ith layer

Finally, the average outlet temperature and humidity ratio of exit air can be
determined by Eqns.(13) and (14), respectively.
n

Tf1

Tfi dn
1

(13)

dn
0

Wf1

Wfi dn
1

(14)

dn
1

where
Tf1
Wf1

=
=

average outlet temperature at drying chamber exit, C

average outlet humidity ratio at drying chamber exit,
decimal

(4) Energy conservation at recycle tube

As illustrated in control volume CV2 in Figure 1, the outlet temperature from

recycle tube can be calculated by balancing the change of enthalpy of air stream
and summation of heat exchange between recycled air and environment. The
following equation of exit temperature at recycle tube is given by:

Tf2

where
Tf2

Q2
+ c a Tfi + Wfi (c v Tfi )

& mix

(RC)m
(c a + Wfi c v )

(15)

air temperature at recycle tube exit, C

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International Journal of Food Engineering, Vol. 5 [2009], Iss. 2, Art. 6

RC
& RC
m
Q2

=
=
=

fraction of recycled air, decimal

dry mass flow rate of recycled air, kg/s
rate of heat loss from control volume CV2 to
surrounding, kJ/s
surface area of recycle tube, m2

(5) Mass conservation before fan entrance

To determine the humidity ratio after mixing between fresh air and recycled air as
shown in Figure 1, the conservation of mass is made with control volume CV4 in
which amount of water vapour after mixing is equal to the summation of water
vapour from fresh air stream and recycled air. The mass balance equation for
water vapour can be written as follows:
& RC Wf + m
& i Wi
m

& RC + m
& i )Wmix
= (m

(16)

Finally, dry mass flow rate of inlet drying air at drying chamber entrance is
equal to the summation of dry mass flow rate of fresh air and recycled air. Thus,
the following equation is written as

& mix = m
& RC + m
&i
m

(17)

From Eqns.(16) and (17), the humidity ratios after mixing between recycled
air and fresh air is determined by:
= (1 RC)Wi + RCWfi

Wmix

(18)

where
RC

& RC
m
& mix
m

(19)

(6) Energy consumption of system

(a) Temperature of air at fan entrance

The energy balance is applied for CV4 to determine the temperature after mixing
between the recycled air and fresh air, thus yielding:

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Tirawanichakul et al.: Drying Strategies for Fluidized-Bed Drying of Paddy

& mix c a Tx + m
& mix Wmix (h fg + c v Tx ) - m
& i c a Ti - m
& i Wi (h fg + c v Ti )
m
& rc c a Tf2 - m
& rc Wf1 (h fg + c v Tf2 ) = 0
m

(20)

and
Tx+Tfan

Tb
where
Tb
Tx
Tfan
Ti

=
=
=
=

(21)

outlet temperature of air stream at fan exit, C

mixed temperature of air before fan entrance, C
temperature rise of air while flowing across a fan, C
ambient air temperature, C

(b) Temperature rise of air at fan

The energy balance is applied for CV4 to determine the temperature after mixing
between the recycled air and fresh air as follows:
Tfan =

where
a
P
Ef

P
[1000( a E f )(c a + c v Wmix )]

=
=
=

(22)

air density, kg/m3

pressure drop across the fan, kPa
fan efficiency (0.5), decimal

Electrical energy consumption of fan is determined from pressure drop in

recycle tube, pressure drop at exit tube and pressure drop at paddy bed in drying
chamber. These following equations are followed by Soponronnarit (1997):
Pressure drop at tubes is written as:

& 2mix + 250

PL = (10.534RC 2 + 13.1006)m
Pressure drop at paddy bed is found:
g
PB = H(1 - )( p - a )
gc

(23)

(24)

where
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International Journal of Food Engineering, Vol. 5 [2009], Iss. 2, Art. 6

PL
RC
PB
H

p
a
g
gc

=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=

pressure drop at recycle tubes, respectively; Pa

recycled air ratio, decimal
pressure drop across paddy bed, Pa
weir of paddy in drying chamber, m
spacing ratio of paddy in drying chamber, decimal
density of air, kg/m3
apparent density of paddy kg/m3
local gravitational constant, m/s2
gravitational constant of earth, m/s2

Total pressure drop of drying system (Pt) composes of pressure drop in

recycled tube, pressure drop at exit tube, pressure drop at perforated sheet
(assuming that 30% of pressure drop of grain bed) and pressure drop cross the
grain bed. The expression of total pressure in drying is then given by
(PL + 1.3PB )
1000

Pt =

(25)

where

Pt

total pressure loss of system, kPa

Thus, the shaft power for driving fan can be calculated by the following
equation:
BP

where
BP
q
Em
(c)

(q)(Pt )
Em

=
=
=

(26)

shaft power, kW
volumetric air flow rate, m3/s
mechanical efficiency, decimal

Energy consumption of heating unit

As shown in the control volume CV3 in Figure 1, the change of enthalpy of air
stream is equal to heat loss and supplemental heat from electrical heater. The
equation can be written as follows:
Q3 + Q h

& mix [(c a + c v Wmix )](Tmix Tb )

m

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(27)

10

Tirawanichakul et al.: Drying Strategies for Fluidized-Bed Drying of Paddy

where
Qh
Q3

=
=

electrical energy consumption of heater, kJ/s or kW

heat loss at heating unit, kJ/s or kW

Considering a given thin layer drying, the energy equation is derived based
on the first law of Thermodynamics. It is assumed that the flow of paddy in
drying chamber is the plug flow type and uniform hot air flow passing though
each paddy layer is considered. For the control volume CV1 as shown in Figure 1,
change of enthalpy of air and internal energy change of paddy and drying
chamber are equal to total heat transfer between drying chamber and environment
and determining of the outlet air temperature from the ith drying layer can be
achieved. In a small time interval of t, a certain amount of moisture evaporates
from the grain bed at the ith layer into the air, resulting in a change of the humidity
ratio of inlet air can be determined from equation of mass balance. Finally, the
average outlet temperature of exit air can be determined by integration of product
of final temperature and number of layer dividing by total number of layers as the
same as calculating of average humidity ratio of outlet air.
As illustrated in control volume CV2 in Figure 1, the outlet temperature
from recycle tube can be calculated by balancing the change of enthalpy of air
stream and summation of heat exchange between recycled air and environment
whilst determining the humidity ratio after mixing between fresh air and recycled
air also can be calculated by the mass balance equation for water vapour in
control volume CV4 (Figure 1). Finally, dry mass flow rate of inlet drying air at
drying chamber entrance is equal to the summation of dry mass flow rate of fresh
air and recycled air and the humidity ratios after mixing between recycled air and
fresh air is determined. In addition, the energy balance is applied for control
volume CV4 to determine the temperature after mixing between the recycled air
and fresh air.
Electrical energy consumption of fan is determined from pressure drop in
recycle tube, pressure drop at exit tube and pressure drop at paddy bed in drying
chamber, following to Tirawanichakul (2004). As shown in the control volume
CV3, the change of enthalpy of air stream is equal to heat loss and supplemental
heat from electrical heater. To compare energy consumption among different inlet
drying air temperature, the specific energy consumption of this fluidization is
considered. The specific energy consumption for each drying condition is defined
as energy consumption divided by total water evaporated and multiplied by
drying time. The total specific energy consumption is a summation of specific
thermal energy consumption and specific electrical energy consumption
multiplied by total drying time. In the mathematical modeling, assumption is

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11

International Journal of Food Engineering, Vol. 5 [2009], Iss. 2, Art. 6

stated that the continuous fluidized-bed drying was used for drying paddy at the
temperatures between 60 and 150C using inlet air velocity of 2.5 m/s and the
fraction of recycled air was varied between 0 and 95%. Initial moisture contents
of 25.0%, 28.8% and 32.5% dry-basis were dried to 22.50.5% dry-basis.
Ambient temperature was fixed at the condition of dry bulb temperature of 30C
and relative humidity of 70%.
3. Results and discussions
(A) Determination of effective diffusivity

Table 1 shows the determination of constant values in two diffusion models using
non-linear regression analysis among inlet drying air temperatures of 40-150C
and initial moisture contents of 22-32.5% dry-basis The diffusion Model 1 and
Model 2 have the activation energy of -37099 kJ/mol and -40904.79 kJ/mol,
respectively as shown in Eqns. (28) and (29), respectively. The result indicates
that the Arrhenius factor ( D ) for Model 1 is determined as 4.33x10-5 m2/s [or
2600 mm2/min] whilst the Arrhenius factor for Model 2 depends on initial
moisture content for example: 2.0x10-4 m2/s for the initial moisture content of
25% dry-basis. The correlation coefficient (r2) for both of equations is about 0.9
while the mean residue square value (MRS) for Model 1 and Model 2 are 0.005
and 0.001, respectively. The results indicate that the mean residual square value
(MRS) for Model 2 has a high accuracy comparing to that of Model 1. From the
evolution of moisture content throughout the drying time at different inlet drying
air temperatures (40C-150C) of simulated and measured values for Model 1 and
for Model 2, all drying curves of these figures clearly show that drying rates of
paddy are in the falling rate period. The results show that the simulated results
using both of diffusion coefficients for Model 1 and Model 2 are also in good
agreement with the experimental results. However, the predicted values using the
diffusion Model 2 are slightly close to experimental values, comparing to the
predicted values using the diffusion Model 1. By non-linear regression technique,
it indicated that the effective diffusion coefficient strongly depended on the inlet
drying air temperature and was slightly related to the initial moisture content of
paddy as shown in Table 1. Thus, drying time at the high drying air temperature,
which has a high diffusivity, was shorter than that of drying at the low drying air
temperature.

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Tirawanichakul et al.: Drying Strategies for Fluidized-Bed Drying of Paddy

(B) Validation of mathematical drying model

To verify the mathematical model proposed, the experimental results from

previous works (Poomsa-ad et al., 2002) were used and the calculated results were
presented in Table 2(a)-2(c).
Feed rate of paddy was set-up between 3.12 and 6.42 ton/h. The initial
moisture content and final moisture content of paddy was in range of 24.1 to
28.0% dry-basis and 20.4 to 22.5 % dry-basis, respectively. The results show that
the proposed model can predict the final moisture content and energy
consumptions at various drying conditions in good agreement with the
experimental results.
To comparative study of specific energy consumption, the predicted values
of thermal and electrical energy for the continuous fluidized-bed dryer operated at
inlet temperatures of 60C to 150C in various initial moisture contents and
fractions of air recycled were determined. Tables 3 and 4 are example of predicted
data under the drying air temperature of 60C and 150C, respectively. The
results show that the specific total energy consumption for drying paddy at low
temperature is relatively high as compared to drying with high temperature. The
energy largely consumed is a main part of electrical power for driving fan since
low temperature drying takes longer operating time. Consequently, the predicted
values of the specific total energy consumption for drying paddy at initial
moisture content of 25.0% dry-basis are higher than that of initial moisture
contents of 28.8 and 32.5% dry-basis. This is because the moisture content at the
lower initial moisture content is in intercellular so it is more difficult to transfer
from paddy kernel to the air. Due to effect of fraction of recycled air on total
specific energy consumption, it shows that the predicted values of specific total
energy consumption for drying paddy at initial moisture content of 25.0, 28.8 and
32.5% dry-basis are in the range of 20.01 to 24.37 MJ/kg of water evaporated for
the fluidized-bed operated with no air recycle and 8.92 to 11.99 MJ/kg of water
evaporated for the fraction of recycled air of 90%. However, as the drying
temperature is increased, the total specific energy consumption is decreased with
the minimum energy required being at temperature of 150C. At this temperature
the total specific energy consumption for the case of no air recycle is in the range
of 7.49 to 11.37 MJ/kg of water evaporated for drying paddy at initial moisture
contents of 25.0, 28.8 and 32.5% dry-basis, with the lowest energy for the
moisture content of 32.5% dry-basis. Besides the temperature effect, the total
specific energy consumption is decreased with increased fraction of air recycle,
90% of recycled air suitable for operating the fluidized-bed dryer. Under such
operating conditions, 150C and 90% of air recycle, the total specific energy
consumptions were 7.02, 5.49 and 4.70 MJ/kg of water evaporated for the
respective moisture contents of 25.0, 28.8 and 32.5%. From the predicted results
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International Journal of Food Engineering, Vol. 5 [2009], Iss. 2, Art. 6

aforementioned above, they indicate that the operation of fluidized-bed at the inlet
air temperature below 100C is not be suitable for commercial point of view
because it takes long time for drying paddy and the specific total energy
consumption is relatively high. Moreover, to determine effect of drying
temperature and moisture content of paddy, the previous work of our research has
been presented (Tirawanichakul et al., 2004) and the results showed that the head
rice yield of Suphanburi 1 rice variety was significantly related to the inlet drying
temperature and initial moisture content whilst there was no significantly relation
between the head rice yield, drying temperatures and initial moisture contents for
Pathumthani 1 rice variety. The whiteness value of the two rice varieties was
slightly decreased with increase in drying temperature and initial moisture
content. However, for all experiments, the whiteness values were within an
acceptable range for the commercial purpose (Soponronnarit et al., 1999). For
determining taste analysis, the hardness value of both cooked rice varieties
exhibited insignificant difference (p<0.05) comparing to control rice, which was
thin-layer dried by ambient air aeration. The thermal analysis by digitized
scanning calorimeter (DSC) also showed that the partial gelatinization occurred
during drying at higher temperatures and high initial moisture content. The
experiments concluded that using inlet drying air of 40-150C did not affect the
quality of both cook and uncooked rice while the milling quality of paddy was
also well maintained.
4. Conclusion

Based on the results of this study, the following conclusions stated that the
effective moisture diffusivity in form of Arrhenius type equation, which was used
for predicting drying kinetic in the mathematical model, has a good agreement
with the experimental data. To determine the energy consumption, the simulation
model was developed and validated comparing to the experimental data showing
that specific energy consumption without air recirculation was relatively high
comparing to those of fraction of air recycled below 95%. Moreover, the low
potential of fluidized-bed drying process occurred at the low drying air
temperature (100C) and low initial moisture content (<28.8% dry-basis) while
the drying with high inlet drying air temperature (>100C) and high initial
moisture content had a high potential for fluidized-bed drying techniques.

http://www.bepress.com/ijfe/vol5/iss2/art6
DOI: 10.2202/1556-3758.1401

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Tirawanichakul et al.: Drying Strategies for Fluidized-Bed Drying of Paddy

Exhaust air

W f1

Recycled air

Q2 Inlet air
Wi, Ti

CV2

Q1
Paddy bed

Tf2
Tf1

CV1

Q3

CV5

CV3
Tb

Tmix
Electric heater

Fan

Tx

CV4

Perforated steel

Figure 1 Schematic diagram of a fluidized-bed dryer with recycle pipe

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International Journal of Food Engineering, Vol. 5 [2009], Iss. 2, Art. 6

Start
INPUT DATA: v, F, RC, H, mmix, T mix, T i, Twb, Mi
CAULATE : mean residence time
CALCULATE: t,mmixi, hold up (hpi)

Wf1, assume = 002

CALCULATE: Wfi, T fi, Mfi

Wf1,assume = Wf1

NO
For i > n
YES
CALCULATE: Tf1, Wf1

NO
Check Wf1
YES

CALCULATE: Energy consumption

End

Figure 2 Simulation flow chart of fluidized-bed drying

http://www.bepress.com/ijfe/vol5/iss2/art6
DOI: 10.2202/1556-3758.1401

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Tirawanichakul et al.: Drying Strategies for Fluidized-Bed Drying of Paddy

Table 1 Diffusivity function of paddy drying by fluidized-bed technique using

inlet drying temperatures of 40-150C and initial moisture content (Min)
ranging of 22.0-32.5% dry-basis
Model

Effective diffusion model

- 37099

D = 2600 exp
RTabs

D = (1.18 M 4209.99 M in

MRS*

0.93

0.005

0.97

0.001

(28)

2
in

- 40904.79

+ 13999.99) exp
RTabs

r2

(29)

Note: *Mean residue square value was calculated as follows:,

N

MRS

(MR
i =1

Predicted, i

MR observed, i ) 2

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International Journal of Food Engineering, Vol. 5 [2009], Iss. 2, Art. 6

Table 2 Comparison between experimental and predicted results of continuous

fluidized-bed drying using inlet drying temperatures of 130-150C.
(a) Moisture content
Feed rate
Run
Drying
No. Temperature (C) (ton/h)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

130
130
140
140
150
150
150
150

3.12
4.82
4.72
4.82
6.42
6.09
5.10
4.82

Bed height
(m)
0.115
0.115
0.147
0.115
0.119
0.150
0.150
0.115

(b) Specific thermal energy consumption (STEC)

Feed rate Bed height
Run
Drying
(ton/h)
(m)
No.
Temperature
(C)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

130
130
140
140
150
150
150
150

3.12
4.82
4.72
4.82
6.42
6.09
5.10
4.82

0.115
0.115
0.147
0.115
0.119
0.150
0.150
0.115

Min
(% drybasis)
25.9
26.8
26.7
24.1
25.9
25.9
26.1
28.0

Mf (% dry-basis)
Exp.1
Sim2

Min
(% drybasis)

STEC
(MJ/kg of water
evaporated)
Exp1
Sim2
6.45
5.82
5.47
5.88
4.83
4.88
4.69
5.02
4.93
5.11
6.70
7.72
6.01
5.66
3.80
5.26

25.9
26.8
26.7
24.1
25.9
25.9
26.1
28.0

(c) Specific electrical power energy consumption (SEPEC)

Feed
Bed height
Min
Run
Drying
rate
(m)
(% dryNo.
Temperature
(ton/h)
basis)
(C)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

130
130
140
140
150
150
150
150

3.12
4.82
4.72
4.82
6.42
6.09
5.10
4.82

0.115
0.115
0.147
0.115
0.119
0.150
0.150
0.115

25.9
26.8
26.7
24.1
25.9
25.9
26.1
28.0

22.5
23.7
23.3
20.7
23.3
23.7
23.4
23.0

22.5
24.0
23.1
20.5
23.2
23.2
22.8
23.6

SEPEC
(MJ/kg of water
evaporated)
Exp1
Sim2
0.90
0.82
0.77
0.73
0.73
0.60
0.66
0.54
0.70
0.41
0.85
0.61
0.79
0.61
0.48
0.46

Note : 1Experimental results ; 2Simulated results (thin-layer equation developed using analytical
method)
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DOI: 10.2202/1556-3758.1401

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Tirawanichakul et al.: Drying Strategies for Fluidized-Bed Drying of Paddy

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DOI: 10.2202/1556-3758.1401

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