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Copyright 0 1996 Elsevier Science Limited

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Design and Control of Drum Dryers for the Food Industry.

Part 2. Automatic Control

G. Rodriguez, J. Vasseur & F. Courtois

ENSIA-INRA Food Engineering Department, I, Av. des Olympiades, F-91305 Massy

Cedex. France

(Received 5 March 1995; accepted 23 August 1995)

ABSTRACT

Changes in operating conditions and process disturbances produce unevenness

in the final moisture content of a product dried on a drum dryer: Moisture
unevenness exists as a function of both time and drum width. The aim of this
work is to control the Jinal moisture content of the product and to reduce its
unevenness, in order to obtain a high quality product and to increase dryer
productivity. Among all input process variables, two control variables were
chosen.. the drum speed (Vrc), and the heating steam pressure (pv). These
variables were used to keep constant the average final moisture content Xf *.
In this paper we present a case where classic control is not enough to correct
some process perturbations. Therefore, the facility has been modified by adding
an actuator; in this case an inductive electric heater Local complementary
heating power (Pind) is used to correct local heterogeneity of Xf to obtain
Xf = Xf* at every point across the drum. Copyright 0 1996 Elsevier Science
Limited

NOTATION

Dry matter load (kg DM/m’)

Outlet mass flow rate (kg/h)
Inductive power (W)
Steam pressure (bar)
Product temperature at knife level (“C)
Tc Set point of product temperature (“C)
ts Sampling times (s)
Vrc Drum speed (rpm)
Vrs Dipping satellite drum speed (rpm)
171
 G. Rodriguez et al.

Local final moisture content vs width, just above the knife (left, middle,
right; kg water/kg DM)
Final value of moisture content (kg water/kg DM)
Average value of Xf over the drum width (kg water/kg DM)
Average vaIue of T over the drum width (“C)
Set point of the final moisture content (kg water/kg DM)
Product Viscosity (Pa s)
Gap between the drum and dipping satellite (mm)

INTRODUCTION

Drum drying is currently used in the food industry to dry mashed potatoes, baby
food, maltodextrins, starch, etc. The obtained dried product is porous and easy to
rehydrate, ready to use. The principle of this operation is shown in Fig. 1.
The control of a drum dryer process is rather complicated due to the complex
interactions between all operating parameters (Rodriguez et al., 1996). The effect of
one parameter cannot be known independently of the variation of the other
parameters. Different studies have been made on drum dryers (Trystram et al., 1988;
Trystram & Vasseur, 1989; Vasseur et al., 1991). All these works propose models or
strategies to control the average final moisture content (Xf*) vs time (using a
numerical PID controller), however, no one gives a solution to avoid unevenness of

drum drier

dl \dry product

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the instrumentation of the pilot drum dryer.

 LIesip and control of drum dryers for the food industry. Part 2 173

moisture content across the drum width. In Part 1 (Rodriguez et al., 1996) the need
for local control has been established.
The purpose of this work is to control the average final moisture content of the
product and to reduce its uneven moisture distribution, in order to increase
uniformity in product quality, to increase overall productivity of the drum dryer and
to decrease product losses. In order to reach these objectives, we have to measure
and control:
(1) xf* vs time (t), where &f* is the final product moisture content value
averaged over the width (Fig. 2, which can be controlled by a combination of
rotation speed of the cylinder Vrc and the heating steam pressure pv. This is a
classical case of control.
(2) Xf vs time (t) and width (y), where Xf is the local moisture content which is
a function of time and of the location y on the drum width Xf=f(t, y). In this case,
classical control is not able to correct this kind of perturbation and we have to
modify the facility by adding an actuator in the wet zones, i.e. an inductive heater.

Equipment

The measurement of the local final product moisture content is achieved with an
infrared thermometer T = T IR =,f(Xf), giving through the isobar a local value of Xf
(see Part 1).
The experiments were carried out on a DUPRAT* pilot dryer: cast iron drum
dryer, 600 mm long, 414 mm diameter, and 22 mm thick. The speed range is 0- 10
rpm, the evaporating flow rate is 30 kg/h maximum, the useful drying surface is 0.44
m’, the energy consumption varies from 1.15 to 1.2 kg steam/kg water removed. The
schematic diagram of the instrumentation from the pilot drum drier is shown in Fig.
1.

*I
1, Compaq
PC

1 Supervision
I
software
‘I

‘I 1

Control level
&zibI

Operator
-

Supervision
level

Fig. 2. Description of data acquisition and control system.

174 G. Rodriguez et al.

Feed temperature is measured at different levels before the dryer with platinum
resistance sensors. Final moisture content is measured indirectly by three infrared
thermometers (E = 0.85, see Rodriguez et al., 1996). Steam pressure pv is controlled
by a PI controller Spirax Sarco MCS in the range of O-6 bar. The speed of the
satellite V’rsand of the drum L’rc are controlled by two Movitron 124 and 20.5 cards.
The on-line data acquisition system (input) and the control (output) are done
through a programmable microprocessor PMac 6000 from Analog Devices (Fig. 2)
with 24 analog input/output. All analog I/O are conditioned by individual signal
conditioning modules. Sampling period is 10 s.
This card is programmed from a personal computer in a language called
pMACBASIC. A serial asynchronous RS232 connection allows the communication
between the PMac 6000 (control level) and a Compaq microcomputer which
provides the interface between the operator and data handling (supervision level).
The ,uMac 6000 software is a special program developed at ENSIA which
functions in real time via interrupts. Once started, the program runs in a loop
during which it carries out data acquisition and process control. All data are
transmitted to the supervisor to be displayed and saved on hard disk.
Drum speed Vrc and steam pressure pv are the most important variables of the
process with regards to the product moisture content Xf and mass flow rate tif (Fig.
3). For J&Z, the influence on Xf is due to reduction in drying duration and to
changes in the quantity of product smeared over the drum Cs.
In order to control the average final moisture content Xf*, two global actuators
were chosen:
0 the drum motor for controlling drum dryer speed (Vrc). It effectively increases
or decreases drying duration. Satellite drum speed (Vrs) was always
proportional to Vrc (Vrs = 15 Vrc)
0 steam admission valve for controlling steam pressure (pv). It increases or
decreases the drum surface temperature.
To control the local moisture unevenness of Xf across the drum width, the local
actuator was a variable inductive electric heater: 50 Hz, 3.4 kW maximum power

Unmeasured
Disturbances
non-condensible gases
in Xo, pv, p, .. .

Manipulated Variables Controlled Variables

Fig. 3. Schematic representation of the manipulated variables on objectives variables.

 Des@ and control qf drum dryers for the food indust9. Part 2 175

(Pind). It was placed on the bottom of drum, in the non-drying zone. The gap
between drum and inductor is 3 mm and the heated surface is 20 cm wide (3.4 kW
for 0.26 m’).
In both cases (when Vrc and pv are used as manipulated variables) the moisture
set point (Xf*) is compared with average product moisture content (Xf*) given by
the equation:
Xl +4Xm +Xr
/Yf*=
6
This equation was obtained after a study of the moisture distribution across the
drum width. We found that moisture in the middle was the same as that over about
416 of the cylinder width (Xm), only the edges (X1 and Xr) were different (l/6 each
side).
Three set points were used for the test, Xf = 0.025 kg/kg DM (Tc = 142”(Y),
xf=O.O32 kgikg DM (7?=136”C) and Xf= 0.041 kg/kg DM (7?=13o”C).

RESULTS

This section describes successively results obtained for control of average moisture
content Xf* vs time (usingpv or Vrc), the control of unevenness in moisture content
over the drum width (using Pi&), and the control of moisture unevenness vs width
and vs time simultaneously (using I/t-c and Pind).

Control of moisture Xf* unevenness vs time

System dynamics
A study was made of the response time of the final moisture content xf to a step
variation in an input variable. Figures 4 (top and bottom) show experimental
responses of Xl (left) for a step variation of Vrc and pv, respectively. It can be seen
that the curves seem noisy: this problem is caused by deformations in satellite and
drum drier surfaces (local increase of 0). In both cases, the time delay is negligible.
The response curves can be approximated as first order transfer functions. The time
constants can be estimated as about 40 s for Vrc and 100 s forpv.
Non-linearities have been found: the rise time and gain depend on the set point;
the time delay should not be negligible when the drum size is bigger (Trystram,
1985) and when the drum speed is increased (Foulard et al., 1982).
A sampling period (a = 10 s) has been chosen because of the speed of calculation
of the jlrnac 6000 and of the analysis of the dynamics of the system.

Control of moisture Xf*

For controlling the moisture unevenness vs time, a PI loop controller (single input/
single output) was tested. This kind of controller has been chosen because of its
simplicity and flexibility. The settings were determined by an iterative heuristic
method.
176 G. Rodriguez et al.

Figure 5 (top) illustrates the response of a set point change on product moisture
content Xf* (0*025-0.032 kg water/kg DM, i.e. 142-136°C) when Vrc is used as
manipulated variable. The values of the PI controller settings, determined
experimentally, are shown in Table 1. It can be seen that the product moisture
content becomes stable after &300 s when the set point is changed, and the
controller output (EC) is also stable.

4.0 3.2

$;: 3.8 3.0 3

'N g
‘10

2 = 3.6 2.0
62 :
-0
g ", 3.4 2.6 8
R
.g s
r,z
o 2 3.2 2.4 z
k
EM
4 g 3.0 2.2 z
0
rz n
2.8 2.0

2.6, . , . , m , . , . I . I . I .1.8
2900 3300 3700 4100 4500 4900 5300 5700

time (s)

1 I 162
3.8
161

R, 3.4 160

z'b 159 p

158 ;

157 g

156 iii,
E
155 g

154 EJ

3 2 1.8- -153 $

!A?- 4.5 bar - 152

1.4-
4bar - 151

i.oI, 'I. I. ,'I .I. 1. ,'I * I ' I', '!I50

2200 2400 2600 2600 3000 3200 3400 3600 3800 4000 4200 4400 4600 4800

time (s)
Fig. 4. (top) Step response of product moisture content left side (Xl) for speed drum
change from 3 to 2 rpm (open-loop); (bottom) step response of product moisture content for
steam pressure change (4-4.5 bar).
 Desigtl und control of drum dryers fix the food industry. Part 2 177

Due to the non linearity of the system, we had to slow down the dynamics of the
controller in order to obtain a more robust PI able to correct any disturbance in the
process. In Fig. 5 (top), it can be observed that the evolution of product moisture
content is three times slower in closed-loop [Fig. 5 (top)] than in open-loop [Fig. 4
(top)]; however, product moisture content is controlled within +O.OO 1 kg water/kg
DM (32% k 0.1%) in a closed loop, which is quite precise.

Xfc=O.O32 Tc=l36@

Xfc=O.O25 Tc = 142 “C 1
2.2-
7
I.81 - 1 - 1 ’ 1 r 1 1 - 1 - 1 * 1 - 1 !0
3500 3700 3900 4100 4300 4500 4700 4900 5100 5300

time (s)

1.0: ’ 1 . f ’ 1 - 1 . 1 ’ 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - ’ ’ : 1.0
500 700 900 1100 1300 1500 1700 1900 2100 2300 2500 2700

time (s)
Fig. 5. (top) Moisture control at different set-point values using a PI controller and
transient period when the set point is changed (Kc is used as command variable); (bottom)
moisture control at Xfc = 0.025 kg water/kg DM when a disturbance takes place (change of
pv 4- > 3.5 bar, Vrc is used as command variable).
178 G. Rodriguez et al.

TABLE 1
Settings of PI controller using Vrc as the manipulated variable

Vrc

KP -0.01 (rpm “C-‘)

Ki -0.008 (rpm ‘Y-‘)
Kd 0

Figure 5 (bottom), gives an illustration of controller performance when a

disturbance takes place: a change in the steam pressure pi is quickly corrected by
the controller using Vrc and the new situation is stable after 200 s. In both Fig. 5
(top and bottom), it can be observed that the actuator is not saturated partly due to
robustness of controller.
Figure 6 illustrates the variation of A”* for two set points Xfc = 0.032 and
Xfc = 0.025 kg water/kg DM (R = 136 and Tc = 142°C) when pv is used as the
manipulated variable instead of K-c, which remains constant. The transient
phenomenon can be seen when the set point is changed. The values of Kp and Ki
are given in Table 2. The results obtained were not as good as those obtained with
Vrc, but are still acceptable. Table 3 shows the standard deviation for both cases
during 30 min.
The static error when pv is used as the manipulated variable is quite nul, as for
VRC. The controller reaction varies as a function of working point due to the
thermal inertia of the system. Withpv, the time to raise the pressure and to heat the
drum wall is cumulative. This is a main difference between the two command
variables Vrc and pv.

Y I , 4.5
4.0
4.0
4.4
3.5
4.0
3.0

3.6 11111.1 Xfc

2.5

3.2
2.0

2.8 1.5

2.4 1.0

2.0 0.5

1.6 0.0
0 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400

time (s)
Fig. 6. Variations of Xf* for two set points when pv is used as the manipulated variable.
 Design and control of drum dryers for the food industty. Part 2 179

TABLE 2
Settings of PI controller using pv as the manipulated variable
-~-
1”’

4’ 0.01 bar “C‘ ’

Ki 0~01 bar “C‘ ’
Kd 0

It can be seen that it is possible to control the moisture unevenness vs time by

using Vrc and pv as command variables. However, this global action is not sufficient
to control unevenness in moisture content vs width. In Fig. 7, the set point is 0.041
kg water/kg DM and the manipulated variable is Vrc. It is shown that Xf* = Xfc, but
the edges of the cylinder are wetter than the middle of the cylinder. Thus, to reach
the moisture content desired, it is necessary to overdry the middle, resulting in a
lower productivity and an over-cost because of a required decrease of the drum
speed. A way to overcome this problem is proposed as follows.

Control of unevenness in moisture content vs drum width

Figure 7 is a recording of product moisture content at three locations on the width

of the drum (left X1, middle Xm, right Xr). We can see variations vs width: the left
and right moisture content are higher than the middle one. This difference in
moisture content can be due to different causes: uneven distribution of the product
on drum surface and/or accumulation of non condensible gases on both sides of
drum dryer, with adverse effects on local heat transfer.
The inductive electric heater used for correcting the unevenness in moisture
content on the left side is a ‘low frequency’ (50 Hz) inductor, with a magnetic
circuit, able to produce 3.4 kW on a 20 cm stripe, with a wide range of gaps (3-10
mm). This additional heater is controlled by a PI loop as a function of the difference
between local left side moisture content and the set point moisture (in this case
Xfc =Xm, thus (Xm -XL)). The settings of PI are shown in Table 4; results are
shown in Fig. 8. In the first part of the test, the system is used without control: the
initial unevenness between the left side and the middle is obvious. Then the
inductor is started and the left side moisture content decreases rapidly until it

TABLE 3
Standard deviation for two set points qfc with [IV and Vrc as manipulated variables

Jqc=255 x 10 2 TCfi=3.2 x 10 !
(kg water/kg DM) (kg water/kg LIM)

Manipulated variahlc Vrc P” Vrc 1”

Mean 10 ’ 2550 2.61 1 3.22 3.138
Standard deviation 10 ’ 0.043 0.076 0~043 0. I23
Maximum IO ’ 2.65 2.78 3.33 3.3’)
Minimum 10 ’ 2.47 2.46 3.09 2.93
180 G. Rodriguez et al.

Xr

XI

Xf

Xm

350 400 450 500 550 600 650

time (s)
Fig. 7. Evolution of final product moisture content at three locations on the drum width
when Xf* is controlled. Set point Xfc = 0.041 kg/kg, pv = 4 bar.

reaches the set point. The response time is about 90 s. This kind of system allows a
good control of product moisture unevenness because the wet zones are corrected,
without the necessity of overdrying the middle zone. For an industrial utilisation, we
would have to use two heaters in order to correct both sides.

Control of moisture unevenness vs both width and time

Figure 9 shows the block diagram of the moisture control system. Two controllers
were used simultaneously, Cl for controlling average moisture unevenness vs time
(Xf*) and C2 for controlling moisture unevenness vs width (Xl). The first controller
acts on drum speed Vrc to keep average value of product moisture content Xf *
equal to the set point Xfc. The second one acts on inductive heating Pind, in order
to make Xl equal to Xm: it is a local control. Figure 10 represents the results
obtained with this strategy.

TABLE 4
Settings of PI controller using Pind as the manipulated variable

Pind

w “C-’
!z
Kd
5
20 WY-’
0
 Design und control qf drum dryersfor the food industty Part 2 181

I - I * I - 1 -

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 600 900

time (s)
Fig. 8. Correction of moisture unevenness using inductive heating.

In the first part of the test, the system is used manually without control. The
difference among the three moisture contents is clear: the left side of the drum is
wetter and far from the set point. When automatic contol is started, it can be seen
that the difference between the left side and the middle falls and Xf* tends to Xfi*.
When the system is controlled, there is only a little variation in the three moisture
contents around the set point: standard deviation of xf is reduced from 0.00263 to
0.00064.
Figure 11 makes some quantitative comparison between the manual control and
the automatic control. It can be seen that the product moisture content is more
constant under automatic control. This allowed the productivity to increase +30%
for this pilot dryer and to improve product quality because overdrying of the
product could be avoided.

Xm ’
- c2
1-+---_-___J Process I Xm
i-----------
Xfc* Vrc
Cl ’ CD--)
i._,_ . .Y,_. ._. . . I, Y
““’ F

I I 1

Fig. 9. Block diagram of moisture control system (Xl = left, Xm = middle, Xr = right,
Xfc = set point).
182 G. Rodriguez et al.

4.0
I
-
,
XI

I-J
rl t
. without inductive power + Xm
- Xr

2.5

Manual Automatic

time (s)
Fig. 10. Control of moisture unevenness simultaneously vs width and time using Vrc and
Pind as manipulated variables.

50
n Xf* without control

40 Xfc with control

6 30
:
g 20

10

3.Ao 3.;0 3.:0

Product Moisture Content Xf* (kg water/kg DM) 1O-2

Fig. 11. Comparison between the manual and the automatic control.
 CONCLUSIONS

The results of moisture control with conventional PI method has been proved to be
successful, since we allow the controller to slow down the closed-loop speed. It can
control the moisture content within +O.OOl kg water/kg DM when Vrc has been
used as the manipulated variable. The correction of local unevenness has been
possible using a complementary heating source, i.e. an inductive heater. A
combination of manipulated variables (Vrc and Pi&) controls both average and
local moisture content. This configuration increases productivity by reducing the
overdrying, which is the actual way to overcome unevenness in industry. Of course,
the power of the additional local heating should be related to the moisture
unevenness to be controlled, and to the size of cylinder.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The authors would like to thank DUPRAT Society, 63800 Cournon, France.

REFERENCES

Foulard, C., Gentil, S. c(i Sandraz. J.-P. (1982). Commundc r’t rcgzdution par wlc~doteur
numtriqw Eolles, Paris.
Rodriguez, G., Vasseur, J. & Cuurtois, F. (lYY6). Design and control of drum dryers for the
food industry. Part I. Set-up of a moisture sensor and an inductive heater. .I. Food Engqy,
28,27 l-282.
Trystram, G. (1985). Contribution i l’automatisation des pro&d& en industrie alimentairc.
cas du sechage sur cylindrc. Thesis, ENSIA.
Trystram. G.. Meot, J. M., Vasscur, J.. Abchir, F. & Couvrat-Desvergnes, B. (1988). Dynrrmic,
modelling of’ LI drum dryer .f;w jbod products. Sixth International Drying Symposium. IDS
‘X8, Versailles, pp. 13-18.
Trystram, G. and Vasscur, J. (1089). Modelisation et simulation d‘un pro&de dc sdchage sur
cylindrc. Entropic, 25 (152), 43-55.
Vasseur, J., Abchir, F. and Trystram. G. (IYYl). Modelling of drum-drying. In Drying 01 (cds
A. S. Mujumdar & I. Filkova). Elsevier Science, Amsterdam. pp. 121-129.