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Good dryer design

for high quality aquafeed
By Jammy Ho, R&D Supervisor, IDAH Co. Ltd.

In today’s fiercely competitive market

environment, every miller uses
similar processes and ingredients;
therefore product quality and
manufacturing cost become the crux
of competition. Overviewing the
process, dryer performance plays a
critical role in this game. Two main
issues need to be considered to select
a suitable dryer. First is the average
moisture control of the dried product
and second is energy efficiency. Both
are related to water!

Moisture uniformity is one of the

critical factors for evaluating dryer
performance. In the feed production
process, moisture uniformity is not
only related to product quality and
energy efficiency, but also directly
impacts profit.

Because products are sold by weight,

a narrow moisture tolerance will
improve product quality and avoid
raw material loss. As shown in Figure
1, the black curve indicates the
traditional dryer and the red curve the
more advantageous dryer, such as a
carousel dryer. A narrow range of
moisture tolerance allows the
moisture set point to be higher
without the risk of exceeding the Fig. 1. Moisture uniformity comparison of carousel dryer with traditional dryer.
maximum moisture limit. Profit is (IDAH, Taiwan)

… The amount of profit
that can be gained due to
moisture uniformity, in
combination with accurate
moisture control, can be
surprising.
shown as a green zone. Assuming the
maximum moisture content of the
final product is 10%, in a carousel
dryer the moisture control set point
will be 9.5%, as opposed to 8% in the
traditional dryer. The result is 1.5%
more product while at the same time
saving drying energy. The amount of
profit that can be gained due to
moisture uniformity, in combination
with accurate moisture control, can
be surprising.
For instance, imagine a feedmill that
produces 100,000 tons of extruded
aquafeed per year with a maximum
moisture content of 10%. Products
cost $200 per ton. If we compare a
dryer with ±0.5% and another with ±
2.0%, there is 1.5% more product to
be sold with the same amount of raw
ingredients. It is easy to calculate that
if you use a carousel dryer savings can
be estimated at $300,000 a year
(100,000*1.5%*$200). In addition to
the sales profit, a narrow moisture
tolerance also avoids energy waste
from over-drying. For example, for a
10 ton/hour capacity extrusion line,
1.5% less moisture evaporation will
save 200 kg/hour steam consumption.
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In short, with the carousel dryer the
product is handled with a more stable
moisture control over time and less
over-drying (avoiding product loss)
and it has a higher average moisture
content.
Design requirements
What are the design requirements to
achieve a dryer with ± 0.5% moisture
tolerance?
· The product layer height needs to
be lower (normally less than 20 cm). A
high layer will cause uneven drying,
because the bottom product is drier,
as air enters, than the product on the
top, where air leaves.
· Round shape design optimizes air
flow distribution. Since it has no dead
spots inside the dryer, it also improves
the air distribution and hygiene.
· A counter-flow air stream optimizes
the heat transfer that goes through
the perforated circular trays and
product. Product moves in circles in a
cross-counter air flow.
· The product in the dryer is rotating
and discharging into a lower deck and
tumbled for mixing. This is done in
each deck before the product leaves
the dryer, resulting in very uniform
moisture as all the product gets the
same treatment by passing different
air volume and temperatures.
· The product flow is first-in, first-out
(FIFO). Every pellet gets the same
retention time and during production,
the operator can easily check the
quality of the batch and correct it
immediately if necessary.
Energy efficiency
Another indicator of dryer perfor-
mance is energy efficiency, as drying is
a high energy-consuming operation.
When the extrudate is discharged, its
moisture content can be 20-30%. The
dryer energy is easily more than 50%
of the plant’s energy consumption.
Thus, it is a very challenging task to
optimize the drying process efficiency
without compromising the quality.
The ultimate goal is energy saving and
product quality improvement.
Several studies in the literature show
how the drying inlet/outlet parame-
ters impact energy efficiency. It can be
concluded that the inlet, outlet
process air temperature and air
volume are the three major factors
that determine the amount of water
evaporation. Basically, the value of air
volume to drying surfaces multiplied
by air velocity. The drying surface is
fixed by specific design, the velocity is
limited by the size and density of
pellets, therefore only the delta T is
the flexible parameter for energy
efficiency. The rule of thumb for delta
T is as follows:
· The air flow temperature that leaves
the dryer need to be lower: the lower
the outlet air flow temperature, the
more air energy is used for water
evaporation.
· The air flow temperature that enters
the heater need to be higher: the
higher inlet air temperature means
the air flow needs less heater energy
to approach the set point tempera-
ture.
Therefore, a good air system, like a
carousel dryer, has the following

Fig. 2. The characteristics of a carousel dryer design. (IDAH, Taiwan)
Fig. 3. A sample of individual heating
section with independent control. The
benefit is low exhaust air temperature and
less steam consumption. (IDAH, Taiwan)
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retention time parameters all impact
dryer performance, it is necessary to
set simple protocols that are easy for
the operator to follow, as shown in
Figure 3. In the carousel dryer design,
the operator only needs to verify the
product outlet moisture, then adjust
the inlet air flow temperature until
approaching the target moisture. In
practice, one percent moisture drop
requires a 3oC temperature raise.
AFΩ
characteristics, (as shown in Figure 2):
· Uses the recirculation air system:
Uses the cooler air or dryer exhaust
air as the make up air.
· Independent heating zone: The
desired air volume and delta T can be
set in each specific zone.
· Counter-flow design: the definition
of counter-flow in the dryer design is
that material drops from top down
and the air flow motion is bottom up;
as shown in certain literature, the
counter-flow design will be more than
10% more efficient than a cross-flow
Jammy Ho
dryer, like a belt or horizontal dryer.
R&D Supervisor
· Easy control: Since the delta IDAH Co. Ltd
E: jammy.ho@idah.com
temperature, air volume and