Abstract
This study was conducted to evaluate the performance of a 12 tons capacity circulating concurrent flow rice dryer. An actual scale dryer with the capacity of 12 tons was developed to obtain a faster drying rate of 0.8~1.2%(w.b.)/h, while maintaining a lower drying energy consumption of 5,000 kJ/kg-water and achieving a drying quality that was comparable to a conventional cross-flow rice dryer. The Test-1 was conducted at $110^{\circ}C\;-\;20\;cmm/m^2$ and the Test-2 was conducted at $120-110-100-90^{\circ}C\;-\;20\;cmm/m^2$ under the same conditions as Test-1. In Test-1, the drying rate, drying energy consumption and crack ratio were 0.98 %(w.b.)/h, 4,573 kJ/kg-water and 3.2%, respectively. In Test-2, the drying rate, drying energy consumption and crack ratio were 0.74 %(w.b.)/h, 4,790 kJ/kg-water and 4.0%, respectively. The results of these tests demonstrated that this concurrent-flow dryer reached the desired drying rate, drying energy consumption and crack ratio.
