Monitoring the influence of feeding in the operation of a spouted bed during milk drying

• Grant number: 11/24133-4
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): March 01, 2012
• Effective date (End): February 28, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Chemical Engineering - Chemical Process Industries
• Principal researcher: Fabio Bentes Freire
• Grantee: Vanderlei Souza Rocha
• Home Institution: Centro de Ciências Exatas e de Tecnologia (CCET). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Paste drying is industrially done in spray dryers. The spouted bed may be regarded as a good alternative for small agricultural cooperatives. Even though spouted bed has a simpler design project and is less expensive, bottlenecks are found in the scaling up of this type of dryer. In order to be competitive, the spouted bed has to be operated at top feed flow rates. However, it is common sense that the feed flow rate affects bed operation and may even cause instabilities. The main objective of the present proposal is to develop a cascade of two neural networks to predict moisture content of powder milk takeing into account the effects of feed flow rates.