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

• Grant number: 11/24133-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: March 01, 2012
• End date: February 28, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Chemical Engineering - Chemical Process Industries
• Principal Investigator: Fabio Bentes Freire
• Grantee: Vanderlei Souza Rocha
• Host 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.