Drying of Fresh Leaves and Seeds in a Rotary Pan

• Grant number: 10/07595-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: January 01, 2011
• End date: December 31, 2011
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Chemical Engineering - Industrial Operations and Equipment for Chemical Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Maria Do Carmo Ferreira
• Grantee: Victor Stevanato Garcia
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Exatas e de Tecnologia (CCET). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Seeds, grains and fresh leaves are widely employed as raw materials in food and pharmaceutical industries. The processing of these natural products requires special precautions to avoid deterioration caused by the post-harvest high moisture content. Drying is consequently a widely applied operation in the processing of these materials. In this research the drying of chopped lemongrass leaves (Cymbopogon citratus)and sunflower seeds (Helianthus annus) in a rotating pan will be investigated. The rotating pan consists of a vessel in which the particulate matter is inserted, with the drying air being fed over it while the vessel is rotated, keeping a regular and continuous mixing of the solids. The drying will be performed at different operation conditions by changing the air temperature and velocity, the vessel rotation speed and the inventory of solids inside the vessel. Once suitable conditions regarding moisture reduction are identified for each material, some quality parameters will be evaluated. These are the content of essential oil for the lemongrass leaves and the germination and vigor indexes for the seeds. These parameters will be measured and compared for the in-nature and dried products.