Simulation of Complete Paddy Drying in

a Laboratory Fluidized Bed Dryer

Reagan J. Pontawe¹ and Romualdo C. Martinez²

The four drying temperatures (70, 80, 90 and 100^oC) investigated showed paddy with ≥24% (wet basis) initial moisture content attained complete drying with 13±1% (wet basis) final moisture content after 4 hours in the fluidized bed dryer. Three minutes of fluidization in combination with air drying factors as drying temperature, airflow, static pressure, grain depth gave the optimum result in terms of Head Rice Yield Reduction Ratio (HRYR). Samples dried in 90 and 100^oC produced almost 1 HRYR indicating almost all kernels were broken. The specific heat energy consumption was only 2.84 MJ/kg using the fluidized bed dryer. Sensory evaluation showed that samples dried at 80^oC temperature and fluidized for 3 minutes achieved the highest mean scores in terms of the color, aroma, taste and mouth-feel.

Keywords: Drying, Fluidized bed dryer, Head rice yield reduction ratio, Paddy

Citation:

Pontawe, R.G. and Martinez, R.C. (2015). Simulation of Complete Paddy Drying in a Laboratory Fluidized Bed Dryer.  Philippine Journal of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, 11:3-11