This document discusses various types of commercial grain dryers, including deep bed dryers, flat bed dryers, recirculatory dryers, tray dryers, fluidized bed dryers, and solar dryers. It provides details on the design and operation of each type of dryer, including recommended air flow rates, drying temperatures, capacities, and advantages/disadvantages. The Louisiana State University (LSU) dryer is discussed in depth as a popular continuous flow-mixing dryer used in India and the US.

1. COMMERCIAL GRAIN
DRYERS
Dr. Ajay Singh Lodhi
Assistant Professor
College of Agriculture, Balaghat
Jawahar Lal Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur (M.P.)

3. COMMERCIAL GRAIN DRYERS
 Deep bed dryer
 Flat bed dryer
 Recirculatory dryer
 Tray dryer
 Fluidized bed dryer
 Solar dryer

4. Deep bed dryers :
 These batch-in-bin
dryers are of large
capacities to several
hundred tonnes
(shown in Figure).
The most common
shapes are round or
rectangular.

5.  To operate deep bed dryers efficiently the following rules may
be followed:
 (1) An air flow rate of 2.94-3.92 m3/min per tonne is
recommended. The lower range of 2.94-3.43 m3/min per tonne
can be used safely in cooler and drier places, while the higher
range of 3.43-3.92 m3/min per tonne may be used in hot and
humid climates. Rates above 3.92 m3/min per tonne may result in
uneven drying and is expensive in operation.
 (ii) If the moisture content of grains is upto 18%, the layer depth
of grain should be limited to 3 m. For grains whose moisture
content is above 18%, the maximum depth recommended is 2.5
m. Paddy with 2.5 m deep layer may take 20 days to dry during
favourable weather and upto 40 days during had weather. In
tropics where sprouting occurs in 4-8 days, deep bed dryers are
not very much successful.
 (iii) The net perforated area of the floor should be 15% of the total
floor area. Air velocity of 300 m/min through the opening is
preferable.

6. Flat bed dryers :
 The flat bed batch type dryer is similar to deep bed dryers
except that the surface area of the dryer is more and the
depth of the drying layer is less. These dryers are of
usually 1-2 tonne capacity. These are designed for farm
level operation (Fig. 3.31). Grains are spread 0.6 to 1.2 m
deep over the perforated floor and dried.

7. The main advantages of this type of dryer are,
 (1) the whole batch is dried quickly and there are less
chances of spoilage due to moulding,
 (2) there is less likelihood of over-drying of the grain, and
 (3) a lower air pressure is required to force the drying air.

8.  Continuous flow dryers : These dryers are columnar type in
which wet grains flow from the top to the bottom of the dryers.
The rate of flow of grains through columns can be regulated by
conveyors. These dryers are of two types, (1) mixing, and (2)
non-mixing as shown in Fig. 3.32 and 3.33.

9.  If the grains flow in a straight path, the dryer is called a non-
mixing type, and when the grains are diverted in the dryer, it is
called a mixing type dryer. Drying is accomplished by forcing
heated air across the falling layers of grains.
 In mixing dryers, baffles are provided to cause the grains to mix
during their downward flow. These dryers use low air flow rates
of 50-95 m3/min-tonne and high drying temperature of 65°C.
Zig-Zag columns enclosed by screens on both sides are used
primarily to achieve mixing action during drying process.
 In non-mixing dryers, baffles are not provided in the columns
and drying takes place between two parallel screens, 15-25 cm
apart. In these dryers high air flow rates of 125-250 m3/min-
tonne can be used. It permits a faster movement of grains in
columns. Drying air temperature of 54°C is used in non-mixing
dryers.

10. Recirculating dryers
 In continuous flow dryers, a
multipass procedure is used to
avoid excessive drying stress
(Fig. 3.26). During each pass,
the grains are exposed to the
heated air for a short time (15-
30 min) and about 1-3% of the
moisture content is removed.
 In such dryers, drying air
temperature of 60-80°C is
used. Drying is faster and
effective because of the
continuous movement of
grains during the short drying
times. Between drying passes,
the grain is stored in a
tempering bin for 4 to 24 hours
to allow the moisture content
at the centre and the surface
of the grain to equalise.

11. Louisiana State University Dryer (LSU Dryer)
 This is a continuous flow-mixing type of grain dryer which is popular in
India and the U.S.A.
 It consists of 1) a rectangular drying chamber fitted with air ports and
the holding bin, 2) an air blower with duct, 3) grain discharging
mechanism with a hopper bottom, and 4) an air heating system

12. Rectangular bin:
 Usually the following top square sections of the bin are
used for the design of LSU dryer. i) 1.2m x 1.2m, ii) 1.5m x
1.5m, iii) 1.8m x 1.8m and iv) 2.1m x 2.1m the rectangular
bin can be divided into two sections, namely top holding bin
and bottom drying chamber.
Air distribution system:
 Layers of inverted V-shaped channels (called inverted V
ports) are installed in the drying chamber. Heated air is
introduced at many points through the descending grain
bulk through these channels. One end of each air channel
has an opening and the other end is sealed. Alternate
layers are air inlet and air outlet channels. In the inlet
layers, the channel openings face the air inlet plenum
chamber but they are sealed at the opposite wall, where as
in the outlet layers, the channel openings face the exhaust
but are sealed other side.

13.  The inlet and outlet ports are arranged one below the other
in an offset pattern. Thus air is forced through the
descending grain while moving from the feed end to the
discharge end. The inlet ports consists of a few full size
ports and two half size ports at two sides. All these ports of
same size are arranged in equal spacing between them.
The number of ports containing a dryer varies widely
depending on the size of the dryer. Each layer is offset so
that the top of the inverted V ports helps in splitting the
stream of grain and flowing the grains between these ports
taking a zigzag path. In most models, the heated air is
supplied by a blower.

14. Grain discharging mechanism:
 Three or more ribbed rollers are provided at the bottom of
the drying chamber which can be rotated at different low
speeds for different discharge rates of grains. The grain is
discharged through a hopper fixed at the bottom of the
drying chamber. Causing some mixing of grain and air the
discharge system at the base of the dryer also regulates
the rate of fall of the grain.
Air heating system:
The air is heated by burning gaseous fuels such as natural
gas, butane gas, etc, or liquid fuels such as kerosene,
furnace oil, fuel oil etc, or solid fuels like coal, husk, etc. Heat
can be supplied directly by the use of gas burner or oil burner
or husk fired furnace and indirectly by the use of heat
exchangers. Indirect heating is always less efficient than
direct firing system.

15.  This type of dryer is sometimes equipped with a special fan
to blow ambient air from the bottom cooling section in
which the dried or partially dried warm grain comes in
contact with the ambient air. In general, the capacity of the
dryer varies from 2 to 12 tonnes of grain, but sometimes
dryers of higher capacities are also installed. Accordingly
power requirement varies widely. Recommended air flow
rate is 60-70 m3/min/tonne of parboiled paddy and optimum
air temperatures are 60oC and 85oC for raw and parboiled
paddy respectively. A series of dryers can also be installed.
Advantages & Disadvantages
 Uniformly dried product can be obtained if the dryer is
designed properly.
 The dryer can be used for different types of grains.
 High capital investment
 Cost of drying is very high if oil is used as fuel.

16. Tray Dryer
 Tray dryers usually operate in
batch mode, use racks to hold
product and circulate air over
the material. It consists of a
rectangular chamber of sheet
metal containing trucks that
support racks. Each rack
carries a number of trays that
are loaded with the material to
be dried. Hot air flows through
the tunnel over the racks.

17.  Sometimes fans are used to on the tunnel wall to blow hot air
across the trays. Even baffles are used to distribute the air
uniformly over the stack of trays. Some moist air is continuously
vented through exhaust duct; makeup fresh air enters through
the inlet. The racks with the dried product are taken to a tray-
dumping station.
 These types of dryers are useful when the production rate is
small. They are used to dry wide range of materials, but have
high labor requirement for loading and unloading the materials,
and are expensive to operate. They find most frequent
application for drying valuable products. Drying operation in case
of such dryers is slow and requires several hours to complete
drying of one batch. With indirect heating often the dryers may
be operated under vaccum. The trays may rest on hollow plates
supplied with steam or hot water or may themselves contain
spaces for a heating fluid. Vapour from the solid may be
removed by an ejector or vacuum pump

18. Fluidized bed dryer
 Fluidized bed dryer consist of a steel shell of cylindrical or
rectangular cross section. A grid is provided in the column
over which the wet material is rests. In this type of dryer, the
drying gas is passed through the bed of solids at a velocity
sufficient to keep the bed in a fluidized state. Mixing and heat
transfer are very rapid in this type of dryers. The dryer can be
operated in batch or continuous mode.

19.  Fluidized bed dryer are suitable for granular and crystalline
materials. If fine particles are present, either from the feed
or from particle breakage in the fluidized bed, there may
be considerable solid carryover with the exit gas and bag
filters are needed for fines recovery.
 The main advantage of this type of dryer are: rapid and
uniform heat transfer, short drying time, good control of the
drying conditions.
 In case of rectangular fluid-bed dryers separate fluidized
compartments are provided through which the solids move
in sequence from inlet to outlet. These are known as plug
flow dryers; residence time is almost the same for all
particles in the compartments. But the drying conditions
can be changed from one compartment to another, and
often the last compartment is fluidized with cold gas to cool
the solid before discharge.

20. Solar Dryer
 Solar drying of agricultural products can be advantageous
alternative to sun drying for the farmers of developing nations.
 It can be a means of supplementing or replacing artificial dryers
with consequential savings in fuels and costs.
 Solar drying provides higher air temperatures and lower relative
humidities than simple sun drying.
 It enhances the drying rates and lower final moisture content of
dried products. As a result the risk of spoilage is reduced, both
during the actual drying process and in subsequent storage.
 In many cases, solar drying can be feasible alternative wholly or
partially to artificial drying. In solar drying system, a source of
motive power is required for some types but considerable
saving in energy costs is possible.
 Two basic principles are inherent in the operation of solar
dryers, firstly the solar heating of air, and secondly the removal
of moisture from the wet material by the heated air.

21.  Classification of solar dryers can be made on the following
criteria;
 1. The degree of exposure of the crop to insolation. Based
on degree of exposure the solar dryers are further
classified as direct and indirect types.,
 2. The mode of air flow through the dryer. Based on this
criteria, the solar dryers are further classified as natural and
forced convection dryers.
 3. The temperature of the air circulated to the drying
chamber

23. Thank You