Experimental Investigation of the Drying Kinetics of Corn in a Packed and Fluidized Bed

Abstract

In this paper, experimental data on the drying kinetics of corn in a packed and fluidized bed are presented. Experimental research was conducted on a laboratory apparatus. Corn was used as a material because of its significance in agriculture and the food industry. An analysis of the influence of the operational parameters (the drying medium velocity i.e. the fluidization number, the drying medium temperature and the height of a packed bed) on the drying kinetics of corn, was performed. The experiment shows that increasing the fluidization number and the velocity of the drying medium, has no significant influence on the drying kinetics of corn, except during the initial period of drying.