Hot air drying tunnel for fruit esp plums - employs counter current air flow pre-drying followed by co-current drying

Abstract

Abstract A hot air drying tunnel partic. for fruit-drying is claimed the fruit being carried in open-work, racked trollies which are advanced, intermittently, in single file through the tunnel. At each pause in the advance the file of trollies presents a trolley-sized intermediate gap into which the hot air is blown, the air stream here dividing into an upstream flow counter-current to the trollies advance, and a downstream flow, co-current with the trollies, a similar gap is presented just inside the loading door through which the trollies enter the tunnel, the upstream air-flow being partly or completely recycled from this second gap to pass again thrugh heater and tunnel while make-up fresh air can be induced via a controllable shutter. Both upstream and downstream air-flow flows can be partly exhausted to atmos. through vents in the tunnel loading and discharge doors. Hot and drying tunnel partic. for fruits, esp. plums.

Inventors

No inventors recorded.

Bibliographic Details