VISVESVARAYA TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY ,
BELAGAVI
Complete report on the Seminar
PADDY PROCESSING
COURSE NAME : AGRICULTURAL PROCESS
ENGINEERING
COURSE CODE : BAG403
Submitted by : Jashwith (4AL23AG004)
Karthik CR (4AL23AG007)
Keerthesh (4AL23AG008)
Department of Agriculture Engineering
Alvas Institute of Engineering and technology, Mijar
PADDY PROCESSING
Paddy is the seed of certain variety of grass of Gramineae family.
Botanical name of paddy is Oryza sativa. Nearly 1/2 to 2/3 of
total world population has partially or totally adapted rice as the
main food. It comprises of Palea and Lemma, two halves of the
seed cover known as husk or hull and bottom portion known as
empty glume which keeps palea and lemma in position. Rice
kernel remains covered under the husk.
The various unit operations and equipment used in a modern
rice mill are:
1. Cleaning/cleaner : for removing foreign matter from paddy
2. Shelling/rubber-roll sheller : for separating husk from the
paddy grain,
3. Husk separation/husk aspirator : for separation of husk from the product obtained from
sheller.
4. Paddy separation/paddy separator : for separation of paddy from brown rice
5. Bran removal/polisher/whitener : removal of bran layers from brown rice
6. Bran aspiration/bran aspirator : removal of bran adhering to the rice kernel
7. Grading/grader : for separation of broken rice from head rice
Basic flow chart
1
Parboiling method;
It is a premilling (optional) treatment given to paddy prior to its milling to achieve
maximum recovery of head rice and to minimise breakage. In this process, paddy is
soaked and the wet paddy is heated and then dried. The paddy grain is mainly composed
of polygonal starch granules. The voids or inter-granular spaces are filled with air and
moisture .Due to these voids cracks develop and it cause breakage during milling .This
breakage may be reduced by gelatinising the starch. During gelatinization process starch
swells and fill the voids.
During soaking of paddy water penetrates into starch granules and results in swelling of
grains. In heating the energy weakens the granule structure and more surface becomes
available for water absorption and results in irreversible granule swelling. This
phenomenon is called gelatinization of starch. The temperature at which
gelatinization takes place is known as the gelatinization temperature and it is specific for
particular variety in the near hood of 70°C.
The main objectives of parboiling are:
(1) to increase the total and head rice yield of paddy.
(2) to prevent the loss of nutrients during milling.
(3) to salvage wet or damaged paddy.
(4) to mill the rice according to requirements of consumers.
Parboiling of paddy is carried out in three steps
1) Soaking (2) Steaming (3) Drying
2
Advantages of Parboiling
➢ The milling yield increases and the quality is improved, as there are fewer broken
grains.
➢ The grain structure becomes compact and vitreous, even if some kernels were entirely
or partially chalky.
➢ The milled rice becomes translucent and shining.
➢ The shelf life of parboiled paddy and milled parboiled rice is longer than in the raw
state, as germination is no longer possible and the kernel becomes hard enough to resist
the attack by insects and to adsorption of atmospheric moisture.
➢ The grains remain firmer during cooking and less likely to become sticky.
➢ A greater amount of water is absorbed during cooking causing the rice to swel.
➢ After cooking the rice absorbs less fat from added condiments, the rice keeps longer
and does not become rancid easily.
➢ Parboiled rice retains more proteins, vitamins and minerals.
➢ Parboiled rice is more digestible and less solids are left behind in the cooking water.
➢ Bran of parboiled rice has more oil.
Disadvantages of Parboiling
➢ The heat treatment during parboiling destroys some natural anti-oxidants, hence
rancidity developed in parboiled rice during storage is more than that in raw rice.
➢ Parboiled rice takes more time to cook than raw rice and may have characteristic off-
flavour which may not be liked by raw rice eaters.
➢ Parboiling process needs extra capital investment.
➢ Parboiling adds to the cost of drying.
➢ As paddy is soaked for a longer time during parboiling, it may be attacked by spores
which may cause health hazard.
➢ More power is required for polishing of parboiled rice. The process becomes difficult
and lowers the capacity of polisher
3
Parboiling methods types.
The methods of parboiling may be classified as under:
A. Traditional methods :
(i) Single boiling
(ii) Double boiling
B. Modern methods :
(i) CFTRI method
(ii) Jadavpur university method
(iii) Pressure parboiling process
Parboiling methods Equipment
Equipment Purpose Used In
Soaking Tank Soaking paddy in water All methods
Steam Boiler Generating steam Modern methods
Parboiling Vessel Steaming paddy All methods
Dryer Drying the parboiled paddy Modern methods
Pre-cleaner / De-stoner Cleaning raw paddy Modern methods
Conveyor / Elevator Paddy movement between units Industrial setups
Vacuum Soaking Tank Accelerated soaking Advanced methods
4
Milling
Milling of paddy is the major operation in paddy processing. It removes husk and outer layer
of bran so as to produce acceptable white rice with minimum breakage and impurities.
1. Head rice : It refers to the milled whole rice of 6/8 and more of actual kernel size.
2. Broken rice : Rice kernels which are lesser than 6/8 of the actual size are called broken rice.
It is further divided into three categories, big brokens, these include 4/8 to 6/8 of kernel portion,
small brokens, these include 1/8 to 4/8 parts of kernel and points lesser than 1 /8 part of rice
grain.
3. Total rice : It includes both head and broken rice.
Milling Equipment
In some rice growing areas rice milling is accomplished by primitive methods such as pounding
the paddy in a wooden mortar and pestle followed by winnowing. It is estimated that in India
1/3 of the total paddy production is processed by hand pounders and foot pounders. Labor
requirement is high and total rice recovery ranges between 60-65%.
5
Huller:
Most common machine used for paddy hulling in India is “Engleberg” huller . Working
element is ribbed cast iron roller rotated at 600 to 900 rpm inside a concentric cylinder .
Friction between the grains and steel parts of huller causes the husk and bran to be scrapped
off. capacity ranges from 250 to 750 kg/h and the Average yield is 56% for raw rice and 62-
64% for parboiled rice. It generates around 25% to 30% broken rice.
Advantages:
➢ The initial investment and operating cost are small
➢ The huller can be manufactured locally and operated with unskilled labor
➢ The huller can be utilized for whitening of parboiled rice as it produces uniformly
whitened rice.
Disadvantages:
➢ Both total and head yield are low (in comparison to other milling machines) as the
degree of whitening cannot be adjusted to low level.
➢ The huller bran, contaminated with large amount of husk, cannot be utilized for oil
extraction and for feed purpose
6
Under runner disc huller
Consists of two horizontal cast iron disc partly covered with an abrasive layer preferably of
emery. Top disc is fixed while bottom disc is rotated. By centrifugal force the paddy is forced
between the disk and dehusking takes place due to friction and pressure.
Disc diameter, Capacity, kg/h Horsepower
mm requirement
750 450-600 3.0
1000 700-1000 3.5
1250 1000-1400 4.0
1400 1600-2100 5.5
Centrifugal dehusker
Centrifugal dehusker shells paddy due to
impact. Paddy grains are subjected to a
centrifugal force by means of a rotating
impeller with a rotational speed ranging
between 2500-3000 rpm. Initial cost and
operational cost is low. Requires less power, 1
hp/500 kg paddy dehusking per hour.
7
Rubber roll sheller
Consists of two rubber rolls rotating in opposite direction at different speeds . One roll is fixed
and the other is adjustable and it runs about 25% slower than the fixed one. Difference in
surface speeds of the rolls develop a shearing force on grain surface. During shelling, the faster
roll should have a peripheral surface speed of 10 to 13 m/s, while slower roll 8-10 m/s.
Advantages:
➢ Highest percentage of sound and whole husked rice is produced as the risk of breaking
the kernel is small and the chance of forming scratches of the kernel is also nil.
➢ The mixture of different sizes and varieties in husked rice.
➢ Husking ratio can be increased to 0.9 without reduction in head yield.
➢ It does not remove germ.
Disadvantages:
➢ Operating costs are high due to wear of rubber rolls.
➢ Storage life of rubber roll is limited as storage deteriorates its quality and in
consequence shortens its working life.
➢ It requires skilled labor too operative the machine efficiently.
8
Paddy separator
This machine is required to blow away husk from the mixture of shelled rice, husk and
unshelled paddy obtained from huller/sheller. Simple machine with a fan to distribute the
product uniformly on an oscillating sieve with fine perforations.
Paddy separation depends on following
factors:
• Uniformity of paddy
• Variety of paddy
• Condition of paddy
• husking machine
• Condition of husking machine
• Operator skills
Compartment type paddy separator
In this machine [Link] decks varies from 1 to 4 and the Capacity is 40 kg for long grain and
60 kg for short grain , It have Zig-zag shape with impact angle of 30° Two types, fixed stroke
and adjustable stroke. Fixed stroke runs at 100 rpm with table inclination 3 to 4°For
adjustable stroke, capacity for long grain rice is 90-96 stroke at 114 rpm and Short grain rice
is 75-80 stroke at 124 rpm
9
Tray separator
It Consists of indented trays mounted one above the other about 5 cm apart Typical model has
2270 kg/h for long grain and 3180 kg/h for short grain with 1 hp motor. Power requirement of
such machine is about half of the power required for compartment type separators.
Removal of bran
In this process, the silver skin and the bran layers of the brown rice are removed. It is also
termed as whitening. The two processes used to remove the bran layer from the brown rice are
abrasion and friction . Abrasion process uses a rough surface which may be an abrasive stone
to break and peel the bran off the grain . The friction process uses the friction between the
grains themselves to break and peel off the bran.
10
Three kinds of whitening machines are widely used in the rice processing
industries
The Vertical whitening cone
This machine basically consists of a cone shaped cast iron
cylinder with an abrasive coating. The cone is fixed on a
vertical shaft that rotates either clockwise or counter
clockwise. A wire screen having mesh size as per the variety
of paddy to be polished is fixed around the cone . The average
distance between the cone coating and the screen is about 10
mm. Adjustable rubber brake divide the wire screen at regular
intervals. These brakes are 30 to 50 mm wide depending on
the size of the machine.
Horizontal abrasive whitening machine[29-05-2025 1
The machine consists of
an abrasive roll operating
in a cylindrical metal
perforated screen which
is horizontally mounted .
The screen cylinder
covers the emery roll
leaving an uniform gap
where brown rice is fed
through a small screw
conveyor. The emery roll
rotates while the screen
cylinder remains
stationary. Polishing is obtained due to rubbing of grains with emery roll, screen and grain. At
the delivery end of polishing chamber one adjustable weight is placed by which degree of
polishing is controlled. Adjustable brakes are also fitted to screen cylinder, to help in
obtaining required polishing. Bran removed from rice escapes through holes and is aspirated
out by a blower. The blower which collects and carries the bran also provides cooling to rice
grains, emery roll and screen cage.
11
Horizontal jet pearler
The jet pearler is used to remove the final part of the bran layer and simultaneously cool the
grain through an air stream of ambient temperature.
It consists mainly of a horizontal
partly hollow perforated shaft on
which a cast steel cylinder with
friction ridges is clamped .Just
behind the two ridges the cylinder
has a long opening which allows the
passage for air. This cylinder runs
inside a hexagonal chamber
consisting of two halves hexagonal
screens with slotted perforations. A
feeding screw with horizontal shaft
feeds the rice into the press chamber
of the machine. The clearance between the hexagonal screen and the cast steel cylinder is
adjustable by a screw controlling the distance between the two halves of the screen.
The rice produced by this machine is free from bran and cool. However, for varieties and the
gratis performance is not as good as for short grain varieties and there is considerable
increase in brokens.
Rice polishers
In some markets there is demand for a glossy and
highly polished rice. For this, rice polishers are
used after the whiteners. Two types of polishing
machines are in use as under.
Vertical polishing cone
It is a similar machine as the vertical whitening
cone. The basic differences between the two are
that in polishing, (1) the cone is made of steel and
is covered with wood on which leather strips have
been nailed, (2) no rubber brakes are used, and (3)
the speed of rotation of the cone is about 25%
lower than the whitening [Link] operation of
this machine is similar to vertical whitening cone.
12
Horizontal polisher
It consists of a steel cylinder on which a large number of leather strips are screwed. The
cylinder is mounted on a horizontal shaft that rotates inside a cylindrical chamber covered
with slotted perforated screen. The leather strips roll the whitened rice over and over against
the screen. Under slight pressure, the remaining bran is removed and the rice becomes shiny
and glossier. This machine produces few brokens. Its power requirement is 30 to 40% less
than that of whiters.
Grading
Normally paddy is not graded prior to milling, but under certain circumstances the grading of
paddy is desirable or even necessary. Grading results into; (1) separation of immature grains,
(2) pressure adjustment of huller and (3) independent milling of graded lots. Grading in rice
milling usually refers to the separation of brokens from the head rice and the further
classification of brokens.
Three machines are used for grading of milled rice,
(1) Rotating reel graders
(2) Indented cylinder graders
(3) Oscillating sieves
13
Rotating reel graders
This consist of a rotating cylinder made up of
wire screen reels or slotted metal sheet. The
dimensions of these perforations are decided as
per the varieties of rice. Milled rice is fed to the
machine from one end through hopper. The rice
slowly advances to the other end. The rotating
cylinder is divided in three or more parts with
different size of perforations. Different sizes of
brokens fall out through these perforations where
as head rice is delivered out of the machine at the
other end.
Rotating indented cylinder
The machine consists of a cylinder having cup
like indents on its inner wall (Fig. 5.41). This
cylinder rotates at a low speed of about 30-40
rpm. It is installed on a slight inclined plane.
At the centre of the cylinder a screw conveyor
is fitted along with an adjustable trough. The
indented cylinder grades rice according to
length. As the mixture of head rice and broken
rice is fed, broken rice gets accom-modated
inside the cups while head rice keeps on
sliding downwards through the inclination.
Rotary motion of the cylinder carries the brokens up inside the cups.
Oscillating grading sieves
An oscillating sieve is a slightly inclined sieve supported by flexible wooden or steel bars. This
is moved back and forth by a vertical eccentric drive from a transmission shaft. Frequency of
stroke varies between 200 to 400 cycles/min.
The sieves are made from a perforated steel sheet or a wire screen of desired sizes. The brokens
are separated with the help of these sieves and the head rice is retained on the sieves and
delivered outside through a spout.
14