Learning Tasks/Activities
Home Assignment No. 1.2: For Class Discussion in the following meeting.
1. Conduct technology search on preparatory processing operations
of the following AB products:
a. Fish for canning
b. Rice Seed Materials
c. Banana for Export
d. Cassava Flour
e. Lumber
2. Draw the specific process flow diagram of required preparatory
steps for each of the product above. Start from receiving raw
material down to pre-cutting, slicing, or size reduction operation.
Assessment
Students’ learning performance are assessed in the next class meeting through
their output information shared from the assigned tasks.
References
HENDERSON, SM & RL PERRY. 1976. 3rd Ed. Agricultural Process
Engineering. AVI Publishing Co., Inc. Connecticut, USA.
BROOKER, DB, FW BAKKER-ARKEMA, [Link]. 1974. Drying cereal grains. The
AVI Publishing Co., Inc. West Point, Connecticut.
Lesson 1.3: Size Reduction
Lesson Summary
The general term “size reduction” involves cutting, crushing and grinding, and
milling for hard dry agricultural products. The term can be applied too, to soft
and high-moisture products in which there can also be chipping instead of
cutting, grating or shredding instead of crushing, and pulping instead of milling.
The reduction in size is brought about by mechanical means without change in
chemical properties of the material, and uniformity in size and shape of the
individual grains or slices at the end product is usually desired. The goals of
size reduction operation are to: add value to the end-product, increase drying
rate with more exposed area of tissues, prolong storage life of the end-product.
Learning Outcomes
Explain the basic principles and practices in size-reduction operations of
AB products as delivered to a processing plant.
Apply analytical skills in solving quantitative problems using the available
equations.
Motivation Question
What the different mechanisms of size reduction machines?
Discussion
A. Size Characteristics
The performance of a machine for reducing the size of material is
characterized by the capacity, the power required per unit of material
reduced, the size and shape of the product before and after reduction, and
the range in size and shape of the resultant product.
Reduced materials may be placed in three groups or classes based upon
size.
1. Dimension range – particles or units which are accurately measured
and easily seen with minimum measurement approximately 1/8 in. or
more. Diced fruit and vegetables and chopped forage are examples of
this group.
2. Sieve range – particles with minimum dimension range of 0.125 to
00029 in. approximately. Granular materials such as ground feed and
commercial fertilizers fall in this group.
3. Microscopic range – particles with minimum dimension less than
0.0029 in. Materials such as chemical powders, dusts, and flours are
examples.
B. Sieve Analysis
The simplest method and the one most frequently used for placing granular
materials in Class 2 above is screening through a series of Tyler sieves.
These sieves, which were adopted by the US Bureau of Standards and can
be used as a basis for sizing all screened materials used in processing.
Their characteristics are given in Table 1 below.
Table 1.1 Tyler Standards Screen Sieve.
Mesh, No. Diameter Size of Opening in.
openings to of
inch wire, in. Actual Approx.
…. 0.148 1.050 1
…. 0.135 0.742 3/4
…. 0.105 0.525 ½
…. 0.092 0.371 3/8
3 0.070 0.263 1/4
4 0.065 0.185 3/16
6 0.036 0.131 1/8
8 0.032 0.093 3/32
10 0.035 0.065 1/16
14 0.025 0.046 3/64
20 0.0172 0.0328 1/32
28 0.0125 0.0232 ….
35 0.0122 0.0164 1/64
48 0.0092 0.0116 ….
65 0.0072 0.0082 ….
100 0.0042 0.0058 ….
150 0.0026 0.0041 …..
200 0.0021 0.0029 …..
C. Fineness Modulus Perform laboratory experiment
Fineness modulus indicates the uniformity of grind in the resultant product
and is defined as the sum of the weight fractions retained above each sieve
divided by 100. The 3/8-in., 4-, 8-, 14-, 28-, 48-, and 100-mesh sieves are
used in the set.
Example: Determine fineness modulus for a certain ground material, given
the tabulated results. Classify this ground product.
Table 1.2 Sample results of ground material.
Perceived
Mesh Size Multiply
Retained,
No. Opening, in. by
%
3/8 0.371 0.0 7 = 0.00
4 0.185 5.7 6 = 34.2
5 =
8 0.093 23.2
116.0
4 =
14 0.046 35.1
140.4
28 0.0232 18.4 3 = 55.2
48 0.0116 9.3 2 = 18.6
100 0.0058 5.8 1 = 5.8
Pan 2.5 0 = 0.00
Total 100.0 370.2
370.2
Fineness Modulus, F. M. = 100
= 3.7 …. 1.3
Standard Procedure:
1. Oven dry 250 g sample to constant weight at 212oF.
2. Shake in the Ro-Tap for 5 min.
3. Calculate the F. M. value.
4. Calculate the average size of grain D in inches, using the
equation:
𝐷 = 0.0041(2)𝐹.𝑀. ……. 1.4
𝑫 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟓𝟑𝟐𝟖 𝒊𝒏.
The calculated F.M. value if the material is shelled corn is classified as
Medium Size based on the Table 1.3 below:
Table 1.3 Fineness Modulus for Classifying Ground Feeds.
Whole Grind Classification
Material
Grain Coarse Medium Fine Very Fine
Ear Corn 4.80 3.60 2.40 1.80
Shelled Corn 6.00 4.80 3.60 2.40 1.80
Barley 5.00 4.10 3.20 2.30 1.50
Oats 4.50 3.70 2.90 2.10 1.40
Soybeans 6.00 4.80 3.60 2.40 1.80
Wheat 5.00 4.10 3.20 2.30 1.50
Corn fodder …. 5.50 4.20 2.90 ….
Hay …. 4.00 3.10 2.20 1.40
D. Energy Requirements
The energy required to reduce a unit size is proportional to a dimension of
the reduced particle relative to a similar dimension of the original particle
raised to some power. Therefore, the energy necessary to reduce a
specific mass of particle from one size to another is:
1 𝑑𝐿
𝐸 = −𝐶 ∫2 …….. 1.5
𝐿𝑛
Where E = unit of energy
C = constant
L = particle dimension
n = constant power
Kick assumed that the energy requirements are a function of a common
dimension of the material; so n = 1. Therefore, the energy requirements
are:
𝐿
𝐸 = 𝐶 ln (𝐿1 ) …….. 1.6
2
Equation 1.6 is known as Kick’s Law.
Rittinger assumed that size reduction is essentially a shearing procedure.
Consequently, the energy required is proportional to the new surfaces
created, which in turn are proportional to the square of a common linear
dimension. Therefore n in equation 1.1 equals 2 and the energy
requirements are:
1 1
𝐸 = 𝐶( − ) ……… 1.7
𝐿2 𝐿1
Equation 1.7 is known as Rittinger’s Law.
Example: If 5 hp-hr are required to reduce a material from ¼-in. size to 10
mesh, how much power be required if the reduction were to 20 mesh?
By Kick’s Law:
𝐿1
𝐸 = 𝐶 ln ( )
𝐿2
𝐸 5 hp-hr
𝐶= = = 8.56 hp-hr
𝐿1 0.25
ln ( ) ln ( )
𝐿2 0.065
0.25
∴ 𝐸 = 8.56 ln ( ) = 𝟕. 𝟓𝟓 hp-hr
0.0328
By Rittinger’s Law:
1 1
𝐸 = 𝐶( − )
𝐿2 𝐿1
𝐸 5 hp-hr
𝐶= = = 0.438
1 1 1 1
(𝐿 ) − (𝐿 ) ( )−( )
2 1 0.065 0.25
1 1
𝐸 = 0.438 [( )−( )] = 𝟏𝟏. 𝟔 hp-hr
0.0328 0.25
Rittinger’s Law is more applicable to non-agricultural hard products like
marble, stones.
E. Size Reduction Machines
The size of raw AB product is reduced by (1) cutting, (2) crushing, and (3)
shearing either singly or in combination.
Cutting is separation or reduction which is produced by pushing or forcing
a thin knife through the material to be reduced. Minimum deformation and
rupture of the reduced particles results. Cutting is especially well adapted
for reduction of fruits, vegetables, meat, and marine products. Any
machines that employ sharp knives as cutting blade are considered
Cutting or Slicing Machines.
Crushing is reduction by applying a force to the unit to be reduced in
excess of its strength. Rupture of tissues results by mechanical pressure
exerted on the material in many directions. The resulting particles are
irregular shape and size. Example products produced from crushing are
animal feeds, cereal grits, flour, chemical fertilizers, fruit and vegetable
purees. Crushers are also used to extract juice from fruits and canes.
Machines under this category are classified as: Hammer mills, Attrition
mills, and Crushers. More discussion of these machines are separately
presented in Lesson 1.5 under Milling Operation.
Shearing is a combination of cutting and crushing. The unit consists of a
sharp knife and a bar. The knife provides the cutting action and the dull
shearing edge of the bar serves to crush the fibrous material. An example
of this is the Forage Cutter.
Learning Tasks/Activities
Practice solve the ff. exercise. ?
Lesson Exercise No. 1.1
1. Classify the ground wheat products by determining the fineness
modulus and average particle size. The percent retained in each screen
is given below.
Mesh Opening, in. % Retained
0.185 0.00
0.093 23.97
0.046 43.86
0.0232 17.68
0.0116 8.59
0.0058 3.60
Pan 2.30
2. How much power is required to grind soybean whole seeds into very
fine particles using C – value of 8.8 hp-hr from the Kick’s Law equation?
Assessment
Exercise No. 1.1 shall be submitted, checked and returned and rated at 1.667%
of the total score.
References
HENDERSON, SM & RL PERRY. 1976. 3rd Ed. Agricultural Process
Engineering. AVI Publishing Co., Inc. Connecticut, USA.
BROOKER, DB, FW BAKKER-ARKEMA, [Link]. 1974. Drying cereal grains. The
AVI Publishing Co., Inc. West Point, Connecticut.
Lesson 1.4: Drying Operation
Lesson Summary
The removal of moisture from a product is known interchangeably as drying or
dehydration. To differentiate these terms, drying is the removal of moisture to
a moisture content in equilibrium with normal atmospheric air or to such a
moisture content that decrease in quality from molds, enzymatic action, and
insects will be negligible – 12 to 14% wet basis – for most materials. While,
dehydration is the removal of moisture to a very low moisture content, nearly
bone-dry condition. Bone-dry material has all the moisture been removed; the
moisture content is considered almost zero.
Learning Outcomes
Explain the basic principles and practices in drying operations of AB
products with reduced forms.
Apply analytical skills in solving quantitative problems using the available
equations.
Motivation Question
What is the mechanism of drying process in a biological material?
Discussion
A. Importance of Drying
The importance of drying farm products is increasing. Drying permits the
farmer to secure a greater economic return for the following reasons:
1. Early harvest (at high moisture content) minimizes field damage and
shatter loss and facilitates tillage operations for such products as