REPORT
ON
STUDENT INDUSTRIAL WORK EXPERIENCE SCHEME (SIWES)
CARRIED OUT
ON
DRYING PROCESSES AND METHOD
BY
NNAMDI DIVINE FAVOUR
91E/0032/AE
SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL AND BIO-ENVRIONMENTAL
ENGINEERING, SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY, FEDERAL POLYTECHNIC
NEKEDE, OWERRI
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF NATIONAL
DIPLOMA (ND) IN AGRICULTURAL AND BIO-ENVRIONMENTAL ENGINEERING
SEPTEMBER, 2021
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DEDICATION
This report is dedicated to Almighty God for His infinite mercy towards the
successfully completion of my four (4) months industrial training and to my
parents and relations for their encouragement and support during this period of
attachment.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I must thank Almighty God for His love and kindness particularly for protection,
guidance and good health He granted me from beginning of this I.T to the end,
may His name be praised forever more.
I have to express my sincere and profound gratitude to my I.T coordinator, Engr.
Ndubuisi C.O who made this work a successful one, who saw me through the
various stages this report, may the Almighty God bless and protect you.
Also, my special thanks goes to my lovely family for their prayers and supports
throughout my stay in school and to my lovely friend who supported and believed
in me for success. My prayer is that Almighty God will continue to protect and
keep you all, Amen.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page
Dedication
Acknowledgement
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction
Drying and Food Preservation
CHAPTER TWO
Applications of Drying
Food
Non-food products
Sludges and fecal materials from sanitation processes
Drying Mechanism
CHAPTER THREE
Drying Methods
Sun Drying
Disadvantages of Sun Drying
Solar Drying
Direct solar dryer
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Indirect solar dryer
Hot-air dryers
Spray dryer
Tunnel dryer
Bin dryer
Rotary dryer
Fluidised-bed dryer
Osmotic Dehydration
Smoking
CHAPTER FOUR
Problems in Applying the Osmotic Dehydration Process in the Food Industry
Product Sensory Quality
Syrup Management for long application and reuse of syrup.
Conclusion
References
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CHAPTER ONE
Introduction
Drying is a mass transfer process consisting of the removal of water or
another solvent[1] by evaporation from a solid, semi-solid or liquid. This process is
often used as a final production step before selling or packaging products. To be
considered "dried", the final product must be solid, in the form of a continuous
sheet (e.g., paper), long pieces (e.g., wood), particles (e.g., cereal grains or corn
flakes) or powder (e.g., sand, salt, washing powder, milk powder). A source
of heat and an agent to remove the vapor produced by the process are often
involved. In bioproducts like food, grains, and pharmaceuticals like vaccines, the
solvent to be removed is almost invariably water. Desiccation may
be synonymous with drying or considered an extreme form of drying.
In the most common case, a gas stream, e.g., air, applies the heat by convection
and carries away the vapor as humidity. Other possibilities are vacuum drying,
where heat is supplied by conduction or radiation (or microwaves), while the vapor
thus produced is removed by the vacuum system. Another indirect technique
is drum drying (used, for instance, for manufacturing potato flakes), where a
heated surface is used to provide the energy, and aspirators draw the vapor outside
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the room. In contrast, the mechanical extraction of the solvent, e.g., water,
by filtration or centrifugation, is not considered "drying" but rather "draining".
Drying and Food Preservation
The preservation of foods by drying is the time-honored and most common method
used by humans and the food processing industry. Dehydration (or drying) is
defined as ‘the application of heat under controlled conditions to remove the
majority of the water normally present in a food by evaporation’ (or in the case of
freeze drying by sublimation). This definition excludes other unit operations which
remove water from foods (for example mechanical separations and membrane
concentration, evaporation and baking as these normally remove much less water
than dehydration.
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CHAPTER TWO
Applications of Drying
Food
Foods are dried to inhibit microbial development and quality decay. However, the
extent of drying depends on product end-use. Cereals and oilseeds are dried after
harvest to the moisture content that allows microbial stability during storage.
Vegetables are blanched before drying to avoid rapid darkening, and drying is not
only carried out to inhibit microbial growth, but also to avoid browning during
storage. Concerning dried fruits, the reduction of moisture acts in combination with
its acid and sugar contents to provide protection against microbial growth.
Products such as milk powder must be dried to very low moisture contents in order
to ensure flowability and avoid caking. This moisture is lower than that required to
ensure inhibition to microbial development. Other products as crackers are dried
beyond the microbial growth threshold to confer a crispy texture, which is liked by
consumers.
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Drying of fish in Lofoten in the production of stockfish
Non-food products
Among non-food products, some of those that require considerable drying are
wood (as part of timber processing), paper, flax, and washing powder. The first
two, owing to their organic origins, may develop mold if insufficiently dried.
Another benefit of drying is a reduction in volume and weight.
Sludges and fecal materials from sanitation processes
In the area of sanitation, drying of sewage sludge from sewage treatment plants,
fecal sludge or feces collected in urine-diverting dry toilets (UDDT) is a common
method to achieve pathogen kill, as pathogens can only tolerate a certain dryness
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level. In addition, drying is required as a process step if the excreta based materials
are meant to be incinerated.
Drying Mechanism
In some products having relatively high initial moisture content, an initial linear
reduction of the average product moisture content as a function of time may be
observed for a limited time, often known as a "constant drying rate period".
Usually, in this period, it is surface moisture outside individual particles that is
being removed. The drying rate during this period is mostly dependent on the rate
of heat transfer to the material being dried. Therefore, the maximum achievable
drying rate is considered to be heat-transfer limited. If drying is continued, the
slope of the curve, the drying rate, becomes less steep (falling rate period) and
eventually tends to become nearly horizontal at very long times. The product
moisture content is then constant at the "equilibrium moisture content", where it is,
in practice, in equilibrium with the dehydrating medium. In the falling-rate period,
water migration from the product interior to the surface is mostly by molecular
diffusion, i,e. the water flux is proportional to the moisture content gradient. This
means that water moves from zones with higher moisture content to zones with
lower values, a phenomenon explained by the second law of thermodynamics. If
water removal is considerable, the products usually undergo shrinkage and
deformation, except in a well-designed freeze-drying process. The drying rate in
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the falling-rate period is controlled by the rate of removal of moisture or solvent
from the interior of the solid being dried and is referred to as being "mass-transfer
limited". This is widely noticed in hygroscopic products such as fruits and
vegetables, where drying occurs in the falling rate period with the constant drying
rate period said to be negligible.
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CHAPTER THREE
Drying Methods
Classification of dryers according to heat mode transfer
Sun Drying
Sun drying tomatoes
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Disadvantages of Sun Drying
1. -Contaminations from the environment
2. -Product losses and contaminations by insects and birds
3. -Floor space requirements
4. -Difficulty in controlling the process
5. -Inconsistent sensory quality
Solar Drying
Direct solar dryer Indirect Solar Dryer
Direct solar dryer
Direct solar dryers expose the substance to be dehydrated to direct sunlight.
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Indirect solar dryer
Indirect driers are constructed so the sun shines upon a solar collector (a shallow
box, the insides painted black, topped with a pane of glass) heating air which then
moves upward through a stack of four to six trays loaded with produce.
Hot-air dryers
Spray dryer
A fine dispersion of pre-concentrated food (40–60% moisture) is first ‘atomized’ to
form fine droplets and then sprayed into a co- or counter-current flow of heated air
at 150–300ºC in a large drying chamber.
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Tunnel dryer
Layers of food are dried on trays, which are stacked on trucks programmed to
move semi continuously through an insulated tunnel. Able to dry large quantities
of food in a relatively short time However, the method has now been largely
superseded by conveyor drying and fluidized bed drying as a result of their higher
energy efficiency, reduced labor costs and better product quality.
Bin dryer
Bin dryers are large, cylindrical or rectangular containers fitted with a mesh base.
Hot air passes up through a bed of food at relatively low velocities
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Rotary dryer
The food stuff is contained in a horizontal cylinder through which it travels.
Heated either by air flow through the cylinder or by conduction of heat from the
cylinder walls.
Fluidised-bed dryer
Warm air is blown upwards directly underneath the food, causing it to flow and
remain separated. This procedure is suitable for small items.
Osmotic Dehydration
This dehydration process generally does not produce a product of low moisture
content that can be considered shelf stable. Need further processing (generally by
air, freeze-, or vacuum-drying methods) to obtain a shelf-stable product, or the
dehydration process could be used as a pretreatment for canning, freezing, and
minimal processing. Osmotic dehydration is the process of water removal by
immersion of water-containing cellular solid in a concentrated aqueous solution.
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Water and solutes transfer in osmotic process
Smoking
One of the most ancient food preservation processes, and in some communities one
of the most important. The use of wood smoke to preserve foods is nearly as old as
open-air drying. The heat associated with the generation of smoke also causes a
drying effect. Smoking has been mainly used with meat and fish.
The main purposes of smoking are:
1. -It imparts desirable flavours and colours to the foods.
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2. -Some of the compounds formed during smoking have a preservative effect
(bactericidal and antioxidant) due to the presence of a number of
compounds.
3. In many cases, smoking is considered as a pre-treatment rather than a drying
process.
4. -Smoke is effective in preventing lipid oxidation in meat and fish products.
5. -Smoke contains phenolic compounds, acids, and carbonyls, and the smoky
flavour is primarily due to the volatile phenolic compounds.
6. -Wood smoke is extremely complex and more than 400 volatiles have been
identified.
7. -Wood smoke contains nitrogen oxides which are responsible for the
characteristic colour of smoked foods, whereas polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbon components and phenolic compounds contribute to its unique
taste. These three chemicals are also most controversial from a health
perspective.
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CHAPTER FOUR
Problems in Applying the Osmotic Dehydration Process in the Food Industry
Product Sensory Quality
1. Salty products when uses salt.
2. Sweet products when uses sugar.
3. Loss of acidity.
4. Controlling solute diffusion and optimised process may be useful to
overcome this problem
Syrup Management for long application and reuse of syrup.
1. Syrup recycling
2. Solute addition
3. Syrup composition and concentration
4. Reuse of syrup
5. Syrup disposal
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Conclusion
Drying is another common method of meat preservation. Drying removes moisture
from meat products so that microorganisms cannot grow. Dry sausages, freeze-
dried meats, and jerky products are all examples of dried meats capable of being
stored at room temperature without rapid spoilage.
Proper drying is therefore ensured by adjusting air circulation, temperature, and
humidity. Drying procedures differ for long and short macaroni. In the continuous
process, after a first hour in which a crust is formed to protect against mold
infection, slow drying is practiced.
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References
Daly-Koziel, Kathy and Fudeko Maruyama. Drying Food at Home. University of
Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service. H.E.3-501. 1997. Accessed
January 2018 at
[Link]
Drying - definition of drying by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and
Encyclopedia". Farlex. Retrieved 23 April 2011.
Mosbacher, Sue. UCCE Central Sierra Program Representative. Master Food
Preservers & Master Gardeners. Drying Fruits and Vegetables. PowerPoint
Presentation. Slide 5. Accessed January 2018 at
[Link]
Onwude, Daniel I.; Hashim, Norhashila; Janius, Rimfiel B.; Nawi, Nazmi Mat;
Abdan, Khalina (2016-02-04). "Modeling the thin-layer drying of fruits and
vegetables: A review" (PDF). Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and
Food Safety. 15 (3): 599–618. doi:10.1111/1541-4337.12196.
Strande, L., Ronteltap, M., Brdjanovic, D. (eds.) (2014). Faecal Sludge
Management (FSM) book - Systems Approach for Implementation and
Operation Archived 2017-10-14 at the Wayback Machine. IWA Publishing,
UK (ISBN 9781780404738).
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