Design and Fabrication of a Low Cost Fluidized Bed Reactor

Abstract

Many farmers now use the dryer as a part of their normal grain-harvesting system even during wet seasons. This helps in reducing spoilage. However, most available dryers are expensive to purchase and maintain. This work therefore is an attempt to develop a simple low cost drying bed that can lead to reduced drying time. The fluidized bed designed and fabricated in this work consists of the drying column, fluidized plate, the inlet and outlet unit, the heating unit and the fan. The evaluation considered the drying time and temperature in achieving quality. The drying efficiency and the amount of moisture reduced per time and were investigated using rice and wheat with moisture contents of 23% and 33% respectively. The dryer has shorter drying times and efficiencies of 89% and 90% for rice and wheat respectively.

Keywords: Fluidized Bed, Grain Drying, Low Cost Design.