Convective drying of wheat in a dense fixed bed occurs unevenly. First, the layer on the side of the drying agent inlet dries, and then the layers following it are dried. Changes in grain moisture content along the height of the fixed bed depend on the drying agent parameters (temperature, relative humidity and speed of movement along the column), grain parameters (moisture content at the beginning of drying, layer condition and its initial temperature) and the layer height. These parameters also affect the grain drying rate and drying time. The aim of the work is to determine the effect of the drying agent speed and the initial moisture content of the grain on the drying rate and time. The article presents the results of a study of convective drying of a fixed layer of wheat. A gravimetric method was used to study the kinetics of wheat drying. The essence of the method was that the material together with the dryer was periodically disconnected from the continuously operating unit and weighed. This made it possible to determine the moisture content of the grain at the time of weighing. The change in the moisture content of wheat over time during the entire drying process allows us to obtain kinetic drying curves. Graphic dependences of the drying time and drying rate depending on the initial moisture content and the drying agent speed are obtained. Formulas for calculating the drying time and maximum drying speed are given. It has been established that an increase in the drying agent speed slightly increases the drying rate and reduces the drying time of wheat. Increasing the drying agent speed by 3.5 times reduces the drying time by 1.57 times. Reducing the initial moisture content of wheat by 1.46 times reduces the drying time by 2 times.

Protasov Semyon K., Borovik Andrey A., Braykova Alla M.

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