Abstract

Fluidized bed drying process is one of the most frequently used and successful methods in food, pharmaceutical and chemical industries due to its higher efficiency. For this reason, many studies in lab- and industry-scales are carried out on fluidized bed drying concept for improvements of their performance characteristics. A batch type fluidized bed dryer is designed and constructed in order to investigate the effects of particle mass, drying air temperature and drying air velocity on drying performance of new harvested corn and unshelled pistachio nut in the experimental range of 100 g≤m_p≤300 g, 7 %≤MC(d.b.)≤186 %, 7 %≤MC(w.b.) ≤65 %, 0.08≤MR≤1, 50 °C≤T≤75 °C, 6.87 m/s≤U_m≤10.86 m/s, 47632≤Re≤75296, 43 Pa≤∆P_bed≤277 Pa, 60 Pa≤∆P_plate ≤ 300 Pa. Herein the energetic efficiency of a batch type fluidized bed dryer during the drying process of new harvested corn and unshelled pistachio nut is investigated in terms of drying air temperature, drying air velocity and particle mass.