Energy-efficient industrial dryers of berries

Abstract: Saving energy is considered about by much more people nowadays. The energy use of industrial drying occupies a large part of total energy usage. Not only the governments, but also the industry owners are trying to find ways to cut down the usage of energy. The aim of this work is to find suitable technologies for industrial drying of berries which can be energy-efficient at the same time. More specifically, to find suitable dryers for drying aronia berry in Sweden. The research is based on secondary data collected by literature review. Good options for other circumstances like fluidized bed drying, freeze drying and solar drying were not discussed in detail. After the study, a continuous hot air dryer with explosion puffing system and heat pumping system seems to be the best solution for drying aronia berry in Sweden. It is easy to be controlled, cost acceptable (both capital and operational costs), environmental friendly and has high drying rate and high product quality. The extra means for improve drying process such as combined with dielectric or conductive dryer, adding pre-treatment such as osmotic drying were also discussed. Combined dryers can reduce the drying time and osmotic drying can cut the operation cost. Careful experiments shall be done before large amount of investment due to the complexity of dehydration.