DEVELOPMENT OF A NOVEL ENERGY EFFICIENT ADSORPTION DRYER WITH ZEOLITE FOR HEAT SENSITIVE PRODUCTS

Drying is a basic operation in wood, food, pharmaceutical and chemical industry. The operation is important to enhance the preservation properties of agriculture crops and pharmaceutical products, to reduce the costs for transportation, to increase consumer convenience of food products, and to obtain desired water content in raw material feed for next unit process in industry. Currently several drying methods are used, ranging from traditional to modern processing: e.g. direct sun drying, convective drying, microwave and infra-red drying, freeze and vacuum drying. However, the current drying technology is often not efficient in terms of energy consumption (energy efficiency of 20-60%) and has a high environmental impact due to combustion of fossil fuel or wood as energy source. This work discusses on the development of adsorption drying with zeolite to improve the energy efficiency as well as product quality. In this process, air as drying medium is dehumidified by zeolite. As a result humidity of air can be reduced up to 0.1 ppm. So, for heat sensitive products, the drying process can be performed in low or medium temperature with high driving force. The study has been conducted in three steps: designing the dryer, performing laboratory scale equipment (tray, spray, and fluidised bed dryers with zeolite), and evaluating the dryer performance based on energy efficiency and product quality. Results showed that the energy efficiency of drying process can reach 70-80% in which is 15-20% higher than that of conventional dryer. Index Term— adsorption, drying, energy efficiency, zeolite, heat sensitiv

Activation of Natural Zeolite as Water Adsorbent for Mixed-Adsorption Drying

Mixed-adsorption drying with material using zeolite is an option to improve product quality and energy efficiency of drying seeds. In this case, zeolite and seeds are mixed and fluidized by warm air as drying medium. The air will desorb water from seed, and at the same time, zeolite will adsorb vapor from air. Thus, the driving force of drying can be kept high. However, in Indonesia, the zeolite with high adsorption capacity is hardly found in market. This research studied the activation of natural zeolite using two different methods: by heating at 200-400oC, and adding NaOH 0.5-2.0 N. Results showed that the adsorbing capacity of zeolite activated by 1.0 N NaOH is 0.170 gr water/gr dry zeolite. While, by heating at 300oC for 3 hours, is 0.140 gr water loaded/gr dry zeolite. With the performance, zeolite can be used for drying application. Keywords: zeolite, fluidized, adsorption, drying, activatio

IbM WIRAUSAHA KRUPUK DI KECAMATAN TUNTANG KABUPATEN SEMARANG

ABSTRAK  UKM SUMBER REJEKI dengan nama pemilik  Sarif Nur Rohmah dan UKM Krupuk Karak  Makmur Jaya, pemilik  Muhsin yang berlokasi di Kecamatan Tuntang,  Kabupaten Semarang, merupakan dua wirausaha krupuk yang bekerja secara sinergis. Kendala yang dihadapi oleh kedua UKM krupuk diatas adalah proses pembuatan adonan krupuk yaitu proses pelumatan/pencampuran (melumat sekaligus mencampur) masih manual dengan tangan. Sehingga produktifitas rendah (untuk melumat 100 kg bahan diperlukan 5 pekerja dengan lama pengerjaan 4 jam), campuran tidak higienis, serta kelembutan dan komposisi bumbu tidak homogen. Mengacu pada masalah diatas maka perlu diterapkan alih teknologi yang dapat dimanfaatkan oleh kedua UKM tersebut. Bentuk teknologi yang diintroduksikan adalah sistem pelumat (penggiling)-pencampur menggunakan screw-mixer untuk mempercepat proses pencampuran, dan menghomogenkan adonan krupuk yang berbentuk pasta kental yang bersifat lengket. Telah dilaksanakan perancangan dan pembuatan satu set  alat pencampur dan pengaduk adonan krupuk dengan kondisi 100% selesai.  Alat yang dimaksud  yang  terdiri dari : 1 Buah bak tempat bahan adonan, terbuat dari bahan plat stainles steel, tebal 2 inc, dengan dimensi panjang x lebar x tinggi = 80cm x 80 cm x 70 cm, 1 (satu) kerangka besi untuk penopang bak, 1 (satu) As Pengaduk dilengkapi impeller terbuat dari bahan stainles steel dan 1 (satu) Mesin dengan Motor Penggerak 5,5 PK, Kapasitas Pencampuran 50 kg/10 menit  atau 50 kg/proses. Setelah ada program IbM, pencapaian kapasitas produksi meningkat 50% yaitu dari 300 menjadi 450 kg/, waktu proses menjadi lebih singkat 56%, penghematan upah Rp.30.000,-/hari, kenaikan omset sebesar 79,49%  yaitu dari Rp.1.950.000,- menjadi Rp.3,500.000,- dan kenaikan keuntungan sebesar 80

Low Temperature Drying With Air Dehumidified by Zeolite for Food Products: Energy Efficiency Aspect Analysis

Developments in low temperature drying of food products are still an interesting issue; especially with respect to the energy efficiency. This research studies the energy efficiency that can be achieved by a dryer using air which is dehumidified by zeolite. Experimental results are fitted to a dynamic model to find important variables for the drying operation. The results show that ambient air temperature as well as the ratio between air flow for drying and air flow for regeneration, affect the energy efficiency significantly. Relative humidity of used air, and shift time have a minor effect on the dryer performance. From the total work, it can be noted that the dryer efficiency operated at 50-60°C achieves 75 percent, which is attractive for drying of food products

Peningkatan Kecepatan Pengeringan Gabah Dengan Metode Mixed Adsorption Drying Menggunakan Zeolite Pada Ungguan Terfluidisasi

Pengeringan adalah proses yang menentukan dalam mendapatkan gabah berkualitas tinggi, secara cepat dan efisien. Selama ini pengeringan masih mengandalkan panas matahari dimana kontinyuitas proses dan mutu produk sangat tergantung pada cuaca. Pengeringan konvensional dengan sistem pemanasan belum mampu bersaing dengan matahari disebabkan masih borosnya energi, serta mutu gabah yang rendah akibat intervensi suhu >60oC. Pengeringan dengan zeolite menjadi opsi untuk pengeringan gabah. Pada proses ini, gabah dan zeolite dengan ukuran yang berbeda, dicampur dalam unggun terfluidisasi menggunakan media pengering udara. Udara akan menguapkan air dari gabah, dan pada saat yang sama zeolite akan menyerap air dari udara. Oleh karena itu, kelembaban udara pada unggun dijaga rendah yang akan mempertahankan driving force pengeringan tetap tinggi. Sehingga proses dapat efisien pada suhu yang lebih rendah (<60oC) guna mempertahankan mutu gabah. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah mempelajari pengaruh kondisi operasi yaitu suhu, laju alir, dan komposisi zeolite dalam campuran terhadap proses pengeringan gabah. Variasi yang dilakukan adalah suhu udara pengering (30, 40, dan 50oC), laju alir udara pengering (1.5, 2, 2.5 dan 3 m/detik) dan prosentase zeolite dalam campuran (0%, 20%, 40% dan 60%). Hasil penelitian menunjukkan pada suhu 40oC, laju alir udara 1.5 m/detik, dan zeolite dalam campuran 40%, pengeringan dapat dipercepat dari 50 menit (tanpa zeolite) menjadi 40 menit dengan laju pengeringan 0.01 gr/cm2/menit. Proses pengeringan akan semakin cepat dengan naiknya suhu, laju alir udara dan prosentase zeolite dalam campuran

Drying TIME Estimation of Carrageenan-egg White Mixture at Tray Dryer

The drying is the last step to find carrageenan product. Currently, the carrageenan drying still deals with too long drying time. This because, during the process carrageenan and water forms gel stucture in which hampers the water diffusion to the surface. Foaming agent introduction such as egg white can be considered to break the gel structure and make the drying process being smooth and fast. This paper discusses the effect of egg white as foaming agent on the drying time of carrageenan. In this study, the carrageenan was mixed with egg white to form foam that can break the gel and create the pore for improving the surface area. The carrageenan and egg white mixture was then dried at different air temperature and humidity. Results showed that the drying time was shortened with the presence of egg whiet as well as the increase of air temperature. For example, the drying time at air temperature 80oC with 20 % egg white was about 60 minutes shorter than that of without foam. In addition, the lowering air dehumidification affected the drying time positively

Optimasi Proses Ozonasi Untuk Penurunan Kadar Krom (Cr) dalam Limbah Cair Elektroplating dengan Metode Respon Permukaan

Industrial wastewater from electroplating process containing the heavy metals, such as Chromium (Cr). The initial content of Cr in electroplating waste water was approximately 78.24 ppm. The Cr content may be discharged into waters and safe for the environment is 2 ppm.Industrial electroplating waste water usually treated with a combination of chemical and physical processes such as coagulation and flocculation. However, conventional processing system requires a long of processing time and a large area. This study aims to provide an alternative treatment of electroplating wastewater through the application of ozonation technology. Response Surface Methodology was used to obtain optimum conditions in decreased levels of Cr content. Variable for ozonation process included of ozonation time (X1), pH (X2) and ozone gas flow rate (X3). The results showed that the effectiveness of ozonation treatment increase at lower pH. The high value of correlation (R2 = 0.93767) indicated that a high correlation values between the experimental and prediction data. The optimum conditions for Cr degradation at 30 minutes of ozonation treatment, pH 2 and ozone gas flow rate of 3 L min-1, with the lowest contentration of Cr was 1.92 ppm

Drying Spirulina with Foam Mat Drying at Medium Temperature

Spirulina is a single cell blue green microalgae (Cyanobacteria) containing many Phytonutrients (Beta-carotene, Chlorophyl, Xanthophyl, Phyocianin) using as anti-carcinogen in food. Producing dry spirulina by quick drying process at medium temperature is very important to retain the Phytonutrient quality. Currently, the work is still challenging due to the gel formation that block the water diffusion from inside to the surface. This research studies the performance of foam-mat drying on production of dry spirulina. In this method the spirulina was mixed with foaming agent (glair/egg albumen, popular as white egg) at 2.5% by weight at air velocity 2.2 m/sec. Here, the effect of spirulina thickness and operational temperature on drying time and quality (Beta-carotene and color) were observed. The drying time was estimated based on the measurement of water content in spirulina versus time. Result showed that the thicker spirulina, the longer drying time. Conversely, the higher operational temperature, faster drying time. At thickness ranging 1-3 mm and operational temperature below 70oC, the quality of spirulina can fit the market requirement. Keywords— Cyanobacteria, Phytonutrient, foam-mat drying, spirulin