HEATED AIR DRYING OF GROUNDNUT
Munir Ahmad* and Asif Ali Mirani**
ABSTRACT
Groundnut contains 25-32% protein and 42-52% oil, therefore, it has the potential to become a significant contributor to edible oil production in Pakistan. It is harvested in October-November in Pakistan, when the weather is cold, and it is not possible to dry it down to a safe moisture level by sun drying. Therefore, the chance for developing aflatoxins in it is high. To solve this problem of the groundnut growers, a low cost mobile flat-bed dryer designed and developed at Agricultural and Biological Engineering Institute (ABEI), National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad was evaluated for drying groundnut. The dryer had been found capable to dry about 1818 kg groundnut from 23.3% moisture content to 14% within 2.4h. On average the groundnut drying rate was 3.9% per hour, and the average efficiency of the dryer was 69%. However, typical tests indicated that the drying efficiency of the dryer can be achieved above 80% by maintaining the drying air temperature above 49°C. The cost of drying one kg of groundnut was estimated as Rs 1.45 (1.7 US cents), which was very reasonable for the groundnut growers.
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