Research Interests:
Rough rice is normally harvested at moisture contents (MCs) higher than that for safe storage. The objective for this study was to investigate the effectiveness of scaled-up infrared (IR) heating followed by tempering steps to dry... more
Rough rice is normally harvested at moisture contents (MCs) higher than that for safe storage. The objective for this study was to investigate the effectiveness of scaled-up infrared (IR) heating followed by tempering steps to dry freshly-harvested rough rice. An industrial type, pilot scale, IR drying equipment, designed to convey rough rice on a vibrating conveyor belt was used in this study. The heating zone of the equipment had catalytic IR emitters powered by natural gas. Freshly-harvested rough rice of long-grain pureline (cv. Cheniere), long-grain hybrid (cv. 6XP 756) and medium-grain (cv. CL 271) cultivars at initial moisture contents (IMCs) of 23%, 23.5% and 24% w.b, respectively were used. Rough rice samples, at loading rate of 1.61 kg m were heated with IR energy for 30, 50, 90 and 180 s followed by tempering at 60°C for 4 h; the IR heating intensity was 5.55 kW m, at product-to-emitter-gap size of 450 mm, and in oneand two-pass drying operations. The effects of IR treatm...
