Drying characteristic of unhulled rice in biomass energy and combination rotary dryer

Abstract

Drying of agricultural products aimed to extend the shelf life. The moisture content of the unhulled rice must be lowered to a limit of 14% to be able to maintain the quality and avoid post-harvest damage. Ciherang variety unhulled rice has been dried using biomass energy rotary dryer and biomass-heater combination for 180 minutes. In this study, several drying characteristics of unhulled rice have been analyzed including the determination of water content and the drying rate. The exponential equation illustrated the relationship between the unhulled rice water content (%) and the drying time (minutes), MC = 23.279 e-0.002t and MC = 27.255 e-0.004t respectively for the stage 1 decline drying rate in biomass energy and combination, while at the decline drying rate stage 2 found MC = 22.209 e-0.002t and MC = 27.576 e-0.004t respectively in biomass energy and combination. The relationship between unhulled rice drying rate (dM/dt) and drying time (minutes) was illustrated by the exponential equation v = 0.0466 e-0.002t and v = 0.109 e-0.004t respectively for the decline drying rate stage 1 in biomass energy and combination while at the decline drying rate stage 2, v = 0.0444 e-0.002t and v = 0.0775 e-0.003t respectively in biomass energy and combination.