초록 ▼

A large scale, industrial system and method for dehydrating fruits, nuts or other produce. The system includes two long air tunnels which are placed end-to-end. Each air tunnel has a conveyor which is used to transport the produce through the air tunnel. As the produce exits one air tunnel, it is dr

A large scale, industrial system and method for dehydrating fruits, nuts or other produce. The system includes two long air tunnels which are placed end-to-end. Each air tunnel has a conveyor which is used to transport the produce through the air tunnel. As the produce exits one air tunnel, it is dropped from one conveyor onto the other, thus permitting the produce to be turned over before it enters the second air tunnel. Each air tunnel is divided into a number of separate air chambers in which the heated, circulating air is confined so as to reduce heat loss, thus increasing the energy efficiency of the system, and also providing for separate control of the air temperature and humidity levels in each air chamber. Countercirculation of air between adjacent air chambers aids in confining the air through the separate air chambers, as well as the use of resilient flaps which are used to enclose the ends of each air chamber through which the conveyor enters and exits. A high volume rate of air flow is directed generally parallel to the direction in which the produce is transported through the air chamber, thereby enhancing the dehydration process.

대표청구항 ▼

In a dehydrating system having a plurality of air chambers placed end-to-end, each air chamber comprising means for dividing the interior of the air chamber into an upper and a lower chamber, a continuous conveyor means running through said lower chamber, and means for essentially enclosing each air

In a dehydrating system having a plurality of air chambers placed end-to-end, each air chamber comprising means for dividing the interior of the air chamber into an upper and a lower chamber, a continuous conveyor means running through said lower chamber, and means for essentially enclosing each air chamber one from the other as to air circulating therein, a method of dehydrating produce comprising the steps of: forcing air to circulate in each said air chamber from one end of said upper chamber into said lower chamber, through the length of said lower chamber both above and below said conveyor means, and back to said upper chamber at the other end thereof; heating said air as it is circulated from the upper to the lower chamber; transporting said produce through the lower chamber of each said air chamber in a direction generally parallel to the air circulated through said lower chamber, thereby dehydrating said produce; and selectively expelling a portion of the moisture-laden air returned from said lower chamber to said upper chamber of each air chamber.