Secagem de casca de caroço de algodão em leito fixo.

Abstract

cottonseed hull is a by-produc.t from extraction industry of vegetal oils, obtained with an average of 13.7% of humidity on the dry basis after the cutting operation. It is an heterogeneous material, fibrous with high porosity. It has great production and it-s burning efficience is 871, therefore, it is feaseable to be used in steam generator or in seed dryers substituting the wood and the petrol as a fuel. The burning efficience of the residue increases as far as the humidity decreases so in general the drying will favour the economic balance of either equipment or industrial plant that will intend to use them as a fuel. The hull has been used as animal ration so it should be stored under ideal conditions in order to avoid to be spoilt from the fungus and other microorganism that acting on stored materiais with high levei of humidity, where this would justify the drying before to be traded as animal ration. Our purpose, according to what was mentioned above, were to obtain the drying curves at different temperatures, air outlet , initial humidity of the sample and the bed thickness in order to propose equations that will predict the kinetic behaviour of the hull, when are submited to drying. The study, beyond of the coope ration for the knowledge of the drying of this type of material in general, will possibly give the necessary basic parameters to later modeling and design of industrials dryers.