MONTE, José Eduardo Carvalho.; MARTINS, José Helvecio.; MONTEIRO, Paulo Marcos de Barros.; PINTO, Paulo Raimundo.
Résumé:
The control of thin-layer drying process is based on the drying curve of the product,
obtained by periodically weighing of the sample. The most frequently way of doing this control is to
take the sample out of the dryer and periodically weigh it on a precision scale, to determine the
amount of water lost by the sample during the drying process, by difference of weigh. The solution
presented in this work is based on a load cell to construct a weighing system that can be automatically
monitored and controlled by a computer program, and the samples weighed automatically. The results
are recorded in a file and compared with the final pre-defined values for the drying process. The
process is terminated when there is no significant difference between the measured values and the predefined
ones.