SILVA, G. F.; http://lattes.cnpq.br/0673627615524075; SILVA, Gabriel Francisco da.
Resumen:
The Annato (Bixa Orellana L) is an arbust native of the Tropical America.
Their seeds are covered by a rouge layer that has the higher concentration of bixine.
Bixine is a natural dye used in the food, cosmetic and pharmacological industries
in substitution of the sintetics dyes restricted by the W.H.O. (World Health
Organization). The spouted bed dries the Annato seeds to an humidity level
suitable for the storage and produces a powder concentrate in bixine also. In the
Northeast of Brazil, in most cases a naturally solar drying is utilized. This
procedure may to degradate bixine by the non-controlled exposure to the light and
heat.
The objective of this work is to obtain some knowledge about the
applicability of spouted bed to the drying of Annato seeds without damage, making
studies about the best operational conditions to get the optimal working range.
Other objectives are to study the physical properties of Annato seeds from diferents
regions, the comparison of the performances of fixed bed and spouted bed and the
modeling by diffusional theory to adjust the experimental data.
The spouted bed is composed by a cylindrical column, 100 cm height and 60
cm diameter, opened at top and with a conical base of 60° with the air input in the
bottom. A cyclone is conected at the top of the column. The tests were maked in the
batch regime.
From the experiences it was observed that the behaviour of the drying
courves was not changed by the artificial humidification. The reproductibility was
good. The air flow and the central tube lenght d'ont have affected the drying
courves. The spouted bed shows a more efficient performance that the fixed bed for
the drying of Annato seeds. The proposed model shows a good fitting of the
experimental data, so, it may be utilized to calcul the theoretical drying time needed
for a specified humidity level.