EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF MELON CROP SEED DRYER PRODUCTIVITY.

Modern continuous drying equipment does not allow in one pass of the drying chamber to obtain seed grain of conditioned moisture from freshly released seeds of melon crops. To solve this problem, a high moisture melon crop seed dryer was designed, in which the principle of differential heat supply to forced mixed material was implemented. The design of the drying chamber provides for the supply of a heat carrier to the zone of predried seeds, which withstand a higher temperature, and then at a lower temperature to the zone with high moisture seeds that prevents them from cracking. Design and technological parameters and operating modes of the experimental dryer were experimentally investigated. Studies were carried out by means of a series of one-factor experiments in three stages: determining the productivity of the device for supplying seeds to the drying chamber, studying the transport ability of dryer elastic agitators, choosing a rational angle of inclination of the gas distribution sieve of the unloading device. The following parameters and consistent patterns are established: angle of inclination of gas distribution sieve of unloading device 14º; seed supply to drying chamber 24-18 kg·h-1; revolutions per minute of elastic agitators, when the seeds are supplied to the drying chamber 24 kg·h-1 - 4 min-1; when the seeds are supplied 22 kg·h-1 - 4.75 min-1; at 20 kg·h-1 - 6 min-1 and at 18 kg·h-1 - 7 min-1; drying agent speed 5 m·s-1; specific energy intensity of pumpkin seed drying process was 1.27 kWh·kg-1 with the dryer productivity 18 kg·h-1. The given research results make it possible to determine the rational rotation interval of the transporting working element, within which elastic agitators provide the required productivity and high quality of seed drying to conditioned moisture in one pass of the drying chamber against the direction of the drying agent movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]