HKD-LAB / About Far-infrared drying technology

About Far-infrared drying technologyHKD-100/200/300/400/500/750/1000/1500/2000/2500/3000/3500/5000/10000HKD-LAB■ Drying of citrus as an example of drying agriculture produce1. Typical nutrition of citrus▶ Vitamins A,B,C,calcium,phosphorous,Beta-Cryptoxanthin,Hesperidin,Flavonoids,Carotenoids,2. Typical taste of citrus▶ Sweet taste,sour taste,flavor3. Distribution of taste after drying mandarin using conventional method▶ Contains sour taste as typical taste (organic acids)▶ Sweet taste is reduced due to increase of sour taste4. Distribution of taste after drying mandarins using far infrared drying machine of Korea Energy Technology▶ Sour taste can be adjusted to meet regional consumer preference because remaining percentage after drying of Vitamin C and organic acids,the main components of sour taste is controllable.▶ Control of sweet tasteIt does not change the components of sugar during far infrared drying,so sweet taste is felt relatively a lot when sour taste like vitamin C is reduced.▶ It produces dried products having both sweet and sour tastes,meeting consumer preference.▶ It produces dried citrus with excellent texture owing to the production of highly resilient dried products■ The reason that the taste of citrus can be controlled▶ According to the study of Shuman,dried orange solids shows maximum absorption in 3~4㎛wavelength.· Dried orange solids show tendency to absorb infrared energy remarkably.· For liquid orange,source of infrared should emit wavelength of 5~7㎛.· For solid orange,source of infrared should emit wavelength of 3~4㎛.· It can be found that emission of 5~7㎛ wavelength is needed in the initial stage and needs 3~4㎛ wavelength when reaching the latter stage of drying of oranges.· This study result shows that dried products with flavor and taste of orange meeting consumers' preference can be obtained by changing the wavelength in the infrared range.■ Study of Sakai verified that depth of infrared absorption changes depending on the wavelength.· Drying of thick body shows better results in NIR range.· Drying of thin body shows better results in FIR range.· This study result reveals that waves close to NIR range are more effective during the initial process of citrus drying and the waves■ should be changed to FIR range when close to the final process.· With this result,the FIR food drying machine of Korea Energy Technology produces dried citrus products with quality controlled condition by reproducing the optimal theoretical wavelength earned from the experiment.Kouzeh’s study on the freshness using high fat flour proves that the infrared treated materials maintain freshness for a long period of time.· Comparison between soy containing high fat flour samples that are infrared treated and untreated.· The infrared treated samples kept the freshness similar to fresh flour for one year.· The infrared untreated samples produced odor.· The dried showed citrus long shelf life as was proved by the antioxidant effects in many ways.■ Six months after drying with vacuum dryer of Japan.■ Six months after the far-infrared drying of Korea Energy Technology■Problem of conventional heat drying method for food products agriculture produce.1. Uses high temperature air for heat source to remove moisture of raw material.▶ Loses most of unique color,flavor,etc in drying process.2. Dry air heating system using kerosene or diesel,steam heat exchanger,and electric heat plate▶ Low energy efficiency:era of high oil prices->increasing production costs3. Drying method· Batch type:vey inefficient method requiring high operation costs including labor costs.▶ Denaturalization of raw ingredients due to excess heat· Stainless mesh type continuous drying:waste heat cannot be retrieved.▶ Low energy efficiency:increases production costs· Fluidized bed drying:most of organic characteristics of the ingredients are lost by ultra-high temperature for a short period of time. Energy efficiency is low.· Freeze drying:Loss of flavor is large due to destruction of cell membrane by freezing of moisture in initial freezing process. Batch-type process increases labor cost.▶ Loss of nutrition is high due to high temperature of heating plate,55-85℃.· Vacuum drying:inefficient drying with high operating cost such as labor cost and with loss of most flavor.▶ Material denaturalization by high temperature4. Drying machine with inlet hot-air of temperature 45-70 ℃· Takes 4 hours minimum and 3-4 days maximum to dry to moisture content required for safe storage.▶ Production efficiency is very low with drying energy efficiency of 25~20%.· Change of color,flavor and taste of raw material and loss of effective functional ingredients· Characteristics of food ingredients are lost greatly· Reasons for great deterioration of aimed quality of products5. Waste heat is not retrieved->energy consumption is high6. High maintenance cost is needed if trouble occurs.· Cost of supervisor is required if technical support is required during operation.· Processing time procedures are complex in the event of emergency· Consequently,there's high risk of straight-through processing of troubles that occur during operation.7. Electromagnetic wave (microwave) dehydration method· Cooking (steaming) of the ingredients occurs during the initial drying· The dried products show positive reaction in radiation tests,so there's food safety controversy and irradiation mark should be displayed when exporting to developed countries.· As reaching the final process of drying,heat control and water equilibrium are difficult,and risk of over drying exists.· High maintain costs are needed and the expected service life is the shortest.· The risk of safety accident is high in case of external damage of the equipment.· Additional convenience such as washing of equipments is difficult to provide.· There are many ingredients hard to apply such as strawberries.Drying of red pepper,for example■ Comparison of Drying Costs1. Moisture content of red pepper- before drying :about 85%2. Drying Facility Conditions-end products with moisture content of 14% :400kg/h3. Amount of the raw ingredients to produce dried red pepper- 2000~2400kg/h4. Energy efficiency calculation● To produce dried red pepper at 400kg/h:needs to evaporate moistureof 2000kg / h● Theoretical energy consumption to evaporate 1kg (1liter) of water :600kcal● Energy efficiency for moisture evaporation of raw ingredients:Use only 25 % of theoretical moisture evaporation amount;75% iswasted● Thus,energy needed to evaporate 1kg of moisture from rawingredients:1800kcal~2400kal● Total energy required for drying red pepper (2400kg/h) :3.6-4.0 M kcal5. Hot air drying● Source of energy in typical hot air drying system:diesel (kerosene)burner or gas burner● Energy consumption of diesel (kerosene) burner- Typical capacity of diesel (kerosene) burner :200,000 kcal- Amount of kerosene consumed to get 200,000 kcal :13.2475 liter (3.5gallon)● Consumption of kerosene per hour to dry red pepper- Total energy for drying red pepper/ heat consumption of keroseneburners- 3,600,000/200,000~4,800,000/200,000- 18 x 13.2475~24 x 13.2475- Approximately 238~318 liter6. Far infrared drying● Drying energy :use 100% electricity● Energy consumption to produce red pepper at 400kg/h :about600~800kw/h● Fuel cost calculation- Electricity cost:36.4 won / kw (agricultural)- 600 x 36.4 ~ 800 x 36.4 = about 21,840 ~ 29,120 won- Drying cost when working 20 hours per day :about 436,800 ~ 582,400won- Electricity cost per 100 days:about 43.68 - 58.24 M won▶ Far-infrared drying■ Quality according to drying method of pepper■ Comparison between gas fuel and pure far - infrared■ Other uses of pure far - infrared dryer■ FIR drying end products■ Research on drying using pure far-infrared■ FIR drying machine installation concept map ■ FIR drying machine installation concept mapDesign concept of the far infrared integrated equipmentFar-infrared Ray drying machine - Unreasonable conditions of conventional vegetable washing and drying integrated treatment facility■ Equipment focused to allow mass processing of dried products (conventional drying method)● Design concept focused to allow mass processing- The size is large due to the introduction of manufacturing plant type design concepts mainly with large equipment.- Large area for processing and after maintenance after processing.- Distracted workplace environment like machinery industry- Large manpower is necessary due to large CIP operation scale after processing.● Design concept focused on large scale- Small quantity batch production is almost impossible- Increase of loss due to large scale of equipment(loss occurs due to warm-up and cooling after operation).● Impossible to produce high quality products- Design focused on output quantity not considering advanced quality of products- Deterioration of the quality progresses even in 3-4 month after drying■ Equipment to allow mass processing of dried products (conventional drying methods)● High production costs in order to handle large quantity- Excessive loss occurs due to the characteristics of large equipment① Heat to preheat large equipment = loss② Equipment cooling time and amount of heat after processing = loss③ Excessive consumption of heat to maintain the temperature of equipment = loss④ The drying cost per KG reaches mid-1000 won● Deterioration of the quality by applying hot air drying concept- The unique flavor of red pepper is lost due to the nature of hot air- Application of drying methods with various characteristics is not possible- Limitation to dry moisture contents of 10% or under- Color is not beautiful- In hot air drying of plant,drying gets slow when 2/3 of moisture is removed,so 2/3 of total drying time is spent to remove the remaining 1/3 moisture. During this last drying time,moisture in the surface is reduced fast and the surface contracts,forming hard layer and prevents inner moisture moving to the surface,so drying does not occur well..- By using hot air with high temperature,color,taste and unique flavor of raw ingredients are changed. Also,when heating for a long time in high temperature,some components of the raw material are oxidized,and vitamin and other bioactive substances are lost.Design concept of the far-infrared consistent drying equipmentFar-infrared Ray drying machine■ Design concept of far-infrared dryer,the pivotal equipment■  Outcome from the far-infrared dryer6 months after drying with vacuum dryer of Japan6 months after drying with far-infrared of Korea Energy Technology■ Reason that quality increases and shelf live prolongs when drying with far infrared When heating with far infrared heat source,enzymes such as Polyphenol Oxidase which cause discoloration after drying are deactivated unlike heating in conventional ways;this prevents oxidation and synthesis of Polyphenol compounds.Excerpt :Korea Energy Technology Research InstituteFar infrared heating can transfer heat to the core does without destroying components forming the surface of raw ingredients (antioxidants are usually in the surface of plants to protect them from attack of bacteria and insects).As well,it activate water molecule present in the material to make the lump size of the water molecules very small,greatly improving the activity of the water molecules.For this reason,a common heat source is unable to separate the antioxidant component that is covalently bonded in a polymer form,but far infrared rays can break the covalent bonds of these polymers and thus can separate antioxidants.(Antioxidant components fail to be antioxidant when bonded to polymer)● Like this,far infrared heating not only preserves more antioxidant components than conventional● heat source but also deactivates enzymes that cause discoloration by this effect.● In addition,thus separated antioxidants that can inhibit oxidation prevent discoloring of plant material by the enzymes and other causes.● Thus,when drying with far infrared ray,loss of organic characteristics including discoloring can be prevented longer than drying with conventional heat source.■ The comparative analysis and research for quality,color,active ingredients,texture and shelf life between pure far infrared and hot air dried products:Continuous and multi-specialized research using the end products will be conducted to apply the findings to sales and promotional activities.■ Quality according to drying method■Comparison between gas fuel and pure far-infrared■ Other uses of pure far-infrared dryer■ Fuel costs during operation of Drying M/C■ Service life of Drying M/CA Study of Food drying by Far-Infrared Ray drying machine using Ceramic FilterFar-infrared Ray drying machine* Excerpts from research paper■ Food drying machine   Belongs to convention-radiation drying among normal pressure dryingmethods of artificial drying* Causes determining the drying rate of the food1) Treatment of water according to the structure of the drying machine2) Water activity performance of the drying machine3) Temperature and tissue of food4) Ingredients,thickness and surface area of food5) Heat transfer mechanism,etc.■ Tester ● Forms plasma by applying high voltage to two parallel electrode sheetsof electric collector● When moisture passes between electrode plates,it is ionized andattached to the electrodes,forming water,which the falls to the gutterbelow and is flowed out of the oven,removing moisture inside.● Operation of is electric collector is not related to operation of theheater (always on).● Air circulation fan operates continuously until the drying is finished.● Heater operation turns on and off at the fixed temperature (45℃~55℃)by thermostat.● The voltage applied to electric collector is within DC6500V,100mA byvoltage doubler..■ Configuration of experimental far infrared drying equipment ■ Configuration of experimental far infrared drying equipment ● Purpose of food dryingIts purpose is developing new products by giving storability,transportability,and simplicity. Especially,drying condition of foods has the most effects on storability. ● Moisture content of food The ratio of free water to bound water contained in food is displayed in %.● Water Activity (AW) indicates the degree of freedom or bonding in food and is marked as parallel humidityAw = P/P0=RH/100P0 = pure parallel vapor pressure under constant temperatureP = weighted parallel water vapor pressure at the same temperatureRH = parallel relative humidity (%)■ Vitamin measurements (change in Vitamin C content)* Drying A is by conventional drying equipment* Drying B is by the far-infrared drying machineAs shown in the table,vitamin C content of raw pepper,parsley,strawberry,etc,decrease by about 20% compared with rawingredients.However,improvements are shown comparing with conventionalmethods.■ Water Activity of the dry food produced by far infrared drying equipment■ E-coli and common bacteria measurement■ Measurement conditions ※ Shelf life at room temperature is measured after approximately 1-5 months has elapsed anD following conclusions are obtained except for parsley.1) Proliferation of E-coli and general bacteria does not occur during FIR drying.2) Drying food has the effect of reducing bacteria.3) Increase of general bacteria was not observed during the storage of dried foods.* Summary of the experiment ●   전자제습기능을 가진 강제대류식 원적외선 건조기에 있어서 식품건조는 원적외 선의 유효한 이용과 식품의 비타민을 파괴시키지 않고 CERAMIC에 의한 재 복사 열을 이용함으로써 Energy 효율을 높이고,산업용 건조기 개발의 기초자료를 제 시 하였다.* The benefits of far infrared food drying equipment 1) 식품의 향이 18~35% 더 유지되고 보존기간이 길어진다. 2) 식품을 태우지 않고 균일한 건조제품을 보다 빠른시간에 얻을 수 있다. 3) 야채 등의 식품에서 비타민의 파괴를 줄일 수 있다. 4) 과일류,야채류의 건조작업 시 색소,방향족의 잔존율을 높일 수 있는 방법이다. 5) Ceramic에 의한 재 방사를 이용하므로 에너지 효율을 상승 시킬 수 있다. 6) 지방성분이 많이 함유된 재료의 건조작업 시 산가의 상승률이 약 30%정도 낮다.⊙Reference 1) 건조식품사전 2) 식품위생소육법 3) 식품의 조리기술과 그 보존에 대한 연구보고 :삼성전자(주) 종합연구소 4) Effect of far-infrared radiation and  heat treatment on the antioxidant activity of   water extracts from peanut hulls 5) Neutrinos form extragalactic cosmic ray interactions in the far infrared back ground 6) Dielectric properties and far infrared reflectivity of lanthanum aluminate strontium   titanate ceramics 7) Strongly reduced superfluid density in the inhomogeneoushigh-Tc cuprates     :far-infrared study■ Examples as for industrial use of far infrared■ Drying time of agriculture produce using far infrared■ Comparison of hot air and far infrared drying① Copy external dry coating② Motorcycle gasoline tank seal coating③ Coating of motorcycle muffler④ Coating of motorcycle frame⑤ Steel shutter seal coating⑥ Powder coating■ Conclusions ● FIR drying machine using ultra-low power consuming Tungsten Filament Wire and Glass Bulb is similar in external appearance to previously used Nichrome spiral winding Quartz Tube method;however,radiation emitter using Nichrome wire has problem of not penetrating some raw ingredients and having significantly low transmission efficiency.● It is a technology that could improve the country’s competitiveness by enabling maximized preservation of raw ingredients’ flavor,color and taste etc. through improvement of the drying quality of diverse biological material,which cannot be achieved with conventional drying method.● Pure FIR drying machine applies the technology that can maximize energy efficiency and produce high quality dried products by the internal recirculation design using completely sealed FIR radiant energy and removing moisture from the waste heat. The machine is expected to start a new chapter in the drying technology.● This drying processing method is expected to be applied to the production of medicinal herbs,spices,food and pharmaceutical medicine in the biological industry sector.● Since the use of FIR drying machine using high purity FIR is in the initial state domestically and internationally,enlarging effect of its added value through quality improvement of processed product is great. Also,promotion of consumption through breakthrough quality improvements of the end products is expected leading to increased production and consumption of raw material resources● High efficiency and energy saving drying machines are developed as new products in domestic and international markets,and are expected to be exported greatly as internationally competitive goods.● As high efficiency continuous FIR drying machine for mass production is developed,its innovational use is expected in food processing industry.● Particularly,high quality raw material production and storage method are expected to be improved dramatically to allow stable supply of raw material.● It is expected to produce the products preserving organic characteristics of processed materials by slowing destruction and evaporation effects of pigment and flavor component accompanied by drying of vegetables and fruits,leading the growth of the ingredient industries.