Apparatus and Method For Treatment of Foodstuffs With a Gaseous Medium For Processing and Subsequent Drying

A method for treating foodstuffs for the purpose of processing and drying, comprising:

• (a) providing an endless conveyor belt which along part of its length follows a helical path to form a stack, said conveyor belt having passages for letting a flow of a gaseous medium through the stack in the vertical as well as the horizontal directions, wherein:
• (i) the stack defining a central space, and
• (ii) the stack comprising a lower non-encapsulated stack portion and, adjacent thereto, an upper stack portion which is encapsulated in the vertical direction by an encapsulation,
• (b) supplying a flow of a first gaseous medium to said central space for further conveyance to the non-encapsulated stack portion through said passages for letting through a flow of a first gaseous medium in the horizontal direction,
• (c) supplying a flow of a second gaseous medium to said upper encapsulated stack portion,
• (d) wherein said encapsulation directing the flow of the second gaseous medium in such a manner that it flows in an essentially vertical direction from said encapsulated stack portion to said non-encapsulated stack portion, and
• (e) the flow of the second gaseous medium, which enters the encapsulated stack portion and flows essentially vertically downwards, affecting the flow of the first gaseous medium which is conveyed to the non-encapsulated stack portion so that the first gaseous medium is prevented from flowing towards the encapsulated stack portion.