Method and an apparatus for drying eggs, fruits or the like articles
AssigneeStaalkat B.V.
InventorHendrik Elferink
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of drying eggs, fruits or the like articles, in which water or other moisture is removed from the articles by blowing air at high speed along the articles, after which the water drops are removed from this air, and the air being subsequently passed again along the articles. Said air, after removal of the drops therefrom, is diverted along a blower or the like where it is pre-heated with heat dissipated from the blower and is again passed as pre-heated, unsaturated air along the articles.
Claims7
In a method of drying rows of articles such as eggs, fruits or the like disposed on a movable conveyor, in which water or moisture is removed from the articles by blowing air at high speed from at least one blower through the rows of the articles in a first zone, recovering the air and subsequently passing the air along the rows of articles in a second zone, the improvement comprises removing water drops from the recovered air in a compartment disposed below said conveyor to produce de-water air, diverting the de-water air through at least one channel disposed along said at least one blower whereby the air is heated with waste heat from the at least one blower, and subsequently passing the heated and thus unsaturated air along the articles at a speed less than the speed of the air passing through the rows of articles in the first zone for further drying thereof in said second zone.
In an apparatus for drying rows of articles such as eggs, fruits or the like wherein a housing is subdivided into a plurality of compartments through which at least a portion of an upper part of a conveyor extends and which conveyor is adapted to hold the said rows of articles, and air supply and discharge means are mounted in said compartments, which means are at least partially connected to each other, and wherien at least one first compartment is arranged in such a manner that air is moved from at least one blower through the rows of articles, the improvement comprising means for moving the air in the said first compartment at a first high speed through the rows of articles, means disposed below said conveyor for recovering the air and removing water drops therefrom to produce de-water air, means for diverting the de-water air along said at least one blower where the said air is heated by the waste heat from the said blower and thus rendered unsaturated, and means for subsequently passing the heated and unsaturated air to a next compartment and along the articles at a speed less than the speed of the air passing through the rows of articles in the first compartment.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.