September | October 2009

Feature title: Hybrid drive - technology for drying aquafeeds

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The International magazine for the aquaculture feed industry

Drying
cooler and air system to make sure that
the warm air is sufficiently clean when
entering the dryer,” he adds.
In addition, each counterflow dryer has
internal air recirculation systems, which ensure
that only air with a very high relative humidity
passes the exhaust fan. For a typical counter-
flow aquafeed dryer this means that only 25-30
percent of total drying air is ever exhausted.
Fuel economy
Next is the fuel economy meter.
Hybrid cars measure many variables
very accurately, such as speed, distance
travelled and fuel consumption. Those data
are calculated continuously to show the
car’s fuel economy. Driving at full speed
and braking often will drive up the fuel
consumption of even the most efficient car.
The same is true for dryers.
Even the most efficient dryer can waste
energy if not controlled properly, says Mr Geelen.
The key is to ensure that all of the
relevant process variables can be accu-
rately measured and controlled in real-time.
Product flow rate, moisture percentage, air
volume, air temperature
and drying time must all be
measured and controlled.
Variables such as air
volume and air tempera-
ture must even be con-
trolled in each individual
stage of the drying process
Cruise control
And then there is cruise control.
Drivers want their cars to stick to the
chosen speed, independent of hills, wind etc.
Behind that technology is an advanced
control loop that measures one variable
(speed) and influences another (fuel
injection). The control system knows
exactly how much to correct under
each set of circumstances. The result
is a much better fuel economy because
even the best driver will not be able to
avoid variation of speed, which drives up
fuel consumption.
“Operators of aquafeed dryers want
their dryers to always deliver the exact
same moisture percent for that particular
product, independent of variations in raw
material or weather.
“In counterflow dryers we employ
an accurate planar microwave sensor in
the dryer hopper, which performs on-
line measurement of moisture percent,
product temperature and bulk density.
The moisture signal is used to fine-tune
the temperature of drying air, such that
Drying
the dryer reacts automatically to any
deviation from setpoint,” he adds.
Navigation
And finally navigation.
Not exclusive to hybrid drive cars
of course, but usually standard because
it reduces fuel consumption. The more
direct route to your destination, the less
fuel is wasted.
“In counterflow dryers we show oper-
ators the way to their target moisture.
“The control screen shows the opera-
tors the actual moisture, temperature
and air volume in each drying stage.
“When a new product recipe is
selected, a preferred drying curve is
loaded into the control system that
leads the operator to the desired target.
It is as if the driver of the hybrid car
can just select the destination in his
navigation system and the car takes care
if everything else.”
All of the above technologies com-
bine to achieve energy efficiency on
the drying of extruded aquafeed of
around 2500kJ per kg of
evaporated water, which
is 20-25 percent better
than any available alterna-
tive and up to 50 percent
better than a 10-15 year
old horizontal dryer.
A 10tph conveyor dryer

Hybrid drive
(which typically consists of that is 10-15 years old,
between two and eight running 6000 hours per
stages, depending on evap- year, will use US$450,000
oration load). To be able to US$750,000 worth of
to measure and control air gas.
volume accurately at every With a modern
drying stage, it is critical counterflow dryer that
that the dryer is com- number can be reduced
technology for drying aquafeeds pletely sealed from the by US$150,000 –
ambient environment. This US$400,000 per year.

G
eelen Counterflow’s
president, Sander Geelen,
suggests that in order to
properly understand a
modern counterflow dryer, one could
draw a parallel with hybrid drive cars
which are now very popular because
of their superior fuel efficiency.
“First of all those hybrid drive cars usually
use fuel efficient engines (Atkinson cycle or
direct injection) to ensure the highest pos-
sible efficiency when running on gas or diesel.
“By comparison our dryers exclusively
use the counterflow principle, which is
proven to be the most efficient method to
exchange energy between any two flows of
gasses, liquids or solids,” he explains.
“By applying this principle in our dryers
we can minimise the amount of drying
air we need and maximise the amount of
energy that can be transferred. This results
in a lower air exhaust volume and a lower
exhaust air temperature.”
Energy recovery
Then, hybrid drive cars are well known
for energy recovery.
When the driver brakes, the mechani-
cal energy is transformed into electrical
energy and stored in the batteries,
which are used to drive an electric
motor.
“In counterflow dryer-coolers we
can recover the product heat, which is
injected by hammernills, conditioners and
extruders.
“That energy is recovered from the
cooler in the form of warm air.
“All of that warm air can be re-used
as make-up air for the dryer. However, it
is important to properly design coater,
is impossible to achieve in “Add to that the fact
nearly every other type of that gravity flow enables
aquafeed dryer. very high mechanical reli-
“Calculating the mass ability and a much lower
and energy balance of the cleaning frequency and
dryer in real-time, allows the payback calculation
us to show the operator is straight forward,” con-
how many kJ or BTU is cludes Mr Geelen.
being used for every kg or Counterflow dryers
lb of water evaporation. already have over 50
Like every other process percent market share
of improvement and opti- in countries such as
misation, everything starts Japan, France, Spain, Italy,
with measuring accurately Belgium, Netherlands and
and continuously,” he says. Argentina.

20 | InternatIonal AquAFeed | September-october 09 September-october 09 | InternatIonal AquAFeed | 21

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