Drying and gas or vapor contact with solids – Process – With nondrying treating of material
Patent
1998-07-16
2000-06-27
Gravini, Stephen
Drying and gas or vapor contact with solids
Process
With nondrying treating of material
34439, 34440, 34507, 34240, F26B 700
Patent
active
060791195
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION AND PRIOR ART
This invention relates to a method and a device for drying. In addition, the invention relates to a device in tubes for use in this method and this device.
The present invention is primarily intended to be applied for drying of bales of vegetable material. In particular, hay is involved. Although the specification in the following primarily will be focused on drying of hay, it should be kept in mind that the invention also is applicable drying of bodies of other air-permeable material other than just vegetable material.
A method of taking care of the green mass in connection with harvest is directed to formation of roller bales. The material in such roller bales may be ensiled, which normally occurs by covering the bales with a moisture-tight film, normally plastics film. A disadvantage with this technique is the substantial cost for the plastics film and besides, plastics film causes environmental problems. In case the plastics film is damaged, the ensiling effect may be disturbed. Another method of treating roller bales is to dry them. The present invention involves this method. However, it has turned out to be substantially difficulties to efficiently dry the bales. Deficiently dried hay has a low nutritional contents and a poor hygienic quality as a consequence of attack of bacteria and fungi. A consequence of this is poor quality of the milk obtained from animals having eaten the hay. A poor milk quality leads, in its turn, to a deteriorated yield and quality of cheese.
Until now drying of bales of hay by is accomplished either letting them stand outdoors under some kind of rain protection or by placing bales in a drying chamber, in which dry and possibly heated air has been caused to circulate so as to take up moisture from the bales. However, these techniques have turned out to be unsatisfactory. The moisture content in the central areas of the bales has been difficult to reduce to acceptable levels even if it has turned out to be possible to achieve an acceptable dryness in the surface areas of the bale.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to achieve an efficient and uniform drying of bodies of air-permeable material, in particular bales of hay or other vegetable material.
In view of the fact that the method comprises provision of a hole in the body and establishment of a pressure difference between the hole of the body and the surroundings of the body for generating a drying air flow through the body, possibilities are created to achieve a very good and uniform drying of the material. In particular, it is achieved that centrally located body portions may be the subjected to of an entirely satisfactory drying.
It is preferred that the hole in the body contains a tube having an air-permeable mantle. Thus, the tube ensures that the hole in the body is maintained during the drying procedure.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, several bodies provided with holes are placed adjacent each other for simultaneous drying thereof so that the holes thereof form a continuous chamber. According to one alternative, the bodies may be placed in a stack with the chamber extending substantially vertically through the stack. In this alternative it is achieved that the bodies through their own weight will tend to be pressed against each other, whereby sealing in the interfaces between two adjacent bodies is achieved.
According to another alternative, the bodies are placed in a row with a chamber extending substantially horizontally through the row. In such horizontal location, the row may in practice be made longer than the height of a stack according to the first alternative.
According to a preferred embodiment the device according to the invention, comprises means for interconnection of two tubes belonging to two adjacent bodies, such means are arranged to allow, with a relatively small resistance, movement of the tubes towards each other but to counteract, with a relatively great resistance, movement of the tubes away from each other. Simi
REFERENCES:
patent: 1930392 (1933-10-01), Kyoostra
patent: 1999585 (1935-04-01), Bruggeman
patent: 5394621 (1995-03-01), Levy
patent: 5540143 (1996-07-01), Stromer et al.
patent: 5833424 (1998-11-01), Bales
Derwent's Abstract, No. 92-257171/31, week 9231, Abstract of SU, 1674737 (Feedstuff Res Inst (FEED.times.)), Sep. 7, 1991.
Derwent's Abstract, No. 88-328617/46, week 8846, Abstract of SU, 1393348 (Non-Black Zone Agric (UAGM)), May 7, 1988.
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