Development and Testing of Rotary Dryer for the Indigenous Cottage Sugar Industry in Nigeria

Abstract

A 1000kg capacity per day Rotary sugar dryer was designed and fabricated in Nigeria by the National Cereals Research Institute Badeggi in 1989. This was done in order to dry sugar in granulated form in the indigenous small scale sugar plant that was developed in the country. It basically consists of an air inlet fan unit, rotary drum, drying assembly, heating unit, fixed tray and framework. An electric motor of 2.0 Kw was selected as source of power to the rotary drum while a 1.25kw electric motor provided power to the air inlet fan assembly. Also twelve (12) electric heating elements of 1.Skw were installed in the heating unit to provide the required heat energy to dry the sugar. Test results of the dryer shows that the machine had maximum sugar granulated efficiency of 97.8% for 35kg and 45kg of sugar per batch at an initial moisture content of 16.5%. The self sugar discharge mechanisms was very effective and the machine was generally found to be easy to maintain by local artisans due to it's simple design features.