Final Report Summary - DRY CONTROL (Control strategiesin rotary driers dealing with vegetal products) Dehydration of vegetable products can be very complex given great variations in humidity content. The resulting excessive desiccation of the product not only means a greater cost from energy used, but also degradation of the products' nutritional content, as well as weight loss, which is seen in the final price of the product, and in a reduction in small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) competitiveness. A number of results were achieved as a result of this project. These included, a mathematical model capable of integrating all the described inputs to be processed along with a database and a rule base, to provide the resulting control parameters of the established outputs which will in turn give the desired set values for the final product with respect to its protein and humidity content. A second result was the development of Adaptive FLC (AFLC) permitting the use of three or more control exit signals instead of only one which in turn also gives greater control of the three controlling variables (rotation speed of the drum, feed of raw materials to be dried and drying temperature fuel flow-) derived from a greater number of separate input signals (humidity and protein readings, rotation speed, feed of raw materials, drying temperature, etc.). Thirdly a control system for drying processes of organic products capable to control product variables in real time in rotary driers, reducing energy consumption of the plant at least in 20%. This control system is an innovation without precedent in the field of forage dying and agrofood in general, where these systems have no similar prior developments and have been limited to individual studies which have not permitted the industrial development for the control and automation of the equipment with such precision. The next issue to consider is whether there is a market for these ideas and the information gathered to date suggests that there is. However the only company that could really bring these technologies to the market is Cemitec, or a similar research organisation. Investment would be needed to secure the patents and then to begin to develop prototypes and to begin targeting the market. The kind of figures involved would be around EUR 250 000. Some of this money might be able to come from regional funding or other sources but two people full-time for about 18 months would be needed to develop and market the technology. Related documents Final Report - DRY CONTROL (Control strategiesin rotary driers dealing with vegetal products)
