SmartDry – Quality assurance and energy efficiency increase in the drying of food with superheated steam

Drying with superheated steam at atmospheric pressure

The drying of food or animal feed with superheated steam at atmospheric pressure, which was established at Fraunhofer IGB in cooperation with Heckmann in different pilot plants, enables significant energy savings of up to 50 percent and up to 80 percent shorter drying times compared to conventional drying technologies (e.g. with hot air).

Measuring system and fuzzy control

For the further development of the technology to market maturity, in the "SmartDry" project a measuring system for recording the current product status and a control system based on it are being developed. This automatically ensures a homogeneous drying process and thus consistent product quality, even with fluctuating material properties (e.g. moisture content or structure) of the dry material. This goes hand in hand with the constructive optimization and demonstration of the dryer using various product groups (apple rings, mushrooms).

Optimization of energy efficiency

A second aspect is the optimization of energy efficiency, which is essentially determined by the condensation of the excess water vapor and the separation of the water vapor atmosphere from the air atmosphere. The continuous detection and fuzzy control of the forming phase boundary layer between superheated water vapor and ambient air is also necessary in order to conduct the condensation in an energy-optimized manner and to be able to intervene in a targeted manner in the event of malfunctions or faulty processes. In addition to energy recovery, the recovery of volatile valuable components also plays an important role in condensation.