JPH03123450A - Drying method of malt and system therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To accomplish the title drying without causing the quality degradation of malt by blowing dehumidified chilled air on malt on an air-permeable conveyor belt to effect cooling of the malt followed by blowing dehumidified warm air on the malt to effect its warming. CONSTITUTION:Using a system made up of (A) an air-permeable conveyor belt, (B) a charge port through which malt is put on the conveyor belt, (C) a drying chamber made up of an upper chamber 15U and a lower chamber 15D enclosing the upper and lower sides of the conveyor belt, respectively, (D) a dehumidifier 21 to produce dehumidified chilled air or warm air, and (E) connecting pipes 23, 25 to circulate dehumidified chilled air or warm air into the drying chamber, respectively, dehumidified chilled air is blown on malt put on the conveyor belt to effect cooling of the malt followed by blowing dehumidified warm air on the malt to effect its warming, thus accomplishing the objective malt drying.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a koji drying method and apparatus for drying koji.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, a hot air drying device is often used as a koji drying device for drying koji. Inside this hot air dryer,
There are multiple conveyors, and a thin layer of koji is placed on each conveyor and dried with hot air.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) By the way, since the above-described conventional hot air drying apparatus dries the koji using hot air, the temperature during drying is high, which may deteriorate the quality of the koji.

Furthermore, since conventional hot air drying equipment uses outside air, there is a concern that the koji may be sterilized. Furthermore, multistage hot air drying requires a large-scale apparatus, and since the koji layer is thin, the koji must be fed many times, which is very troublesome.

The purpose of this invention is to improve the above-mentioned problems by providing a method for drying koji, which performs low-temperature drying by applying dehumidified cold air or warm air to koji, thereby drying the koji without deteriorating its quality, and eliminating the need to sterilize the koji. Our goal is to provide that device.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a layer of koji placed on an air-permeable conveyor, either below or above the conveyor. This is a koji drying method in which dehumidified cold air is circulated from one side to the other to cool the koji, and then dehumidified warm air is circulated to warm the koji and dry the koji.

The present invention also provides a conveyor with air permeability that can run freely, an input port provided on one side of the conveyor for placing koji on the conveyor, and a conveyor for drying the koji placed on the conveyor. A drying room consisting of a lower drying room and an upper drying room whose lower and upper sides are surrounded by a cover material, a dehumidifier that is installed near this drying room and generates dehumidified cold air or hot air, and this dehumidifier. A connecting pipe that connects the dehumidifier to the lower and upper drying chambers in order to circulate the cold or warm air generated by the lower and upper drying chambers from one of the drying chambers to the other. A koji drying device was constructed with the following.

(Function) By employing the koji drying method and apparatus of the present invention, koji is introduced through the inlet and placed on a ventilated conveyor up to a certain layer. A dehumidifier is operated to circulate dehumidified cold air from either the lower or upper drying chambers to the koji placed on the conveyor, thereby cooling the koji once. Next, the dehumidifier is switched to circulate dehumidified warm air from either the lower or upper drying chambers to the other side, so that the koji placed on the conveyor is heated to a certain level. The layer is dried uniformly and quickly at low temperatures.

Therefore, the koji dried at a low temperature can be dried without deteriorating its quality, and there is no need to worry about sterilization because cold or warm air is circulated in the drying room and outside air is not removed.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the koji drying device 1 is
It is equipped with a belt conveyor device 3 for carrying the. In this belt conveyor device 3, for example, in FIG. 1, a drive roller 5 is rotatably supported on the right side, and a driven roller 7 is rotatably supported on the left side. A net belt conveyor 9 serving as a breathable belt conveyor is wound around the driving roller 5 and the driven roller 7.

This net belt conveyor 9 has fine holes formed so that when the koji K is placed on its surface, the koji K does not fall and allows cold or warm air to pass through. In addition, a plurality of idler rollers 11 are arranged at appropriate positions below the net belt conveyor 9 wound around the driving roller 5 and the driven roller 7, and have the role of smoothly guiding the running of the net belt conveyor 9. I am accomplishing it.

Above the net belt conveyor 9 on the driven roller 7 side, there is provided an input port 13 which is a conical hopper for placing the koji K onto the net belt conveyor 9.

With the above configuration, the drive roller 5 is driven by a drive motor (not shown).
When the is rotated, the input port 1 is opened from above as shown by the arrow.
For example, koji K at 35 to 45°C containing moisture supplied to step 3.
is dropped from the bottom and placed on the net belt conveyor 9, and the belt conveyor 9 is run at a constant speed in the right direction as shown by the arrow, so that the length of the net belt conveyor 9 is changed as shown in Fig. 1. Furthermore, for example 2
A koji layer H of 0 to 30 cm is placed on top.

A drying chamber 15 is provided between the driving roller 5 and the driven roller 7. That is, the drying chamber 15 is a lower drying chamber 15D formed below the net belt conveyor 9.
and an upper drying chamber 15U formed above the net belt conveyor 9. And the lower drying chamber 15
D. To form the upper drying chamber 15U, cover members 17 and 19 made of bags or the like are enclosed below and above the net belt conveyor 9.

In the vicinity of the drying chamber 15, for example, on the right side in FIG.
A dehumidifier 21 is arranged to generate dehumidified cold air or warm air. In order to circulate the dehumidified cold air or warm air generated by the dehumidifier 21, for example, from the lower drying chamber 15D to the upper drying chamber 15U, the dehumidifier 21, the lower drying chamber 15D, and the upper drying chamber are used. 15U are connected by continuous pipes 23 and 25, respectively.

To explain the operation of placing, for example, the koji K of the koji layer H on the length paper net belt conveyor 9 and drying it with the above configuration, first, the dehumidifier 21 is operated to perform a cooling operation. That is, for example, a temperature of 5°C.

Cold air having a humidity of 50% or less is sent through the connecting pipe 23 to the lower drying chamber 15D as indicated by the arrow in FIG. The cold air sent into the lower drying chamber 15D passes through the net belt conveyor 9, passes through the koji layer H, and then reaches the upper drying chamber 15U.
The air is further circulated through the connecting pipe 25 to the dehumidifier 21 and returned.

In this way, the temperature of 5° C. generated by the dehumidifier 21, the temperature of 50° C.
Connecting pipe 23゜lower drying chamber 1
5D, by circulating the koji layer H7 to the upper drying chamber 15U and the connecting pipe 25 for a certain period of time, the koji K in the koji layer H at 35 to 45°C is in contact with the net belt conveyor 9.
For example, each ICm is sequentially cooled to a temperature of 5° C., and after a certain period of time, the entire koji layer H is cooled to a temperature of 5° C.

When the entire koji layer H is cooled, the dehumidifier 21 is switched from the cooling operation to the heating operation, and a temperature of 40 to 42° C., for example, 50
% or less of humidity is sent. Lower drying chamber 15
The hot air sent to D passes through the net belt conveyor 9, passes through the koji layer H of the koji, is sent to the upper drying room 15U, and is further circulated to the dehumidifier 21 through the connecting pipe 25 and returned.

In this way, the hot air generated by the dehumidifier 21 and having a temperature of 40 to 42°C and a humidity of 50% or less is transferred to the connecting pipe 23. By circulating the koji layer H1 to the lower drying chamber 15D, the upper drying chamber 15U, and the connecting pipe 25 for a certain period of time, for example, the koji K in the koji layer H, which is at 5° C., is in contact with the net belt conveyor 9. 40-42 every 1cm
Temperature in °C.

After a certain period of time, the entire koji layer H becomes 40 to 4
It will be heated to a temperature of 2°C and dried at a low temperature.
In addition, for example, 1 which is in contact with the net belt conveyor 9
Even if the temperature of the koji layer H of cm reaches 40 to 42° C. and the humidity of 50% or less, the temperature of the other layers does not rise because of the dehumidified warm air, which absorbs the heat of vaporization. Therefore, the koji layer H is not heated to a high temperature, but is gradually dried at a low temperature, layer by layer, for example, 1 cm, and finally the entire koji layer H is dried at a low temperature.

In this way, in this example, since the koji is dried at a low temperature, the koji can be dried without deteriorating its quality. In addition, since cold air and hot air are circulated and outside air is not removed, there is no need to worry about sterilization. Furthermore, compared to conventional hot air drying, a large amount of koji can be dried continuously and in a shorter time.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and can be implemented in other embodiments by making appropriate changes. For example, in this embodiment, the cold air and warm air are circulated from the lower drying chamber 15D to the upper drying chamber 15U.
It is also possible to circulate it from U to the lower drying chamber 15D. In this case, it is necessary to take measures to prevent cold air and hot air from leaking from the upper drying chamber 15U to the outside.

In addition, in this embodiment, the koji K is dried in a batch-type state in which a layer H of koji is placed on the length J of the net belt conveyor 9. It is also possible to dry the koji K and then run the net belt conveyor 9 to dry it continuously.

[Effects of the Invention] As can be understood from the above description of the embodiments, according to the present invention, koji is introduced through the inlet and placed on a ventilated conveyor up to a certain layer.

A dehumidifier is operated to circulate dehumidified cold air from either the lower or upper drying chambers to the koji placed on the conveyor, thereby cooling the koji once. Next, the dehumidifier is switched to circulate dehumidified warm air from either the lower or upper drying chambers to the other side, so that the koji placed on the conveyor is heated to a certain level. The layer can be dried uniformly and at low temperature in a short time.

Therefore, the koji dried at low temperature can be dried without deteriorating its quality, and there is no need to worry about sterilizing the koji because cold or warm air is circulated in the drying room and outside air is not removed.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a koji drying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line ■--■ in FIG. 1...Input port 9...Net belt conveyor 3...
・Inlet 15...Drying chamber 5D...Lower drying chamber 15U...Upper drying chamber 7.1
9...Cover part 21...Dehumidifier 3.25...
connecting pipe

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) Cool dehumidified air is circulated through the layer of koji placed on a ventilated conveyor from either the lower or upper side of the conveyor to the other side, and then the koji is cooled. A koji drying method characterized by circulating dehumidified warm air to heat the koji and dry the koji. (2) A ventilated conveyor that can run freely, an input port provided on one side of the conveyor for placing the koji on the conveyor, and an underside of the conveyor for drying the koji placed on the conveyor. a drying room consisting of a lower drying room and an upper drying room whose upper sides are surrounded by a cover member; a dehumidifier installed near the drying room that generates dehumidified cold or warm air; a connecting pipe that connects the dehumidifier and the lower and upper drying chambers in order to circulate cold air or warm air from either the lower drying chamber or the upper drying chamber from one of the drying chambers to the other drying chamber; A koji drying device characterized by: