JPS61249368A - Drying of laver - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:A closed drier is divided into the upper and the lower drying chambers, the humidity of each drying chamber is maintained almost to a preset level with a humidifier and a fan, and laver is dried with hot air having regulated humidity. CONSTITUTION:A closed drier 6 is divided with an intermediate floor 20 into the upper drying chamber 4 and the lower drying chamber 24 which are furnished with suction ports 9, 29 and exhaustion ports 8, 28 closable with shutters. Hot air generated by combustion furnaces 2, 22 is circulated in the drying chambers 4, 24 with the fans 3, 23. The humidity values in the drying chambers 4, 24 are detected by the humidity sensors 5, 25. When the detected humidity is lower than a preset level, the humidifiers 10, 30 are energized, and when it is higher than the preset level, the fans 7, 27 are energized, the shutter is operated to open the suction and exhaustion ports 9, 29, 8, 28 to open the drying chamber 4, 24,and hot air having regulated humidity is supplied and circulated to the drying chambers 4, 24.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] "Industrial application field" The present invention relates to a method for drying seaweed.

``Conventional Technology'' When drying seaweed, the humidity and temperature inside the drying room have a great effect on the finished product, and are considered to be major factors in determining the quality of the product.

In other words, in the condition of normal raw seaweed raw material, even if the humidity in the drying room is at the set value (40 to 50%), if the temperature exceeds the allowable temperature (50°C), the seaweed cells will wither and deteriorate and lose their luster. It may be discolored or discolored. Also, even if the temperature inside the drying room is within the allowable range, the humidity may deviate from the set value.
It is said that when the temperature reaches about 20% K, it becomes difficult to peel off the seaweed after drying, and the seaweed tends to crack, tear, and shrink, and the quality deteriorates significantly, including loss of flavor, and the value of the product decreases. For this reason, various improvements have been proposed, some of which have been put into practical use. For example, as a technical document, Japanese Patent Publication No. 52-42869 describes the first step of drying at a constant rate with hot air at a critical temperature at which raw seaweed will wither and deteriorate, and the raw seaweed is pressed against a heating surface at a temperature lower than the permissible temperature. Japanese Patent Publication No. 57-056872 describes a drying method for raw seaweed that combines drying with a second step of drying at a decreasing rate.
There is a method of drying seaweed in which the burner of the combustion furnace is turned off when the temperature falls below a set range based on the deviation of temperature b. There is a seaweed drying device that is divided into two spaces, upper and lower, each space equipped with a combustion device, and the upper space blows hotter air than the lower space.

On the other hand, as shown in Figure 4, the process in which raw seaweed is carried into the dryer, dried, and taken out is divided into the material preheating section, constant rate drying section,
It is roughly divided into lapse rate drying sections, and depending on the moisture content of raw seaweed, high temperature drying is performed in the material preheating section, heating drying is performed in the constant rate drying section, and heating and humidification drying is performed in the lapse rate drying section. This is said to be ideal for producing high-quality dried seaweed.

``Problems to be Solved by the Invention'' As mentioned above, all conventional methods of drying seaweed use a so-called open dryer whose top plate is made of a net, etc.
After hot air is applied to the seaweed in the drying room, it is discharged outside the factory via a fan inside the factory to dry it, or the hot air is passed back into the dryer through a shielding member installed inside the factory, such as a curtain. There is a way to circulate and reuse moist hot air. Humidity is controlled in this way, but since it is an open type, it is difficult to precisely control the humidity.
Sometimes, over-drying can lead to deterioration of quality, and drying in humid conditions such as on rainy days can lead to the formation of dull seaweed. In addition, Japanese Patent Publication No. 59-056872 requires temperature control, and although the dryer is formed in two spaces, it is through a perforated plate, so there is no circulation of humidity.
However, proper humidity control seems difficult. Furthermore, in the conventional method of drying seaweed, as shown in Figure 5, an open dryer is installed in the drying room (factory), and the drying room itself is the so-called drying room, so humidity control is not always necessary. Not enough.

``Means for Solving the Problem'' Therefore, the present invention uses a relatively simple method to maintain the humidity of each divided drying room at a desired set value. , which uses constant humidity air for drying.The gist is that a closed dryer is divided into an upper drying chamber and a lower drying chamber with an intermediate floor,
Each drying room is provided with an intake port and an exhaust port that are opened and closed by a shutter, and a fan for intake and exhaust is provided at the intake port or the exhaust port, and a humidity sensor is provided in each of the drying rooms.
This indoor humidity is detected separately, and when the humidity is within the set value, the high temperature and constant humidity air generated in the drying room is circulated, and when the humidity is below the set value, the drying room is circulated. The humidifier is operated to maintain the humidity at the set value, and when the humidity is above the set value, the drying room is opened to exhaust humid air and bring in outside air to maintain the humidity at the set value. A seaweed drying method in which drying of fresh seaweed is individually controlled in each drying room by circulating the heated and constant humidity air generated in the drying room, and the drying method is such that the warmed air is not higher than a set value. This is a method of drying seaweed in which the burner of the combustion furnace is turned off when the temperature reaches (usually high temperature air).

As raw seaweed is sequentially supplied, the burners of the combustion furnaces 2 and 22 are ignited, and hot air is sequentially generated. In this case, since the drying chambers 4 and 24 are almost airtight (drying chamber 4
, 24 are partially open at the part where the seaweed cage 1 enters and exits and the part where the seaweed cage 1 detours. ), heated air is generated, and this heated air is passed through the fans 3, 23 to the drying chamber 4.
The air circulates through the air 24 and comes into contact with the raw seaweed, becoming moist air.

This humid air is sent to the combustion furnaces 2 and 22, where it is heated and becomes constant humidity air, following the same process as described above.

In this case, the humidity sensors 5 and 25 detect the humidity in the drying chambers 4 and 24, and when the humidity is below the set value, the respective humidifiers 10 and 30 are activated to humidify the humidity to the set value and prevent over-drying. This air is heated in the combustion furnace 2.22 to make it warm and constant humidity air while preventing it from occurring, and follows the same circulation path as described above.

In addition, the humidity opens the drying chambers 4 and 24, drives the respective 77 cylinders 7.27, and actively exhausts the humid air through the exhaust ports 8 and 28, while the outside air flows through the intake ports 9 and 29. Alternatively, air from within the factory is introduced to reach the set value, and while preventing high humidity and dryness, this air is heated in the combustion furnaces 2 and 22 to become warm, constant humidity air, and follows the same circulation path as described above. Further, in the second invention, under the heating and constant humidity air control in the first invention, when the heated air reaches a set value or higher (normally high temperature air), the heating air is placed in the drying chamber 4.24. The burners of the combustion furnaces 2, 22 provided in the drying chamber 4.degree. 24 are turned off and heated air is circulated via the provided temperature sensors 40.50. For example, the first invention will be explained in detail using the diagrams in Figs. 2 and 3. As shown in Fig. 2 (a), hot air is not supplied to the drying chamber 34 immediately after startup. Since it is not sufficient, the humidity is not affected by the amount of raw seaweed supplied into the drying room 34, and the humidity is determined by the humidity in the factory and the outside air. The same applies to the present invention, since the supply of hot air is still insufficient in the drying chamber 4 immediately after startup, the humidity within the factory is not affected by the amount of raw seaweed supplied into the drying chamber 4. The state shown in FIG. 3 (a) will occur depending on the humidity, etc. After that, although the supply of hot air was steady, it took time for the supply of raw seaweed to reach the raw seaweed storage capacity of the drying chamber 34, so the humidity decreased and fell below the set value (Figure 2). (
+-), it becomes what is called over-drying. However, in the present invention, as soon as the humidity falls below the set value, the humidity sensor 5 is activated, and the humidifier 10 is activated to humidify and maintain the humidity at the set value. Next, as the supply of raw seaweed progresses and the drying chamber 34 is filled, the humidity gradually increases and temporarily maintains the set value, and the temperature also maintains the set value and becomes normal for the time being. The condition shown in Figure (c) is that the conventional drying chamber 34 is an open type with an open canopy, so it is susceptible to the influence of outside air or the air inside the factory, such as on rainy days or sunny days. When the humidity varies from day to day, i.e., when it is in the morning and in the afternoon, the humidity in the drying chamber 34 fluctuates greatly, as shown by the two-dot chain line in Figure 2, and there is a risk of uneven drying. In the present invention, when the drying chamber 4 is filled with fresh seaweed, the humidity gradually increases and maintains the set value, and the temperature is also maintained at the set value.However, in the present invention, when the drying chamber 4 Since it is almost a closed system (when the shutter is closed), there is a risk that the temperature and humidity will become high in the evening, resulting in humid air (if the temperature is too high, turn off the burner.) 0 Like this When it comes to humid air, that is, it is undesirable for the humidity to exceed the set value, so the shutter is rotated to open the drying chamber 4, the humidity sensor 5 is activated, and the 77 is driven to move the air inside the drying chamber 4. While exhausting humid air through the exhaust port 8, outside air etc. is introduced through the intake port 9 to lower the humidity to the set value and maintain that value.Furthermore, if the drying chamber 4 becomes overly dry As mentioned above, the humidifier 10 is operated to humidify the air and keep it in a nearly constant humidity state (as shown in Figure 3), and since the drying chamber 4 is closed, there is no need to worry about the weather or the outside air. It is possible to maintain a nearly constant humidity state without being affected by air, and even if it is affected by temporary humidity, it can be supplemented by the above-mentioned operation.Then, the water contained in the fresh seaweed is It is thought that by activating the activities of molecules, etc., it is possible to dry the raw seaweed in a uniform state down to the center, resulting in the state shown in Figure 3 (-7), which can be expected to produce high-quality dried seaweed. Raw seaweed is transported from the upper drying chamber 4 to the lower drying chamber 24, and the humidity in the lower drying chamber 24 is adjusted to a predetermined set value through the operation of the humidity sensor 25, humidifier 30, etc. It is maintained in
Normal drying can be expected with heated, constant humidity air. However, if the humidity in the drying chamber 24 becomes above or below the set value, the humidity is maintained at the set value by operating in the same manner as in the above-mentioned upper drying room 4. If desired, a humidified and dry state can be created in the lapse rate drying section using a humidifier 30 or the like. Dried seaweed is successively produced through this process. On the other hand, near the end of the work, the supply of raw seaweed is stopped, so firstly the proportion of raw seaweed in the drying chamber 34 decreases9, and the humidity gradually decreases and becomes younger than the set value. The temperature rises temporarily due to residual heat from the hot air, resulting in the state shown in Figure 2 (e), where the seaweed cells die. However, in the present invention, as soon as the humidity drops below the set value, the humidity sensor 5 is activated and the humidifier IO is activated to humidify and maintain the humidity at the set value.
Then, as the proportion of fresh seaweed in the drying chamber 34 decreases, the humidity further drops from the lower set value. Meanwhile, the temperature also gradually decreases. However, due to the temporary rise in temperature in the previous process, the drop is gradual, resulting in the so-called overdry state shown in Fig. 2 (f). However, in the present invention, as soon as the humidity drops below the set value, the humidity sensor 5 is activated and the humidifier 10 is activated to humidify and maintain the humidity at the set value, thereby preventing overdrying (see Fig. 3). In this way, the final raw seaweed is transported to the lower drying chamber 24.In this case, the drying chamber 24 is almost completely filled with raw seaweed, as shown in Figure 3 above. - Normal drying due to heated and constant humidity air can be expected as in the case of seaweed. However, as the proportion of this final raw seaweed in the drying chamber 24 decreases, overdrying will occur as in the conventional example described above. Figure 2 (→
, it seems to be in the state of (to). Therefore, in the present invention, the drying chamber 24 is operated in the same manner as in the case of the upper drying chamber 4 described above.
Figure 3 (Ladle, (-?
) and dry. Also in the second invention,
The seaweed is dried under the same heated and constant humidity air control as in the first invention, but the heated air exceeds the set value (in the present invention, the drying chambers 4 and 24 are almost closed type). (This means that it is easy for the air to reach a high temperature higher than the set value. The burners of the provided combustion furnaces 2 and 22 are turned off and heated air at the set value is circulated, following the same process as in the first invention.

Embodiment J The drawing shows an embodiment of the present invention. Reference numeral 6 is a closed type dryer, and this dryer 6 has an intermediate bed 20 and is divided into an upper drying chamber 4 and a lower drying chamber 24. The drying chambers 4 and 24 have air intake ports 9 that are opened and closed by shutters.
29 and exhaust ports 8, 28 are provided, respectively, and combustion furnaces 2, 22 and fans 3, 23 are provided, respectively. The hot air generated in the combustion furnaces 2, 22 is circulated in the drying chamber 4.24 by the rotation of the 7-angs 3, 23. 5
, 25 are humidity sensors installed in each of the drying chambers 4° and 24.
The humidity sensors 5 and 25 detect the humidity in the drying chambers 4 and 24, respectively, and when the humidity is below a set value, the humidifiers 10 and 30 installed in the drying chambers 4 and 24 are activated to humidify the chambers. , while maintaining the humidity at a set value, circulating and supplying heated, constant humidity air generated in the nearly closed drying chambers 4 and 24,
Over-drying in the drying chambers 4 and 24 can be caused by drying in the dryer/
This tends to occur when starting or stopping the machine. Conversely, when the humidity is above the set value, the humidity sensors 5 and 25 are activated to drive the fans 7 and 27, and the shutters are rotated to open the intake and exhaust ports 9, 29, 8, and 28. drying room 4,
24 is opened, and the drying chambers 4, 24 are opened via the fan 7.27.
While exhausting the humid air inside through the exhaust ports 8 and 28, outside air or air inside the factory is introduced through the intake ports 9 and 29, and the humidity is maintained at the set value while the drying room 4 is almost closed.゜24
Drying room 4
, 24 are individually controlled to be in a humid or dry state. Such humid air is likely to be generated during the intermediate process of drying, mainly because the present invention is a closed type dryer 2. As detailed above, the combustion furnaces 2 are installed in the drying chambers 4 and 24, respectively.
．． 22, fan 3t23, 7, 27, humidity sensor 5,
25. The humidifiers 10 and 30 operate differently depending on the situation. In the figure, 11°31 is a switch. 4
0.50 is a temperature sensor installed in the drying room 4°24.
This temperature sensor 40.50 detects heated air, etc., and when the temperature is higher than the set value (normally high temperature air), the KL turns off the burners of the combustion furnaces 2 and 22, and the heated air is heated to the set value. This heated air is circulated and supplied together with constant humidity air while maintaining the same humidity.Since the present invention uses a closed type dryer, it is thought that this is likely to occur during the intermediate and final stages of drying. This problem can also be prevented. The state of use of the present invention has been explained in detail in the above-mentioned operation, so its explanation will be omitted.

"Effects of the Invention" As detailed above, the present invention divides a closed dryer into upper and lower drying chambers, and each drying chamber is provided with an intake port and an exhaust port that are opened and closed by shutters. A humidity sensor is installed in each of these drying chambers, and based on the detected value of this humidity sensor, the humidity in the drying chamber is maintained at approximately the set value via a humidifier or fan. Drying can be done using constant humidity air, which has the effect of avoiding over-drying and drying due to high humidity, and also eliminates the color unevenness that often occurs, producing dried seaweed that is of high quality and has a long shelf life.
Furthermore, in the present invention, the dryer is divided into two drying chambers, and the humidity is controlled separately in each of the nearly closed drying chambers. It is possible to create an optimal humidity environment corresponding to each situation such as weather conditions. Furthermore, since drying is carried out in a sufficiently humidified state, smooth, glossy, and soft dried seaweed can be efficiently produced. Furthermore, since drying is carried out at a constant temperature and humidity, it is possible to prevent tearing and cracking caused by over-drying, as well as stiffness and partial wetting caused by insufficient drying, thereby producing high-quality dried seaweed.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawing shows an example of the apparatus used in the method of the present invention.
The figure is an explanatory diagram. Figure s2 is a chart showing the temperature and humidity progress of the conventional method. Figure 3 is a chart showing the temperature and humidity progress of the method of the present invention. Figure 4 is a schematic diagram showing the drying section in the dryer. , Fig. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a conventional dryer.
3...Fan, 4,24...Drying room, 5,25...
・Humidity sensor, 6... Dryer, 7, 27... Fan, 8.28... Exhaust port, 9, 29... Intake port, 1
0.30... Humidifier, 11.31... Switch, 2
0...Intermediate floor, 40.50...Temperature sensor patent applicant Furuta Electric Co., Ltd. KiJ IN

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A closed type dryer is divided into an upper drying chamber and a lower drying chamber with an intermediate floor, and each drying chamber is provided with an intake port and an exhaust port that can be opened and closed with a shutter, and the intake port or exhaust port is A fan is installed at the mouth, and a humidity sensor installed in each of the drying chambers detects the indoor humidity separately, and when the humidity is at the set value, the heating and constant temperature generated in the drying chamber is detected. Humid air is circulated, and when the humidity is below the set value, the humidifier in the drying room is operated to maintain the humidity at the set value, and when the humidity is above the set value, the drying room is opened. The humidity generated in this drying room is
A method of drying seaweed in which drying of fresh seaweed is controlled individually in each drying room by circulating constant humidity air. (2) A closed type dryer is divided into an upper drying chamber and a lower drying chamber with an intermediate floor, and each drying chamber is provided with an intake port and an exhaust port that can be opened and closed with a shutter, and the intake port or exhaust port is A fan is installed at the mouth, and a humidity sensor installed in each of the drying chambers detects the indoor humidity separately, and when the humidity is at the set value, the humidification and constant humidity generated in the drying chamber are detected. When the air is circulated and the humidity is below the set value, the humidifier in the drying room is operated to maintain the humidity at the set value, and when the humidity is above the set value, the drying room is opened. While exhausting humid air, outside air or factory air is introduced to maintain the humidity at the set value, and the heating generated in this drying room is
A method of drying seaweed in which the drying of fresh seaweed is controlled individually in each drying room by circulating constant humidity air, and the burner of the combustion furnace is turned off when the heated air exceeds a set value. .