Progress 09/01/07 to 08/31/09
Outputs
OUTPUTS: We collaborated with Dr. Carl Bern, Dr. Michael Pate, and graduate student Christopher Hoeck of Iowa State University as we designed, built, and ran experiments on the small scale research dryer that was built and tested under this grant. WHO radio, Des Moines, Iowa has ran a on air segment covering our work. Dr. Bern has presented an academic paper: Operating Characteristics of a High-Efficiency Pilot Scale Corn Distillers Grain Dryer at multiple venues: 2008 MidCentral Conference of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, April 4-5, 2008 in Lincoln, NE; AgEng 2008 meeting of the European Society of Agricultural Engineers in Heraklion, Crete, Greece, June 26-28, 2008; and the 2008 American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers annual International Meeting, Providence, RI July 29-July 2. Although it was not funded with grant monies, we have created a website, triphasedrying.com. Also not funded with grant monies, we have given presentations to multiple interested third parties (utility companies, engineering consulting firms, original equipment manufacturers of dryers) as we seek to commercialize the technology; and the company attended the International Drying Symposium conference in Hyderabad, India in November, 2008 where we had a display show booth and presented the technology to interested original equipment manufacturers, academic members of the international drying community, large scale drying end users, and other interested parties. PARTICIPANTS: Individuals: Steve Shivvers, project director, actively lead the design, construction, and testing of the small scale research dryer. Dr. Carl Bern, co-project director for the Iowa State University portion of the work plan, actively led the Iowa State University portion of the work plan, wrote academic papers and delivered presentations. Dr. Michael Pate, co-project director for a portion of the Iowa State University portion of the work plan, wrote report, supervised graduate student in writing thesis on the technology. Dr. Lloyd Lerew provided technical engineering assistance. Alvin Arnold, draftsman, drew blueprints for the small scale research dryer under the supervision of Steve Shivvers. Partner Organizations: Iowa State University collaborated on the project through the efforts of Dr. Bern and Dr. Pate. TARGET AUDIENCES: Target audiences of the information and knowledge generated are: Researchers in the fields of agricultural and industrial drying, original equipment manufacturers of agricultural and industrial drying, end users of agricultural and industrial dryers, engineering firms that design and deploy drying equipment, and utility companies that seek to reduce the energy consumption of their customer base. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: No major changes.
Impacts
Problem Addressed: The Shivvers Heat Recovery Process (renamed the Tri-Phase Drying Process) is a novel integrated drying and heat recovery process that allows the reclamation of a high percentage of the latent heat of evaporation encountered in the drying process. The basic identified problem or opportunity addressed relates to the efficiency of the drying of a wide variety of agricultural (and industrial) products. Many products require drying to allow for safe storage or more economical transportation of the product. Usually the drying must be done quickly and therefore requires supplemental and substantial energy use. Most dryers use heated air to remove moisture from the product. Typical agricultural dryers vary in energy consumption from a low of approximately 1800 BTU/pound of water evaporated to a high of approximately 3000 BTU/pound of water evaporated or higher. Industrial dryers average approximately 2060 BTU/pound of water evaporated. It was claimed that in theory the Tri-Phase Drying Process would have a theoretical energy consumption of from 100 - 385 BTU/pound of water evaporated. We projected that a well designed commercial dryer using the Tri-Phase Drying Process would be able to operate in the 500 BTU/pound of water evaporated range. This represents an approximate 75% reduction in energy requirements. Scientific Questions Explored: The primary objective with this USDA SBIR Phase II grant was to "achieve successful integration of current theory and knowledge into the design and construction of small scale research dryers. We further anticipate the collection of test data and data analysis that will conclusively validate our hypotheses and energy savings claims." Simply stated, the primary objective was to prove through the testing of an actual small scale research dryer that the above energy savings claims could be achieved in physical reality. Results: We designed, fabricated, and tested a small scale research dryer that incorporated the Tri-Phase drying process. The selected embodiment was a rotary drum configuration. The selected product that was dried was wet distillers grain, a by-product of ethanol production from corn. We demonstrated total energy use in the 730 to 830 Btu/lb range. We demonstrated heater input energy use in the 500 to 600 Btu/lb range. We believe that a well designed 2nd generation commercial dryer will be able to operate in the 500 - 600 Btu/lb range. Although it has not been a portion of the work product of this grant, subsequent work has revealed that in some applications the Tri-Phase process may be assisted with a heat pump option. We believe that a well designed commercial unit utilizing the heat pump option will operate in the 300 Btu/lb range. The Tri-Phase Drying Process is a platform technology: A super-efficient integrated drying and heat recovery process that saves 60 to 75% of the energy that is normally consumed in the drying of grain and a wide variety of agricultural and industrial products.
Publications
- Bern, C., Pate, M., and Shivvers, S. (2008). Operating Characteristics of a High-Efficiency Pilot Scale Corn Distillers Grain Dryer, presented at: 2008 MidCentral Conference of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, April 4-5, 2008 in Lincoln, NE; AgEng 2008 meeting of the European Society of Agricultural Engineers in Heraklion, Crete, Greece, June 26-28, 2008; and the 2008 American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers annual International Meeting, Providence, RI July 29-July 2. (in print)
- Pate, M., Hoeck, C. (2008). Executive Summary, An Analysis of a DDGS Drying System Utilizing the Shivvers Heat Recovery Process. (in print)
- Walsh, J. (2008). Saving energy in your drying process, Powder & Bulk Engineering, Sept. 2008 (in print)
- Website: triphasedrying.com, (2008), (in print) (not funded through grant)
- Brochure: Tri-Phase Drying Brochure, (2008), (in print) (not funded through grant)
- Bern, C., Pate, M., and Shivvers, S. (2009). Operating Characteristics of a High-Efficiency Pilot Scale Corn Distillers Grain Dryer, Applied Engineering in Agriculture (pending)
- Hoeck, C., (2008). Analysis of a DDGS Air-Drying System with Heat Recovery, Master of Science thesis, Iowa State University (in print)
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