MODIFICATION AND TESTING OF A CASSAVA FLASH DRYER FEEDER UNIT

A flash dryer feeder Unit was modified and tested under industrial conditions on a Flash Drying Plant at Godilogo Farms Ltd, Obudu in Cross River State of Nigeria. The earlier feeder unit was designed based on flow properties of sugar beets to handle 820 kg/hr of grated and dewatered wet cassava cake/mash feed but the throughput obtained was 702 Kg/hr due to a rathole formed in a section of the unit. This gave rise to erratic flow with frequent blockages in the flash tube which consequently disrupts the attainment of the designed capacity. As a result of this setback, the modified feeder was designed based on flow properties of grated and dewatered cassava cake using Jenike ? Schulze Ring Shear Tester at Jenike and Johanson Inc, Facility Boston, USA. The results obtained indicate that the feed rate of cassava wet cake/mash at moisture content of 42 % can be varied from 115 kg/hr ? 1120 kg/hr, without noticeable flow blockage or the formation of a rathole in the feeder. The production capacity of the flash drying plant using the modified feeder unit is higher than the one obtained with the earlier feeding unit by 64 %. Also, the quality of the cassava flour produced using the modified feeder unit falls within the acceptable Nigerian standards for this product.