Chemical Industry and Chemical Engineering Quarterly (Jul 2010)
Drying of immobilized yeast cells in a spouted bed dryer with a moving draft tube
Abstract
Brewery yeast cells immobilized in Ca-alginate were dried in a laboratory scale spouted bed with a draft tube.The experiment was conducted under variable temperatures and air flow rates. The temperature and air velocity at the bottom of the column have been varied in the range from 30 to 60 °C and from 6 to 10 m/s in a duration of 60 min. The moisture of dryied particles was in the interval of 10.00 to 21.00 g/g, while the water activity was in the range of 0.40 to 0.45 what ensures the preservation of immobilized yeast as a starter and provides the biological activity of dried particles. A rehidration process of dryied particles proved that dried particles could completely restore their original shape and starting volume, while the mechanical resistance is somewhat reduced. The cells preserved in this way completely restore their catalytical activity after the rehidration.
