PENINGKATAN KECEPATAN PROSESPENGERINGAN KARAGINAN MENGGUNAKAN PENGERING ADSORPSI DENGAN ZEOLIT

Abstract

Drying carrageenan product still deals with low product quality and energy efficiency. The drying with air dehumidified by activated natural zeolite has a potential for drying the product. In this concept, air as drying medium was contacted with zeolite to reduce its relative humidity. Hence, the driving force of drying increases and the process can be conducted at moderate temperature (40-60oC) to retain the quality. This research looks into the effectiveness of adsorption dryer with zeolite for drying carrageenan. The natural zeolite is activated by heating 300-400oC for 2-3 hours. The zeolite is then used to dehumidify the ambient air as drying medium. In this work, the effect of drying temperature and carrageenan thickness on water content in carrageenan during the drying were studied. Results showed with air velocity 3.0 m/sec, thickness of carrageenan 1-2 mm, operational drying time 3 hours and air temperature 40-60oC, water content in carrageenan can be reduced from 82.0% to 25%. This result is very promising for industrial application.