Republic of the Philippines
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Philippine Center for Postharvest
Development and Mechanization
CLSU Compound, Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija

NEWS STORIES

PHilMech set to commercialize Fluidized Bed Dryer
by (September 25, 2018)
The Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PHilMech) will start commercializing from the latter part of this year the Fluidized Bed Dryer it has developed, with the aim of providing a better grains drying system for rice farmers.

PHilMech Executive Director Dr. Baldwin G. Jallorina said the Fluidized Bed Dryer developed by the agency had undergone testing and trials in the past two years and has proven its worth when it comes to efficiency. Also, PhilMech was able to increase the capacity of its Fluidized Bed Dryer prototype from 500 kilograms of palay (paddy or unmilled rice) per batch to one ton per batch.

The drying cost per kilo of the PHilMech-developed Fluidized Bed Dryer is below the industry average P1 per kilo.

“PHilMech researchers and scientists have vastly improved on the Fluidized Bed Dryer prototype that the agency developed in 2015. From the latter part of this year, PhilMech will take steps to commercialize the technology,” Dr. Jallorina said.

“From the prototype developed in 2015 that only had 500 kilograms capacity per batch, PHilMech was able to develop a model that can dry one ton of palay per batch,” he added.

PHilMech will select companies from the local farm machinery fabrication industry to manufacture the Fluidized Bed Dryer.

A typical fluidized bed drying system uses heated air to dry commodities like grains. During the fluidization process, hot air or gas is introduced through the bed of solid particulates. The gas or air will move upwards through the spaces between the particles.

Besides the agriculture sector, fluidized drying has applications in the food processing, chemical, pharmaceutical, dairy, metals, and dyes industries, among others.

Part of the commercialization process PHilMech will undertake is to accredit and select manufacturers that will fabricate the Fluidized Bed Dryer it developed, which is also in line with the agency’s advocacy to promote locally-developed and fabricated farm equipment.

“PHilMech fully supports the development of the local farm machinery industry that has the potential to employ more people especially in the rural areas, not only in the actual manufacture of the machines buy also in the provision of after-sales or maintenance services,” Jallorina said.

The PHilMech executive director added that drying palay remains an issue that needs to be addressed given that most small farmers still dry their grains on the road, which can be inefficient. Also, farmers who cannot properly dry their palay are forced to sell their products to traders who have drying facilities at a much lower price.

Improperly dried palay can also result in less quantity or poor quality of rice recovered during the milling process. Usually, milling results in 50 to 60 percent rice recovered based on the weight of palay. During the rainy season, palay harvested wet is more prevalent, making it more challenging for the rice industry to produce quality rice.

The ideal moisture content for palay is 14 percent.