Rediseño del secador por atomización para la obtención de colorante natural a partir de mora de castilla (Rubus glaucus).

Abstract

The redesign of an automation drier to obtain blackberry (Rubus glaucus) natural colorant was carried out. For this, it was necessary to diagnose the equipment that determined a partial reparation of it, since the feeding tank was not appropriate to store the food and there was accumulation of the product in the drying walls and the cyclone. On the other hand, the operation temperature transmitter of the equipment evidenced an uncontrolled variation, the compressor was isolated from the automation of the equipment and it was operated in a manual way. The malfunction of the temperature system was determined and the corresponding solution was also given through the installation of a temperature system containing a PT 100 sensor and a temperature transmitter which were adapted and calibrated with the installed Programmable Logic Controller (PLC). The redesign of the automation drier was carried out with the implementation of a moto-vibrator to give a solution for the accumulation of the product in the walls of both, drier and cyclone, while the design and implementation of iron feeding tank for food use. At the end of the project, it was possible to evidence an increase in solids recovery of 21,5 %, the performance in a 43,5 % and the productivity in 42,1 %; due to the right performance of the temperature control which is the most important during the process and the implementation of the moto-vibrator that clearly reflected a reduction in the product loss. It is recommended to have an adequate use of the drier, checking the user´s manual together with the necessary parameters for the product to be obtained.