Water Holding Capacity and Heat Transfer Aspects of a Mixture of Sugar Cane Bagasse and Wheat Bran in a Partially Filled Rotating Drum

Abstract

Maximum water holding capacity of a mixture of sugarcane bagasse and wheat bran was determined in static conditions and in a drum rotated at 1 rpm. The variables filling degree, water flow rate, volume of added water and number of sprinklers were tested to control the moisture content of the solid and the number of rotations to achieve homogeneous moisture content. None of the selected variables was significant, giving the apparatus high flexibility to control moisture content. For the heat transfer experiments, the tested variables were introduction of air through an inner tube amidst the particles, water sprinkling over the bed and drum rotation. The selected variables represented limited mechanisms of heat removal, although efficient when coupled with the drum rotation. The results are of value to control the temperature and the moisture content in solid-state cultivation bioreactors.

Assessment of the Techno-Economic Feasibility of Semicontinuous Production of Metarhizium anisopliae Spores

“…In the same equipment, rice is then inoculated by sprinkling blastospore suspension on the particles while the drum rotates, up to a concentration of 10 8 blastospores/gds . The number of rotations and speed of rotation of the drum required to produce a homogeneous distribution of blastospore can be obtained following methodologies available in literature. , The production of blastospore suspension is described in section 3.5. Meanwhile, sugar cane bagasse undergoes a similar operation, except for inoculation, which does not occur for this material.…”