Rice is certainly the most consumed cereal in the world: about 30% of the world population habitually uses it for daily nutrition, thanks to its many beneficial and curative properties.
In Italy, the cultivation of rice affects large agricultural areas, especially in Lombardia, Piemonte and Veneto. Paddy rice, to be transformed into an edible product, requires the artificial drying of the grains within specific systems.
When harvested, in fact, this raw material contains a high percentage of moisture: drying allows to reduce this level, in order to ensure proper conservation of the cereal and thus avoid risky alterations or mold. In this article, Mecmar explains how a mobile paddy dryer works and how farms could benefit from its use.
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How to dry paddy rice with mobile dryers?
Rice is an extremely delicate cereal: the rice seed, precisely for this reason, requires a particularly careful drying treatment – both in terms of temperature and handling – to avoid cracking or breakage of the grain, which would reduce its quality.
Important factors for a good drying of paddy are therefore certainly the temperature of the grain, but also the duration of exposure to heat. The drying air temperature should not exceed 35 – 38 °C; should this happen, especially if for a prolonged period, the grains could break due to stress, to the detriment of the quality of the cereal itself.
Relying on systems with a mobile structure allows a high and safe drying performance. To avoid lacerations and cracking of the beans and to ensure maximum drying yield, reducing post-harvest losses, it is useful to rely on quality machinery, guaranteed and lasting over time.
Mecmar has studied drying solutions that are perfectly suited to the treatment of rice and which exploit two of the most functional heating systems for the treatment of this type of cereal: the boiler with heat exchanger and direct heating with a gas burner. In both ways, drying leaves no traces of combustion products on the grain, which can be enhanced at a higher level in the distribution chain.
Not only that: a recirculation system for rice has also been studied to allow the best mixing, offering minimal possibility of rubbing and mechanical friction, to leave no marks on the grain. The paddy is gently accompanied during each movement. In addition, the dryer is equipped with perforated sheets with 1.5mm holes and with the “rice kit”, consisting of a series of carefully studied technical features, designed to optimize drying.
If you are curious to find out more about grain dryers, you may be interested in the following articles:
- How does a grain dryer work? Discover all you need to know
- Cereal grain drying and storage: how minimize losses
- A small grain dryer for big results. Discover the NANO Series
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Figure 3: Trailer load of freshly harvested paddy rice.
Optimize paddy drying with Mecmar solutions
Mecmar mobile grain dryers are designed for drying any type of cereal: from corn to soybeans, passing through barley and rapeseed. Of course, without forgetting the rice.
Being one of the most delicate cereals on the market, rice requires much more attention during the entire process, lower drying temperatures and longer working times. Only by adopting these specific precautions is it possible to obtain a homogeneous and uniform drying of the rice.
Mecmar mobile dryers are able to ensure optimal drying of paddy rice, whether it is for small or large quantities of product. The flexible design that distinguishes these solutions makes them ideal machines if a rapid and rather frequent change of the layout of the company spaces is necessary. Mecmar grain dryers combine versatility and sturdiness to offer farms always performing and cutting-edge equipment.
Attention to every detail is the real benefit of these machines: drying rice in total safety is possible thanks to an electromechanical control system, located on the outside of the machine, which allows you to supervise the status of the drying cycle quickly and safely.
In addition, Mecmar offers the possibility to customize the drying system with different options, according to the specific needs of your company.
Conclusion
For decades Mecmar has been engaged in the design and construction of mobile grain dryers, which, using hot air and a forced ventilation process, are suitable for drying rice and any other type of cereal. This ensures perfect quality of the dried final product: a clean and intact rice capable of satisfying any type of request.
Would you like to learn more about the technology behind the operation of Mecmar mobile paddy dryers? Contact us: our experts are ready to answer any of your curiosities or doubts.
