Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Vol.33, No.2, 321-328, 1994
Simulation of Deep-Bed Kilning of Malt
A simulation model of a full-scale industrial deep-bed kiln is presented. The model, which is based on mass and energy balances as well as phenomenological transfer expressions, describes the 21-h-long drying of pale malt. Since the work aimed at developing a tool which can be used by production personnel to determine appropriate drying strategies for kilning, considering the temperature and humidity of outside air, batch size, quality requirements, etc., the whole kilning process was modeled. Thus, equations for pressure and temperature changes in the system were also included. Some model parameters were tuned by adapting the simulated conditions to measurement data obtained from an industrial deep-bed kiln. The simulated and the measured values were in general found to agree well. The fact that the process is modeled as an entirety makes it possible to evaluate the appropriateness of expressions for drying rates in the actual industrial environment, which can yield valuable information for forthcoming analyses and applications. Moreover, the energy economy of the whole processing stage can be studied, and novel, more efficient, and economical strategies to operate the kilning can therefore be designed.