Influence of air velocity, air temperature and batch size on drying time of Khoa using batch type fluidized bed dryer

Khoa is a heat desiccated product. Traditionally Khoa is prepared by continuous heating and stirring of milk till semi-solid consistency is obtained. In India, Khoa is used as an ingredients for sweets like peda, burfi, gulabjamun, etc. Drying is an important as well as most energy intensive unit operation in processing industry. Fluidized bed drying is the most acceptable process in-terms of final quality of dried product as well as shorter drying time. Time required to complete the drying process is very important aspect as cost of production mainly depends upon it. When compared to other drying process, fluidized bed drying yields brighter color, lower moisture content with low temperature in lesser time. In the present study, effect of three factors viz. air velocity (m/s), air temperature (degrees C) and batch size (gram) was studied for calculating the drying time required to dry Khoa using batch fluidized bed dryer.