10.

MEASUREMENT OF MOISTURE CONTENT BY INDIRECT METHOD

Aim: To measure the moisture content of grains using indirect methods

Introduction
In indirect method of moisture measurement, the electrical resistance and dielectric
properties of grain are used to measure the moisture content.
Electrical resistance method:
Resistance type moisture meter measures the electrical resistance of a measured
amount of grain sample at a given compaction (bulk density) and temperature. The electrical
resistance varies with moisture, temperature and degree of compaction. The universal
moisture meter is one of the resistance type moisture meters. They take only thirty seconds
for the moisture measurement.

Dielectric method:
The dielectric properties of grain depend on its moisture content. In this type of
moisture meter, 200g grain sample is placed between the condenser plates and the
capacitance is measured. The measured capacitance varies with moisture, Temperature and
degree of compactness. The burrow moisture meter is one of the capacitance type moisture
meters. These are also known as safe crop moisture meters as they do not damage the grain
sample.
 11. STUDY OF MATERIAL HANDLING DEVICES
Material Handling (MH) involves “short-distance movement that usually takes place
within the confines of a building such as a plant or a warehouse and between a building and
a transportation agency.” It can be used to create “time and place utility” through the handling,
storage, and control of material, as distinct from manufacturing (i.e., fabrication and assembly
operations), which creates “form utility” by changing the shape, form, and makeup of material.

It is often said that MH only adds to the cost of a product, it does not add to the value of a
product. Although MH does not provide a product, with form utility, the time and place utility
provided by MH can add real value to a product, i.e., the value of a product can increase after
MH has taken place; for example:

1. Principles of Material Handling

Although there are no definite “rules” that can be followed when designing an effective
MHS, the following “Ten Principles of Material Handling, “3 as compiled by the College-
Industry Council on Material Handling Education (CIC – MHE) in cooperation with the Material
Handling Institute (MHI), represent the distillation of many years of accumulated experience
and knowledge of many practitioners and students of material handling:

i. Planning Principle: All MH should be the result of a deliberate plan where the needs,
performance objectives, and functional specification of the proposed methods are
completely defined at the outset.

ii. Standardization Principle. MH methods, equipment, controls and software should be

standardized within the limits of achieving overall performance objectives and without
sacrificing needed flexibility, modularity, and throughput.

iii. Work Principle. MH work (defined as material flow multiplied by the distance moved)
should be minimized without sacrificing productivity or the level of service required of
the operation.

iv. Ergonomic Principle. Human capabilities and limitations must be recognized and
respected in the design of MH tasks and equipment to ensure safe and effective
operations.

v. Unit Load Principle. Unit loads shall be appropriately sized and configured in a way
that achieves the material flow and inventory objectives at each stage in the supply
chain.

vi. Space Utilization Principle. Effective and efficient use must be made of all available
(cubic) space.

vii. System Principle. Material movement and storage activities should be fully integrated
to form a coordinated, operational system which spans receiving, inspection, storage,
production, assembly, packaging, unitizing, order selection, shipping, and
transportation, and the handling of returns.

viii. Automation Principle. MH operations should be mechanized and/or automated

where feasible to improve operational efficiency, increase responsiveness, improve
consistency and predictability, decrease operating costs, and to eliminate repetitive or
potentially unsafe manual labor.
ix. Environmental Principle. Environmental impact and energy consumption should be
considered as criteria when designing or selecting alternative equipment and MHS.

x. Life Cycle Cost Principle. A through economic analysis should account for the entire
life cycle of all. MHE and resulting systems.

The most common types of mechanical devices for grain handling are

1. Belt conveyor

2. Bucket elevator

3. Screw conveyor

4. Pneumatic conveyor

2. Belt conveyor

A conveyor belt is the carrying medium of a belt conveyor system (often shortened to
belt conveyor). A belt conveyor system is one of many types of conveyor systems. A
belt conveyor system consists of two or more pulleys (sometimes referred to as drums),
with an endless loop of carrying medium the conveyor belt that rotates about them.

Fig. 1 Belt Conveyer

They are used for transporting light and medium weight loads between operations,
departments, levels, and buildings and when an incline or decline is required also
provides considerable control over the orientation and placement of load. No smooth
accumulation, merging, and sorting on the belt takes place. The belt is roller or slider
bed supported; the slider bed is used for small and irregularly shaped items.
3. Bucket elevator

A bucket elevator, also called a grain leg, is a mechanism for hauling flowable
bulk materials (most often grain or fertilizer) vertically.

Fig. 2 Bucket Elevator

It consists of Buckets to contain the material. A belt to carries the buckets and transmit the
pull by means which drive the belt. It also contains accessories for loading the buckets or
picking up the material, for receiving the discharged material, for maintaining the belt tension
and for enclosing and protecting the elevator. A bucket elevator can elevate a variety of bulk
materials from light to heavy and from fine to large lumps.

4. Screw conveyor

A screw conveyor or auger conveyor is a mechanism that uses a rotating helical screw
blade, called a “flighting”, usually within a tube, to move liquid or granular materials.

Fig. 3. Screw Conveyor

They are used in many bulk handling industries. Screw conveyors in modern industry
are often used horizontally or at a slight incline as an efficient way to move semi-solid materials,
including food waste, wood chips, aggregates, cereal grains, animal feed, boiler ash, meat
and bone meal, municipal solid waste, and many others. The first type of screw conveyor was
the Archimedes’ screw, used since ancient times to pump irrigation water.

5. Pneumatic Conveyor

A Pneumatic conveying system is a process by which bulk materials of almost any

type are transferred or injected using a gas flow as the conveying medium from one or more
sources to one or more destinations.

Fig. 4. Pneumatic conveyer

Air is the most commonly used gas, but may not be selected for use with reactive materials
and/or where there is a threat of dust explosions. Moves a mixture of air and solid by push
(positive pressure) systems push material from one entry point to several discharge points
and a pull (negative pressure or vacuum) systems move material from several entry points to
one discharge point. The push-pull systems are combinations with multiple entry and
discharge points.
12. PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF CONTINUOUS FLOW
BAFFLE DRYER AND MIXING TYPE DRYER (L.S.U.)
The Continuous flow mixing type dryer consist of receiving bin, drying chamber fitted
with baffles, plenum fitted with hot air inlet. Baffles are fitted to divert the flow and also
for mixing. Grain fed at the top and move downward in a zig – zag path where it
encounters a cross flow of hot air. Bucket elevator is used to recirculate the grain until
the grain is dried to desired moisture level. Uniformly dried product is obtained in this
driers.
 It is Continuous mixing type dryer developed at Louisiana State University (LSU).
Developed specifically for rice to ensure gentle treatment, good mixing & good air to grain
contact. Consists of rectangular chamber, holding bin, blower with duct, grain discharging
mechanism and air heating system. Layers of inverted V shaped channels are installed in the
drying chamber; heated air is introduced through these channels at many points. Alternate
layers are air inlet & outlet channels; arranged one below the other in an offset pattern. Inlet
port consists of few full size ports & two half size ports; all ports are of same size arranged in
equal spacing. Ribbed rollers are provided at the bottom of drying chamber for the discharge
of grain. Recommended air flow rate is 60 – 70 m3/min/tonne with a capacity of 2 – 12 tonnes.
Air temperature are 60 & 850C for raw & parboiled paddy. Uniformly dried product can be
obtained and it can be used for different types of grain. The major limitation of the dryer is its
high capital investment.

Rigorous Test procedure for evaluation of Continuous mixing type of flow dryers

The procedure can be grouped into the following major heads:

(1) Checking of construction

(2) Drying performance test

(3) Fan/blower performance test;

(4) Control system performance test

(5) Handling equipment performance test and

(6) Checking of different dryer-parts after disassembling (after the drying tests).

Checking of Construction

The purpose of this test is to ascertain the major dimensions, material of construction
and other necessary specifications of the dryer and its accessories.

Investigation items

Specification of : (a) dryer as a whole, (b) drying chamber with air distribution system,
(c) blower, (d) heating system and (e) conveying units such as bucket elevator, grain
distributor, screw conveyor, belt conveyer, etc..

Drying Performance Test

The objectives of this test are to determine the drying performance of a dryer on the
basis of rate of drying, rate of consumption of fuel and electricity, heat utilization, quality
of the dried grain and other operating conditions.

Blower Performance Test

The objective of this test is to determine the performance of the fan/blower attached
iwth the dryer.

Investigation items
 (a) Power input, kw, (b) air flow rte, m3/min., (3) static and total pressure, mm water,
(d) static pressure efficiency, and (e) vibration, noise and other working condition sof
the blower.

Performance of the Control System

The objective of this test is to find out the accuracy of : (a) the control of drying air
temperature and the temperature of heating unit (b) control of air flow rate etc., and (c)
other working conditions of the whole control system.

Performance of the Handling Equipment

The rated and actual capacities and other working conditions of the conveying and
handling equipment are to be found out.

Investigation after Disassembling

This is necessary to investigate the conditions of different parts of various units after
completion of the drying test.
 13. PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF CONTINUOUS FLOW NON-
MIXING COLUMN DRIERS
The continuous flow non-mixing type dryer consists of two concentric circular cylinders,
set 15 – 20 cm apart. Bucket elevator is used to feed andrecirculated the grain. Centrifugal
blower blows the hot air into the inner cylinder, acts as a plenum. Grain is fed at the top of the
inside cylinder; comes in contact with a cross flow of hot air. The exhaust air comes out through
perforations of the outer cylinder. Grain is recirculated until it is dried to desired moisture
content. Drying is not uniform as compared to mixing type.

1. Feed hopper 2. Plenum chamber 3. Exit air 4. Dry grain outlet 5. Screened grain column
Fig. Continuous flow non-mixing column dryers.

The dryer testing methods can be broadly divided into two major heads: Simple method
and rigorous method. Either of these two methods can be adopted in accordance with the
objectives of the test.
The simple test procedure for continuous flow dryer
(1) Moisture content after each pass (per cent) ;
(2) Residence time in the dryer for each circulation (hr) ;
(3) Number of passes ;
(4) tempering time (hr) ;
(5) Average rate of moisture reduction or rate of moisture evaporation in each circulation
(kg/hr).

(6) Rate of grain recirculation (tonnes/hr) ;

(7) Drying air temperature at each pass (0C) ;
(8) Weight of remaining grain in the dryer, elevator, etc (kg).
 14. PEFORMANCE EVALUATION OF SACK DRYER AND ROTARY
DRYER
A sack dryer consists of a larger floor in building with opening over which the sacks of
grain are placed. The openings are covered with perforated material to support the sacks. A
blower is connected to an air chamber beneath the floor to supply air.

Fig. 1 Sketch of a sack dryer with central perforated duct and a air blower arrangement

Suitable for drying seed grains to prevent mixing of varieties and to conserve strain
purity and viability. The type of air distribution system may be main and lateral duct system,
single central perforated duct, perforated false floor. When the amount of grain is small the
sack dryer is useful. In this drying maximum air temperature should be used only 43.3 0C
(1100F). Drying rate is the faster for 50kg sack 4m 3/m. During drying process sacks must be
overturned at least once. For supply of air below fan related to air chamber there is a blower.
In store drying or near ambient air drying uses a different drying principle than heated air
dryers. If moisture contents increase in storage, the storage facilities can easily be aerated
again.

Rotary Dryers
Rotary dryers are now employed in the grain industry. The major components of the
system are a long, inclined cylindrical shell, a fan and heater unit, loading and unloading
augers, and a variable-speed driver.

Fig. 2. Front and side view of a Rotary dryer

The operating principle of this type of dryer is to repeatedly lift the grain using a set of
flights along the perimeter of the cylindrical shell and drop them into a stream of heated air.
Most rotary grain dryers are of the concurrent-flow type in which grain and heated air are
introduced at one end of the shell and dried grain and moist air exit at the other end. The grain
is moved through the entire length of the shell by cascading a certain distance along the
periphery of the inclined shell, such that in each fall, the grain is moved closer to the exit.
A typical commercial rotary dryer has a shell diameter of 1- 2 m, a length of 15 – 30 m,
and a slope 2 – 40 from the horizontal. The shell rotates at 4 – 8 rpm, and the drying air
temperature is 121 – 2880C. Rotary dryers are increasing in popularity for the parboiling of
rice because they are particularly suited to drying high moisture particles that tend to stick
together and cannot be suitably dried in bin or column dryers. The specific energy
consumption of the system cannot be fairly compared with that of other dryers, for the
paraboiled rice is at much higher moisture content than those materials dried in other types of
units.
The following calculations aim at a preliminary design of the dryer and evaluating the
design variables.
For the drying of catalyst pellets, the engineers of a certain industry decided that a
direct rotary dryer will be appropriate, and studied the performance of a pilot plant rotary dryer
in order to obtain data for the scale-up. The production, F will be 350 kg/h on a dry basis. The
pellets have cylindrical shape, about 1 cm long and 1 cm in diameter, their bulk density, b
is 570 kg/m3, the specific heat, CPS is 1 kJ/kg K, and the initial moisture content, X0, as a result
of the previous unit operation, is 0.65 kg/kg db. The final product, in order to be stable, must
have moisture content, X no more than 0.05 kg/kg db. It is non-sticking, but it is sensitive at
high temperatures. Therefore, co-current operation has to be used and the initial air
temperature, T1 will not exceed the range of 150 – 1700C. The heating medium will be hot air.
A stem – air heat exchanger was used for the heating. The air velocity has to be limited to
avoid entraining of the material by the air.
Table: Primary data requires for process evaluation
Data obtained by the Pilot Plant Dryer
Inlet temperature of drying air, T1 1600C
Exit temperature of drying air, T2 650C
Wet-bulb temperature of inlet air, Tw 400C
Exit temperature of product, T2 450C
Permitable air mass velocity, uperm 3 kg/m2s
Retention time of product,  0.35 h
Data for Process Design Calculations
Product specifications
Production rate (dry basis), F 350 kg/h db
Initial moisture content, X0 0.65 kg/kg db
Final moisture content, X 0.05 kg/kg db
Inlet product temperature, Tm1 250C
Thermo physical properties
Evaporation heat of water, Hw 2350 kJ/kg
Specific heat of product, Cps 1.0 kJ/kg0C
Specific heat of water, Cpw 4.18 kJ/kg0C
Specific heat of vapour, Cpv 1.88 kJ/kg0C
Specific heat of air, Cp, air 1.01 kJ/kg0C
Bulk density, b 570 kg/m3
Properties of air
Atmospheric air temperature, T0 150C
Humidity of inlet air, Y1 0.01 kg/kg db
Constants
Dryer holdup, H 0.075
Factor,  0.1
Factor, j 0.85

The overall F1 material mass (kg/h) that is fed is

F1  F 1  X0 
Whereas the mass (kg/h), which exits the dryer is
 F2  F 1  X 
Therefore, the evaporating water mw (kg/h) is
mw  F1  F2
The heat supplier by the hot air is used for five Different operations:
1. To evaporate the water, that leaves the material
Q1  mw  H w
2. To heat the vapour from the initial wet-bulb temperature of the air to the exit air
temperature
Q2  m w Cpv  T2  Tw 

3. To heat the water that evaporates, from its initial temperature, as it enters the dryer, to
the inlet wet-bulb temperature of the air, in order to evaporate
Q3  m2Cpw  Tw  Tmt 
4. To heat the dry solid from its inlet temperature to its exit temperature
Q4  FCps  Tm2  Tm1 
5. To heat the water that remains in the final product from the inlet to the exit temperature
of the material
Q5  F  Cpw  Tm2  Tm1 
Where,
Hw is the latent heat of vaporization (kJ/kg), Cpv, Cpw, Cps, are the specific heat of vapour,
water, and solid (kJ/kg 0C), respectively.
Tw is the inlet wet-bulb temperature of the drying air, T2 is the outlet temperature of the air (0C),
and tm1, Tm2 are the inlet and exit temperature (0C) of the material (dry solid and moisture
content), respectively.
The overall heat transferred to the product is given by the correlation
Q  1     Q1  Q2  Q3  Q4  Q5 
Where  is a factor that represents the heat losses due to the conduction between the outer
surface of the dryer and the atmospheric air and especially, because of radiation. These losses
are estimated to be about 7.5 – 10% of the heat consumption for the reasons mentioned above.
The largest amount of heat is used for the evaporation of moisture content and is expressed
by the ratio
  Q1 / Q2
The air mass rate G required in order to transfer sufficient amount of heat for the drying is
G  Q / Cp.air  T1  T2 
Where
T1 is the inlet air temperature (0C) and Cp.air is the specific heat of air (kJ/kg 0C).
For the estimation of the diameter D of the dryer (m) two points have to be examined.
First it must be large enough so that the air mass velocity u (kg/m2s) will not exceed the value
that causes entrainment of the product, and second we must assume that only a percentage
of the dryer cross section represents a free area for the air to pass. This percentage is about
85% (j = 0.85), as can be estimated by operating rotary dryers. Therefore the diameter of the
cylindrical shell is calculated by the following equation:
D  4G / 360ju 
Where 3600 is a factor for the arrangement of the units.
The humidity of the exit air should be checked for not exceeding the maximum mass
of vapour the air can hold under the specific condition on the exit (for % RH = 100). The initial
air humidity Y1 is about 0.01 kg/kg dry air (for T1  160 0C and Tw  40 0C) . The humidity of
the exit air Y2 is
Y2  Y1   m2 / G 
3
The volume V of the dryer (m ) is calculated by the expression
V   2  /  Hs 
Where,  is the retention time of the product (h), and H is the dryer holdup, that is assumed
to be about 0.07 – 0.08 of the dryer volume, as values in this range give good performance in
industrial dryers.
In this case study it is estimated on the basis of pilot plant dta, and the volume is calculated
by the above expression. The length L of the dryer (m) is given by the correlation.
L  4V / V2
In practice the ratio L/D should be within the range 4 to 10, for optimum performance. The
number of heat transfer units NT is defined by the equation and should be in the range 1.5 to
2.5.
NT  ln  T1  T2  /  T2  Tw 
For the heating of the air, a steam-air heat exchanger was used. Its energy load should be
 
sufficient for the heating of the air steam from the initial atmospheric temperature T0 0 C to
the inlet air temperature in the dryer T1 , and given by the equation
Qhe  G C p, air  T1  T0 
 
Steam at temperature Tst 0 C will be used as heating medium in the exchanger. The
consumption of steam is
Fst  Qhe / st
The thermal efficiency of the dryer is
Q  Q2  Q3  Q4  Q5
n th  1
Process Design Calculations Qhe
Results of Process Design Calculations by the above equations
1. Overall inlet material, F1
2. Overall exit material, F2
3. Evaporating water, mw
4. Overall heat consumption, Q
5. Heat for evaporation, Q1
6. Heat for vapour, Q2
7. Heat for liquid, Q3
8. Heat for product solid, Q4
9. Heat for product water, Q5
10. Air mass rate, G
11. Diameter, D
12. Volume, V
13. Length, L
14. Number of heat transfer units, NT
15. Heat load of exchanger, Qhe
16. Heat consumption, Fst
17. thermal efficiency, nth
15. STUDY OF ENGINEERING PROPERTIES OF CEREALS, PULSES
AND OIL SEEDS
The engineering selection and design of food processes and equipment requires
knowledge of the properties of food materials. These properties are of great importance in the
simulation and design of food processes and in the computer-aided process engineering. Their
influence is even greater in problems of conceptual design, in which a wrong estimation of a
property can lead to an infeasible design plan. Not only the knowledge of properties aids in
engineering design and control but also gives information about the product quality, its
acceptability by the consumer of different groups and its behaviour post production, during
storage, during consumption and post consumption.

Volume and Density:

1. Volume Determination
In the SI system, the unit of volume is m3. It is an important quality attribute in the food
industry. It appeals to the eye, and is related to other quality parameters. For instance, it is
inversely correlated with texture.
 Volume of solids can be determined by using the following methods:
 Volume can be calculated from the characteristic dimensions in the case of objects
with regular shape.
 Volumes of solids can be determined experimentally by liquid, gas, or solid
displacement methods.
 Volume can be measured by the image processing method. An image processing
method has been recently developed to measure volume of ellipsoidal agricultural
products such as eggs, lemons, limes, and peaches.
i. Liquid Displacement Method:
Liquid Displacement Method can be used to measure the volume of food samples which
are not absorbing the liquid very fast (intact grain legumes). In this method, volume of food
materials can be measured by pycnometers (specific gravity bottles) or graduated cylinders.
The volume of a sample can be measured by direct measurement of volume of the
liquid displaced by using a graduated cylinder or burette. The difference between the initial
volume of liquid in a graduated cylinder and the volume of liquid with immersed material gives
us the volume of the material. That is, the increase in volume after addition of solid sample is
equal to the solid volume.

Fig. 8.1: Typical Liquid displacement method for volume measurement

 In the liquid displacement method, liquids used should have a low surface tension and
should be absorbed very slowly by the particles. Most commonly used fluids are water,
alcohol, toluene, and tetrachloro ethylene. Or displacement, it is better to use a non-
wetting fluid such as mercury. Coating of a sample with a film or paint may be required
to prevent liquid absorption.

ii. Solid Displacement Method:

The volume of irregular solids can also be measured by sand, glass bead, or
seed displacement method. Rapeseeds are commonly used for determination of
volume of baked products such as bread. In the rapeseed method, first the bulk density
of rapeseeds is determined by filling a glass container of known volume uniformly with
rapeseeds through tapping and smoothing the surface with a ruler. All measurements
are done until the constant weight is reached between the consecutive measurements.

Fig. 8.2: Typical solid displacement method for volume measurement

The densities of the seeds are calculated from the measured weight of the seeds and
volume of the container. Then, the sample and rapeseeds are placed together in the container.
The container is tapped and the surface is smoothed with a ruler. Tapping and smoothing are
continued until a constant weight is reached between three consecutive measurements.

The volume of the sample is calculated as follows:

MSeeds  MTotal  MSample r  Mcontainer

VSeeds  MSeeds / Seeds
VSample  VContainer  VSeeds
Where: M = Mass (kg), V = Volume (m3),  = Density (kg/m3)
Procedures
1. Clean the food samples by washing and cutting of the tips (stems and roots).
2. Measure volume of water in a graduated cylinder (about half of its maximum volume)
and record it as V1; carefully read to the meniscus.
3. Gently put a single average-sized food sample in the cylinder containing the liquid of
known volume (V1); carefully read and record the new volume as V2.
4. Repeat procedures 2 and 3 above for varieties of food samples and compute their
volumes in a table of the following format.
5. Use the equation below to calculate the sample volumes: V2  VSamples  V1
Where V1 is volume of liquid and V2 is volume of liquid and sample.
6. Express all the volumes in the SI unit (m3) (1 ml = 0.000001 m3).
II. Determination of Apparent and Bulk Densities
Quality of food materials can be assessed by measuring their densities. Density
data of foods are required in separation processes, such as centrifugation and
sedimentation and in pneumatic and hydraulic transport of powders and particulates. In
addition, measuring the density of liquid is required to determine the power required for
pumping. Density is one of the most important mechanical properties and so is widely
used in process calculations. It is defined as mass per unit volume.
Density = Mass / Volume = m/V
The SI unit of density is kg/m3. Different clearly explained forms of density are known
and used in process calculations and characterizing food products.

1. Apparent Density

Apparent density  a  is the density of a substance including all pores remaining in the
material. Examples can be the densities of grain kernels including the pores inside each.

Apparent Density  a 

1. Measure the volume of the grain using liquid displacement method; i.e measure about
200 – 250 mL of tap water in to a 400 mL beaker / cylinder and record as V1.

2. Transfer the weighed grain into the beaker / cylinder containing the water.

3. Record the new volume of the water in the beaker /cylinder as V2.

4. Determine the volume of the grain by subtracting volume of the water from volume of
the water and grain (i.e., V2  V1 ). Express the volume in SI units

(1 mL = 0.000001 m3).

5. Calculate the apparent density of the grain by dividing the mass of the grain (M) by the
volume ( V2  V1 ).

a  /V2 V1
2. Bulk Density

Bulk density ( B ) is the density of a material when packed or stacked in bulk. The bulk
density of packed materials depends on the geometry, size, and surface properties of
individual particles. Bulk density is less than the apparent density as the space among
kernels in most cases is larger than the space within each kernel.
Procedure

Bulk Density (𝝆𝑩 )

1. Weigh about 80 – 120 gram of the grain (wheat for some group and maize for others)
using analytical balance and record the weight as M. Express the mass in SI units. Bulk
density ( B ).

2. Measure the volume of the grain bulk approximately using beakers/cylinders, record it
as V0 and convert the unit to SI (m3), (1 mL=0.000001 m3).

3. Calculate the bulk density by dividing the mass (M) of the grain by its volume (V0).

B  M / V0
Compare B and a for both maize and wheat

III. Estimation of size of particulate foods

It is easy to specify size for regular particles, but for irregular particles the term size
must be arbitrarily specified. Particle sizes are expressed in different units depending
on the size range involved. Coarse particles are measured in millimetres, fine particles
in terms of screen size, and very fine particles in micrometers or nanometers. Size can
be determined using the projected are method.

In this method, three characteristic dimensions are defined:

i. Major diameter, which is the longest dimension of the maximum projected area

ii. Intermediate diameter, which is the minimum diameter of the maximum projected area
or the maximum diameter of the minimum projected area; and

iii. Minor diameter, which is the shortest dimension of the minimum projected area.

Length, width, and thickness terms are commonly used that correspond to major,
intermediate, and minor diameters, respectively. The dimensions can be measured
using a micrometer or calliper. The micrometer is a simple instrument used to measure
distances between surfaces. Most micrometers have a frame, anvil, spindle, sleeve,
thimble, and ratchet stop. They are used to measure the outside diameters, inside
diameters, the distance between parallel surfaces, and the depth of holes.

Fig. 8.3: A typical Digital Caliper for the measurement of size and shape parameters
Particle size of particulate foods can be determined by sieve analysis, passage through an
electrically charged orifice, and settling rate methods. Particle size distribution analyzers,
which determine both the size of particles and their state of distribution, are used for production
control of powders.

Fig. 8.4: Sieve sets for particle size distribution analysis of particular Foods

Procedures:
Size of seeds
1. Clean the jaws of the callipers and set the measurement to zero mm.
2. Select representative seeds of the different grains and measure the three dimensions:
a. Major diameter: the longest dimension in the maximum projected area
b. Intermediate: minimum diameter of the maximum projected area or the maximum
diameter of the minimum projected area
c. Minor diameter: the shortest dimension of the minimum projected area
IV. Particle size distribution of powders
1. Arrange the sieves of the analyzer in its increasing mesh size from bottom to top and
load it properly
2. Weigh the powder samples and put it on the largest sieve size.
3. Put on the sieve vibrator and allow it to shake for sufficiently long time (until there is no
more particles passing any of the sieves)
4. Collect the samples left on each sieve carefully and weigh them separately.
5. Record the original sample weight and the distribution samples separately in a Table of
the following Format.
6. Calculate the percent of particles retained on each mesh size using the formula:
Percentage retained = (Weight of retained particles/Weight of Original Sample) x 100
7. Sketch the Size distribution of the sample (% of particles retained versus the mesh size)
as shown in the figure below.

Fig 8.5: Typical sketch of particle distribution

V. Estimation of shape (roundness of food particles)

Shape is also important in heat and mass transfer calculations, screening solids
to separate foreign materials, grading of fruits and vegetables, and evaluating the
quality of food materials. The shape of a food material is usually expressed in terms of
its sphericity and aspect ratio.

Sphericity is an important parameter used in fluid flow and heat and mass
transfer calculations. Sphericity or shape factor can be defined in different ways.
According to the most commonly used definition, sphericity is the ratio of volume of solid
to the volume of a sphere that has a diameter equal to the major diameter of the object
so that it can circumscribe the solid sample.

Let,

Equivalent diameter for irregular shape material is accepted as the average

dimension. Differences between average diameter and measured dimensions are
determined by the sum of square of differences. When this difference is divided by the
square of product of the average diameter and number of measurements, it gives a
fraction for the approach of the slope to an equivalent sphere, which is sphericity.

Procedures

For Larger Food Samples (Fruits, Vegetables, Roots, Tubers)

1. Clean and prepare food Samples (Fruits and vegetables)

2. Calibrate the caliper and measure the major diameter (the longest dimension in the
maximum projected area) for each type of the samples.

3. Record the measurement and use it to calculate the volume of a sphere with the same
diameter as the major diameter of the fruit. Use the following formula for the calculation:
4
Vsphere  r 3
3
4. Measure the volume of the food sample using a liquid displacement method and convert
the unit to the same as the one used for the sphere calculated under procedure 3 above
(1 milliliter = 1000 cubic millimetres)

5. Calculate the sphericity of the food sample using the following formula:
1/3
 volume of solid sample 
Sphericity   
 volume circumscribed sphere 