b i o s y s t e m s e n g i n e e r i n g 1 0 7 ( 2 0 1 0 ) 3 4 1 e3 4 8

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Research Paper

Modelling of soybean seed drying in concurrent sliding

bed dryers: Effect of the number of stages on the seed quality
and drying performance
A.A. Pfeifer 1, V.V. Murata 1, M.A.S. Barrozo*
Federal University of Uberlandia, Chemical Engineering School, Block 1K, Campus Santa Monica, 38400-902 Uberlandia, MG, Brazil

article info

Sliding bed dryers have been frequently studied for the drying of seeds because they cause

Article history:

less mechanical damage to seeds than other types of moving bed dryers. The effect of the

Received 3 June 2010

number of stages of a concurrent sliding bed dryer on the soybean seed quality and drying

Received in revised form

performance was studied. The so-called two-phase model was used to describe heat and

24 August 2010

mass transfer between air and soybean seeds. The constitutive equations of the model

Accepted 29 September 2010

were taken from specific studies. Seed quality was evaluated by vigour and non-fissured

Published online 2 November 2010

seed indices. The simulated results show that by dividing the air supply in several stages
(2, 3 or 4) the drying performance and the seed quality could be improved.
2010 IAgrE. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1.

Introduction

Research on sliding bed dryers is frequently found in the

literature, especially when applied to agricultural dryers
(Barrozo, Murata, & Costa, 1998; Bruce & Giner, 1993; Felipe &
Barrozo, 2003; Torrez, Gustafsson, Schreil, & Martnez, 1998).
The technique causes less mechanical damage to the seeds
than other types of moving bed dryers (Lisboa, Vitorino,
Delaiba, Finzer, & Barrozo, 2007). Configurations with parallel
flow display some advantages over the crossflow, such as
obtaining more homogeneous products (Barrozo et al., 1998).
Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) is the most important
oilseed in the world market due to its high quality as a source
of protein for human and animal diets (Rafiee et al., 2009). The
importance of soybean in grain production has been
increasing due to its high yield capacity and its lower harvest
cost in comparison to other grains (Duarte et al., 2004).
Seed quality is defined as the attributes that will determine
the performance of seeds when sown or stored (George, 1999). It

is a multiple concept encompassing genetic quality, seed

health, physical aspects, viability and vigour. The physical
aspects are related to mechanical damages and fissures in the
tegument. Viability refers to the ability of a seed to germinate
and produce a normal seedling. Seed vigour is the sum total of
those properties of the seed which determine the level of
activity and performance of the seed during germination and
seedling emergence. Soybean seed quality directly influences
the success of the crop and contributes significantly to the level
of productivity (Bewley & Black, 1994). The literature contains
many reports about changes in soybean seed quality during
drying (Barrozo, Felipe, Sartori, & Freire, 2006; Gomes,
Sinnecker, Tanaka, & Lanfer-Marquez, 2003; Mensah, Nelson,
Hamdy, & Richard, 1985; Parde, Kausal, Jayas, & White, 2002;
Sinnecker, Braga, Macchione, & Lanfer-Marquez, 2005). These
studies have shown that care must be taken in any system
that involves the movement of seeds. Hence, it is important to
determine the optimal combination of drying parameters and
dryer configuration that will minimise the loss of seed quality.

* Corresponding author. Tel.: 55 34 3239 4189; fax: 55 34 3239 4188.

E-mail addresses: adriene_br@yahoo.com.br (A.A. Pfeifer), valeria@ufu.br (V.V. Murata), masbarrozo@ufu.br (M.A.S. Barrozo).
1
Tel.: 55 34 3239 4189; fax: 55 34 3239 4188.
1537-5110/$ e see front matter 2010 IAgrE. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.biosystemseng.2010.09.008

342

b i o s y s t e m s e n g i n e e r i n g 1 0 7 ( 2 0 1 0 ) 3 4 1 e3 4 8

Nomenclature

Re

Cp
dp
Def
F
fm
G
Gf
Gs
h
k
L
M
M
MR
Nu
Pr
Qs
r
r2

particle surface transfer area per unit bed volume

[m2 m3]
specific heat [m2 K1 s2]
particle diameter [m]
effective mass diffusivity [m2 s1]
non-fissured seeds [e]
local drying rate per unit area [kg m2 s1]
germination [e]
air mass flux [kg m2 s1]
solids mass flux [kg m2 s1]
heat transfer coefficient [kg K1 s3]
thermal conductivity of air [kg m K1 s3]
length of the bed [m]
Mwater
[e]
solid moisture,
Mdry solid
Mwater
average volumetric solid moisture,
[e]
Mdry solid
moisture ratio number [e]
hdp
, Nusselt number [e]
k
Cpf mr
, Prandtl number [e]
k
solids flow rate [kg s1]
radial coordinate [m]
quadratic correlation coefficient [e]

The basis of computer simulations of moving bed drying of

grains is mathematical models based on differential equations
derived from mass and energy balances (Barrozo, Souza, Costa,
& Murata, 2001). Airegrain mass transfer and heat transfer
coefficients are required, together with physical and thermal
properties of grain and air and equilibrium relationships
(Arnosti, Freire, Sartori, & Barrozo, 1999). The so-called twophase model has been widely used to describe the heat and
mass transfer between air and grains in moving bed dryers
(Barrozo et al., 1998, 2001; Bruce & Giner, 1993; Felipe & Barrozo,
2003; Torrez et al., 1998). This model comprises mass and
energy balance equations applied to both fluid and solid phases
and requires constitutive equations for the heat transfer
coefficient between these two phases, the drying kinetics and
the equilibrium moisture content of the solid material.
Studies about stage division in moving bed dryers with
concurrent flow are scarce in the literature. The published
papers concern other configurations (Ahn, Chen, Fan, &
Wan, 1963; Bruce, 1984; Giner, Bruce, & Mortimore, 1998;
Holmberg & Ahtila, 2004; Miller & Whitfield, 1984; Valenca &
Massarani, 2000), and the main objective of these studies
was to establish operating conditions that yield the energetic
cost reduction.
In the present work, the two-phase model associated
with constitutive equations, obtained from specific studies
(Barrozo, Henrique, Sartori, & Freire, 2006; Barrozo, Sartori,
Freire, & Achcar, 1996; Sartori, 1986), was applied to compare
the performance of a single-stage and multi-stage concurrent
sliding bed dryers. The parameters used in the comparison of
these dryers were seed quality indices and moisture removal.
Seed quality was evaluated by vigour and non-fissured seed
indices.

RH
t
T
v
V
W
z
Z
x
l
m
r

dryer radius [L]

Gf dp
, Reynolds number [e]
m
air relative humidity [e]
time variable [s]
temperature [K]
interstitial air velocity [m s1]
vigour [e]
Mwater
[e]
absolute air humidity,
Mdry air
axial coordinate [m]
z
, dimensionless length [e]
L
dimensionless drying variables [e]
latent heat of pure water vaporisation [m2 s2]
viscosity [kg m1 s1]
density [kg m3]

Subscripts
0
inlet conditions
ef
effective
eq
equilibrium
f
fluid or air
l
liquid
s
solid
v
vapour

2.

Mathematical modelling

2.1.

Two-phase model

To describe the heat and mass transfer between air and

soybean seeds in concurrent sliding bed dryers (Fig. 1), a twophase mathematical model was developed based on the
following assumptions (Barrozo et al., 1998) that:
 steady state is achieved;
 air and solids flow mainly in one direction;
 the predominant mechanism of mass transfer is internal
diffusion;
 grain shrinkage is negligible during the drying process;
 the predominant mechanism of heat transfer is convection;
 heat losses are negligible;
 the solids flow rate is uniform.
Based on mass and energy balances for both fluid and solid
phases, the following equations can be established:
Gf

dW
fm a
dz

(1)

Gs

dM
fm a
dz

(2)


ha Tf  Ts
dTf

 
dz
Gf Cpf WCpv

(3)



ha Tf  Ts
fm a l Cpv Tf  Cpl Ts
dTs






dz
Gs Cps MCpl
Gs Cps MCpl

(4)

343

b i o s y s t e m s e n g i n e e r i n g 1 0 7 ( 2 0 1 0 ) 3 4 1 e3 4 8

M0

W0

Ts0

Tf0

G s0

Gf0
r

study of discriminating rival models and concluded that

the modified Halsey correlation (Osborn, White, Sulaiman, &
Welton, 1989; Ribeiro, Oliveira, Passos, & Barrozo, 2005) best
fitted their experimental data. Modifying Halseys equation
with the parameters estimated by Barrozo et al. (1996) for the
soybean seeds gives:

0:663
exp0:00672$Ts 3:02
Meq
(6)
lnRH

where Meq is the equilibrium moisture calculated on a dry

basis, RH is the air relative humidity and Ts is in  C.

Conventional
Dryer

2.2.3.

Drying kinetics

The diffusive model, represented by Eq. (7) is used to describe

the drying kinetics of soybean seeds.
#
"
N
n2 p2 Def t
M  Meq
6 X
1

exp
MR
R2p
M0  Meq p2 n1 n2

Ts

Tf

Fig. 1 e Schematic diagram of the conventional sliding bed

dryer with concurrent flow.

where Gf is the air mass flux, W is the absolute air humidity,

z is the axial coordinate, fm is the local drying rate per unit
area, a is the particle surface transfer area per unit bed
volume, Gs is the solids mass flux, M is the solid moisture, Tf is
the air temperature, h is the heat transfer coefficient, Ts is the
seed temperature, Cpf, Cps, Cpl, Cpv are the specific heat of air,
seed, liquid and vapour water, respectively, and l is the latent
heat of pure water vaporisation volume.
The inlet air humidity, seed moisture content, and air and
seed temperatures are known and assumed constant. Thus,
the system of differential equations of the model can be
resolved simultaneously for the four variables involved,
considering the following boundary conditions:
W0 W0 ; M0 M0 ; Tf 0 Tf 0 ; TS 0 TS0
where W0 is the inlet absolute air humidity, M0 is the inlet
solid moisture, Tf0 is the inlet air temperature and Ts0 is the
inlet seed temperature.

2.2.

Constitutive equations

2.2.1.

Equations for the heat transfer coefficient

The heat transfer coefficient (h) between air and soybean

seeds in moving bed dryer can be estimated using the correlation proposed by Sartori (1986), as follows:
Nu 0:84 Pr1=3 Re0:65

(5)

for 80 < Re < 900 and Pr 0.72, where Nu, Pr and Re are the
Nusselt, Prandtl and Reynolds numbers, respectively.

2.2.2.

Equilibrium moisture content

Based on experimental data of equilibrium moisture content

of soybean seeds, Barrozo et al. (1996) performed a statistical

(7)

Based on experimental data obtained in a thin layer

soybean seed dryer, Barrozo, Henrique, et al. (2006) estimated
the effective diffusivity coefficient, Def. A variation of this
coefficient with temperature can be obtained by reparameterising the Arrhenius equation, by:
Def expbexp  T0 expg

(8)

where T0 (1/Tf)  (1/T*), T* 273 K, Tf is in K and Def is the

effective mass diffusivity in cm2 min1 and t is the time
variable. The parameters b and g were estimated by the least
squares method, and are 13.19 and 8.36, respectively.

2.3.

Quality of soybean seeds

The physical aspects (mechanical damages and fissures in

the tegument) and the physiological properties (germination
and vigour) of the soybean seeds can be highly affected by
the drying process (Nellist & Hughes, 1973). Felipe and
Barrozo (2003) studied the influence of drying variables on
the quality of soybean seeds. They worked with a concurrent
sliding bed dryer and proposed some correlations to represent the indices of vigour (V) and non-fissured seeds (F ) as
a function of the drying variables. In the present work
these correlations have been used to evaluate the effect of
the drying conditions on the seed quality. The drying variables analysed were: interstitial air velocity (v), inlet air
temperature (Tf0), solids flow rate (Qs) and inlet air relative
humidity (RH ). Eq. (9) shows the dimensionless form of
these variables.
x1

Tf 0  C  48
v m s1  2
Qs g=min  80
; x3
; x2
;
6
0:5
20
RH%  25
(9)
x4
3

The following expressions represent the matrix form of the

fitted equation for vigour (V) and non-fissured seeds (F ) as
a function of dimensionless drying variables, i.e., interstitial
air velocity (x1), inlet air temperature (x2), solids flow rate (x3)
and relative humidity of inlet air (x4):
V 92:0 x02 b2 x02 B2 x2



2
r 0:91

(10)

344

b i o s y s t e m s e n g i n e e r i n g 1 0 7 ( 2 0 1 0 ) 3 4 1 e3 4 8

Fig. 2 e Schematic diagram of the multi-stage sliding bed dryer with concurrent flow.

where

0:97
0
0
6 0
2 7
7
6
7
6
7
6
3
2 3
2
1:45
1:27
7
6
x1
0
1:4
7
6 0
6
6 x2 7
6 3:5 7
2
2 7
7
7; B 2 6
7; b 2 6
x2 6
7
6
4 x3 5
4 1:3 5
6
1:45
2:33 7
7
6
2:73
0
3:0
x4
6
2
2 7
7
6
7
6
5
4 0:97 1:27 2:33
2:8
2
2
2



F 97:2 x03 b 3 x03 B 3 x 3 r2 0:94
(11)
where

0
6 1:66
6
3
2 3
2
6
x1
1:36
6
6
7
6 x2 7
6
0
0:93
7; b 3 6 0 7; B 3 6
x3 6
6
4 x3 5
4 0:54 5
6
6 0
0
0:34
x4
6
6
4 0:51 0:49

2
2

2.4.

3
0:51
0 
2 7
7
7
0:49 7
7
0
7
2 7
7
0
0 7
7
7
5
0 0:77

Numerical solution

The equations of the two-phase model with their respective

constitutive equations were solved numerically by an implemented algorithm using Matlab software 7.6.0 (R2008a). The
relative tolerance was set to 1012 and the absolute tolerance
to 109.

3.

of 320 mm, 213 mm and 160 mm, respectively for the configurations with 2, 3 and 4 stages. To keep the same operating cost of
the conventional dryer, in multi-stage dryer configurations, the
total mass of the drying air is same as that of the one-stage
configuration. Thus, the air supply channel was also equally
divided into several stages (Fig. 2). The fresh air was introduced
into each stage; hence the air supply conditions (temperature
and humidity) were the same in each stage.
To analyse the effect of the stage division on seed quality
and moisture removal, eight distinct operating conditions
described in an earlier work (Celestino, 1998) were studied.
Table 1 presents the operating conditions of these cases.
To obtain the simulated profile of the drying variables for
the different concurrent sliding bed configurations studied
here (conventional, two-, three- and four- stages), two cases
were selected from the eight experiments listed in Table 1.

4.

Results and discussion

4.1.

Results of quality indices and drying performance

The results of the quality indices of the eight experiments

listed in Table 1 are shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Note that vigour
and non-fissured seed indices showed a significant variation
in response to the increase in the number of stages.
Fig. 5 illustrates the results of seed moisture removal in
the eight experiments listed in Table 1. It can be seen that
increasing the number of stages improves the drying
performance.

Methodology
100

Table 1 e Operating conditions.

Exp.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

90

Vigour (%)

The conventional configuration of a concurrent sliding bed

dryer was modified (Fig. 1) by dividing it into several stages of
equal length. The total length of the single-stage dryer (640 mm)
was divided equally into three configurations (2, 3 and 4 stages)

80
70

Tf0 ( C)

v (m s1)

Gf (kg m2 s1)

Gs (kg m2 s1)

60

37.0
37.0
42.5
42.5
48.0
48.0
54.5
54.5

2.00
4.00
3.00
4.00
3.00
4.00
3.00
4.00

0.8821
1.7510
1.2910
1.7213
1.2688
1.6876
1.2424
1.6566

0.2108
0.2456
0.2147
0.2062
0.2124
0.2058
0.1960
0.2015

50
1

Experiment (-)

Fig. 3 e Effect of number of stages on moisture removal (see

experiment conditions in Table 1): +, single-stage
configuration; 6, two-stage configuration; B, three-stage
configuration; -, four-stage configuration.

345

100

51

95

48
45

90

Air Temperature, Tf (C)

Non-Fissured Seeds (%)

b i o s y s t e m s e n g i n e e r i n g 1 0 7 ( 2 0 1 0 ) 3 4 1 e3 4 8

85
80
75
70

42
39
36
33
30
27

65
1

24

0.0

Experiment (-)

Fig. 4 e Effect of number of stages on vigour index (see

experiment conditions in Table 1): +, single-stage
configuration; 6, two-stage configuration; B, three-stage
configuration; -, four-stage configuration.

28

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

Z (-)
Fig. 7 e Experimental data and simulation results of the air
temperature distribution for the conventional dryer:
C, experimental data (case 1); , simulated (case 1);
6, experimental data (case 2) and d, simulated (case 2).

4.2.
Comparison between experimental data and
simulated results

26

Moisture Removal (%)

0.2

24
22
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
1

Experiment (-)

Fig. 5 e Effect of number of stages on non-fissured seed

index (see experiment conditions in Table 1): +, singlestage configuration; 6, two-stage configuration; B, threestage configuration; -, four-stage configuration.

From the eight experiments listed in Table 1, two cases (case 1

and case 2) were chosen to present the simulated profiles of
the air and seed temperatures, and seed moisture. The results
of these profiles for case 1 (experiment 1 of Table 1) and case 2
(experiment 6 of Table 1) are presented below.
The two cases selected from Table 1 conditions, also have
been used to compare the results from the numerical simulation of the model with experimental data (obtained with
a single-stage configuration). Fig. 6 presents the experimental
data and model results for the seed moisture content profile
for case 1 and case 2. Fig. 7 shows the experimental data and
simulated results of the air temperature distribution for the
two cases. It can be observed in these figures that there was
a good agreement between the experimental data and the
model results.

38

Air Temperature, Tf (C)

Seed Moisture, M (dry basis)

0.19
0.18
0.17
0.16
0.15
0.14

36
34
32
30
28
26
24
22
0.0

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

Z (-)

Fig. 6 e Experimental data and simulation results of the

seed moisture content profile for the conventional dryer:
C, experimental data (case 1); , simulated (case 1);
6, experimental data (case 2) and d, simulated (case 2).

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

Z (-)
Fig. 8 e Simulated air temperature distribution in the
conventional and two-, three- and four-stage dryer (case 1):
, single-stage configuration;
, two-stage
, three-stage configuration;
,
configuration;
four-stage configuration.

b i o s y s t e m s e n g i n e e r i n g 1 0 7 ( 2 0 1 0 ) 3 4 1 e3 4 8

30

50

29

48

28

46

Air Temperature, T f (C)

Seed Temperature, T s (C)

346

27
26
25
24
23

44
42
40
38
36
34

22
0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

32

1.0

0.0

Z (-)

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

Z (-)

Fig. 9 e Simulated seed temperature distribution in the

conventional and two-, three- and four-stage dryer (case 1):
, single-stage configuration;
, two-stage
, three-stage configuration;
,
configuration;
four-stage configuration.

4.3.

Simulated profiles of case 1

The operating conditions of the first case are the same as

those of experiment 1 in Table 1. The inlet air mass flux of
each stage was specified considering an equitable division
among the N stages based on the value of the single-stage
dryer, Gf 0.8821 kg m2 s1.
Figs. 8e10 depict the air temperature, seed temperature and
seed moisture content profiles, respectively, in stages 1e4 of the
dryer. As indicated earlier (Fig. 5), the results in Fig. 10 show
a tendency for increasing moisture removal as the number of
stages increases. Compared with the single-stage dryer, the seed
moisture removal was about 23.0% higher in the two-stage, 37.0%
higher in three-stage and 45.0% higher in the four-stage dryer.
Fig. 9 shows that the lowest outlet seed temperature was
obtained with the four-stage configuration. The inlet air flow
rate in one-stage configuration was four times higher than the
flow rate in each stage of the four-stage dryer; hence the seed

Fig. 11 e Simulated air temperature distribution in the

conventional and two-, three- and four-stage dryer (case 2):
, single-stage configuration;
, two-stage
, three-stage configuration;
,
configuration;
four-stage configuration.

temperature is much higher in the beginning of the one-stage

dryer, compared with that of four-stage dryer. This result was
in agreement with the results presented in Figs. 3 and 4,
because lower outlet seed temperature is an adequate condition for good indices of seed quality.

4.4.

Simulated profiles of case 2

The operating conditions of case 2 are the same as those of

experiment 6 in Table 1. As with case 1, the inlet air mass flux
of the single-stage configuration (Gf 0.1688 kg m2 s1) was
divided equally to determine the respective values of the
multi-stage configurations.
The simulated results for air and seed temperature distribution, as well as seed moisture distribution along the length
of the sliding bed dryers are shown in Figs. 11e13 for the
conditions of case 2. The lowest outlet seed moisture content
and the lowest outlet seed temperature were obtained with
42

0.1600
0.1550

Seed Temperature, T s (C)

Seed Moisture, M (dry basis)

0.1575
0.1525
0.1500
0.1475
0.1450
0.1425
0.1400
0.1375

40
38
36
34
32

0.1350

30

0.1325
0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

Z (-)

Fig. 10 e Simulated profile of seed moisture content in the

conventional and two-, three- and four-stage dryer (case 1):
, single-stage configuration;
, two-stage
, three-stage configuration;
,
configuration;
four-stage configuration.

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

Z (-)

Fig. 12 e Simulated seed temperature distribution in the

conventional and two-, three- and four-stage dryer (case 2):
, single-stage configuration;
, two-stage
, three-stage configuration;
,
configuration;
four-stage configuration.

Seed Moisture, M (kg water/kg dry solid)

b i o s y s t e m s e n g i n e e r i n g 1 0 7 ( 2 0 1 0 ) 3 4 1 e3 4 8

0.185
0.180
0.175
0.170
0.165
0.160
0.155
0.150
0.145
0.140
0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

Z (-)

Fig. 13 e Simulated profile of seed moisture content in the

conventional and two-, three- and four-stage dryer (case 2):
, single-stage configuration;
, two-stage
, three-stage configuration;
,
configuration;
four-stage configuration.

the four-stage configuration. High seed temperatures reduce

the physical and physiological quality of soybean seed
(Spears, Tekrony, & Egli, 1997) which may explain the lower
vigour and non-fissured seed indices for the single-stage
configuration. The influence of the highest seed temperature
(achieved in the single-stage dryer) on the quality indices can
be clearly seen in the previous results presented in Figs. 3 and 4,
where the one-stage configuration was the only configuration
that did not provide the required quality index of 80%.

5.

Conclusions

The strategy of modifying the conventional sliding bed

dryer into a multiple stage dryer to improve seed quality and
increase moisture removal appears to be useful.
Under operating conditions studied here (Table 1), the
moisture removal rate increased from 23% to 55%, with
increasing number of stages. The configurations with multiple
stages presented better indices of seed quality than those
obtained with the single-stage dryer. The mean increase of
vigour index with increasing number of stages was about 18%
and for the non-fissured seed index was about 15%.
The simulated profile using the two-phase model showed
that the lowest outlet seed moisture content and temperature
were obtained with the four-stage configuration. Low outlet seed
temperatures are required to ensure good seed quality indices.

Acknowledgements
The authors are thankful to FAPEMIG and CNPq for the
financial support to this work.

references

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