Apparatus And Method For Drying And/Or Treating Loose Food Products

Abstract

An apparatus (1, 101) and a method of drying and / or treating loose products (106) such as food products, for example corn, flour, seeds in general, spices, tea and coffee, dried pulses, dried or shelled fruit, like hazelnuts, dry food products in general, such as dried mushrooms, etcetera, the treatment which the aforementioned loose products can be subjected to being of the type such as disinfestation, sanitization, pasteurisation, sterilisation, etcetera, wherein the aforementioned apparatus comprises a conveyor (2, 102, 109) for the loose products (106), a treatment unit (3, 103) defining a treatment chamber / 4, 104), means for generating radio frequency electromagnetic radiation, means for applying radio frequency electromagnetic radiation and / or microwaves which act in the treatment chamber or area (4, 104) and designed to affect the loose products (106) transported through the treatment chamber or area (4, 104), mixing means (108, 109) for the loose products to be treated (106) arranged in the treatment chamber (4, 104).

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for drying and / or processing loose products such as food products such as corn, flour, seeds, seasonings, tea and coffee, dried beans, dried fruits Or unshelled fruit, dry products, etc., the dried fruit or unshelled fruit are, for example, hazelnuts, peanuts, almonds; the dried products are such as dried mushrooms, tobacco, herbs, etc., the above-mentioned loose products May be subjected to types of treatment such as disinsection, sanitization, pasteurization, sterilization, etc. Background technique [0002] Various devices for handling loose food items have been proposed so far. [0003] In fact, if products like those listed above are not properly handled, it may happen that they are packaged with insects or microorganisms and / or, as the case may be, may not be adequately Drying, disinfestation, sanitization, pasteurization or sterilization. [0004] Of course, these problems result in low...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

[0011] However, the solutions proposed so far, as well as the apparatus and methods according to the US patents reviewed above, do not allow drying and / or processing of loose products in an efficient and uniform manner or as desired, such as Deworming, Sanitization, Pasteurization, Sterilization, etc.

[0012] Indeed, the aforementioned loose products cannot be properly dried and / or processed using machines of known type operating with radio frequency or microwaves

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