FOOD PRODUCTS VACUUM DRYING METHOD Russian patent published in 2016 - IPC F26B5/04 A23L3/40 

FIELD: food industry.

SUBSTANCE: milled food product (in a 5-30 mm thick layer) is put into a vacuum chamber. Infrared lamps are installed in the vacuum chamber at a distance of 10-15 cm from the product. A residual pressure of (700-900) Pa is created. The product is heated up to 30-45°C with heat flux density equal to 15.0-20.0 kW/m². The product is dried during 2-3 hours till the product moisture weight fraction is no more than 4.0%.

EFFECT: invention allows to manufacture high quality dry products due to efficient distance from the infrared lamp to the product, which ensures the whole product area drying, as well as due to temperature, heat flux density and residual pressure values; additionally, the invention allows to reduce the process duration and significantly decrease specific heat expenditures.

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