Structural improvement of a mobile device for pre-heated treatment of vegetable raw materials

The object of this study is the heat treatment of multicomponent masses, for example, Jerusalem artichoke, pumpkin, and black chokeberry, during thickening and drying in an improved mobile functional apparatus for preliminary heat operations. The engineering solution is aimed at the implementation of resource-saving preliminary thermal operations of plant raw materials on mobile functional equipment. The structural difference of the device for the preliminary heat treatment of plant raw materials is the presence of a mobile platform with a carousel arrangement of rolling containers with changeable working elements. The device provides simultaneous implementation of thermal operations in three functional containers. The vacuum compartment and the steam generator with flexible technical lines are connected to functional tanks equipped with bubbler disks to improve heat transfer. The central platform has a microprocessor-based automatic control unit and a spring mechanism for lifting the cover equipped with Peltier elements for secondary heat conversion. The tanks are heated by a film resistive electric heater. Peltier elements are mounted on the inner surface of the cover to convert secondary heat for autonomous operation of the fan. For preliminary heat treatment of liquid media, the functional container is additionally equipped with a stirrer with a heated surface (the usable area of the thermal surface is 0.28 m2). The duration of reaching a stationary temperature regime (50 °С) of the multicomponent mass (Jerusalem artichoke – 50 %, pumpkin – 40 %, and chokeberry – 10 %) in a mobile device is 31.4 % less than in a classic design. The duration of the drying process in the functional device is 40 minutes, and in the conventional KVM-150 device – 60 minutes. A 1.8-fold decrease in the specific metal capacity was established. Total heat losses are reduced by 1.24 times, and the usable heating surface is increased by 1.3 times