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ZeoDry is a novel drying technique that requires 10x less energy and occurs at ambient temperatures, therefore preserving the nutritional integrity of dried products
About
At the heart of ZeoDry are novel methods, compositions, and systems that improve the efficiency of zeolite particles as desiccants and allow for regenerating hydrated zeolites using microwave radiation. These methods mean that materials can be dried in a shorter period of time, with less energy used (and no fossil fuel required), and at ambient temperatures. In practice, this is how the system works: a. Wet biomass is placed inside a chamber, in which a zeolite array removes all humidity from the air b. When the air is completely dry, it in turn reduces the moisture content of the wet biomass to the desired level c. The zeolite array is dehydrated for reuse using microwave radiation d. Microwaves remove adsorbed water from the zeolites without unnecessarily heating the environment around the array (and therefore requires very little energy)
Key Benefits
1. Reduces cost of production by requiring less energy. The small amount of energy needed can easily be covered by renewable sources. 2. Results in a higher quality end product, by preserving valuable compounds that would otherwise by harmed by high heat.
Applications
Agricultural crops that will benefit the most from ZeoDry are those that (a) contain compounds or nutritional components that are affected by heat, and (b) are held back from market expansion due to high production costs. Biomass storage that requires strict humidity controls could also use the ZeoDry filters in their containers. Because ZeoDry machines are equally efficient at any size, they can also be considered micro-processors that could be placed on-site for a commodity that uses drying as one step in its processing journey.