STRUCTURAL MODEL OF A UNIT FOR THERMOVACUUM PROCESSING OF PLANT RAW MATERIALS

Abstract

The article presents a rational approach to the selection of equipment for extrusion processing of high-moisture vegetable food raw materials. Based on modern ideas about the disadvantages and possible ways of improving single-screw extruders, a structural and technological scheme of an energy-efficient thermovacuum processing unit for vegetable raw materials has been proposed. This unit incorporates technical solutions that allow for the processing of high-moisture vegetable raw materials using a two-stage process involving two sequentially installed vacuum chambers with decreasing pressure as the processed material moves forward. The analysis of the structural model of the unit proposed in the work allowed us to justify an approach that ensures increased energy efficiency and simplifies the technological adjustments of the machine, which are associated with the possibility of significantly reducing the moisture content of the processed raw materials and the finished product.