After olives are processed and pressed for oil, a large amount of solid residue is produced, which is called olive pomace. Olive pomace mainly consists of the peel, pulp, seeds, and stems.
However, olive pomace is actually very valuable. With proper processing, it can be converted into: feed ingredients, biomass energy, by-products, and organic fertilizer.
Drying is an essential and crucial step in achieving these conversions. Undried fresh pomace has a moisture content as high as 60-80%, making it extremely prone to spoilage and inconvenient for storage and transportation.
Currently, mainstream olive pomace dryers adopt a three-layer drum structure, which is ingeniously designed and highly thermally efficient. The entire system's workflow is as follows:
1. Pre-treatment stage: Fresh olive pomace typically has a moisture content of around 70%. To improve drying efficiency, it is usually first mechanically dehydrated using a screw extruder or belt dehydrator to reduce the moisture content to 50-60%. This step significantly reduces the heat energy consumption of subsequent drying.
2. Drying stage: The dehydrated pomace is fed into the drying drum via a screw conveyor. Inside the drum, a specially designed lifting plate structure repeatedly lifts and scatters the material, causing it to move forward in a spiral motion through the hot air.
3. Discharge and Exhaust Gas Treatment The dried fruit pomace is discharged from the tail end of the drum and conveyed to the next process via a discharge screw. The exhaust gas, containing dust and water vapor, is purified by a multi-stage dust collector before being discharged in compliance with standards, achieving clean production.
