Shaanxi pepper drying case
In a major pepper production area in Shaanxi, a local professional pepper processing factory faced many problems caused by traditional drying methods. Due to the changeable climate in Shaanxi, peppers that are dried naturally often encounter rainy weather, resulting in serious mold losses. At the same time, manual drying is inefficient, and only 500 kilograms of fresh peppers can be processed per day. The finished product has uneven color and serious aroma loss, which seriously affects product quality and market competitiveness.
In response to these problems, the Jinlu Machinery technical team customized a heat pump drying solution for the customer after a field investigation. The solution uses the RHP-1000 air-energy heat pump drying room, which uses an intelligent control system that can accurately adjust temperature and humidity. The drying process is divided into three stages: first, preheat at 40℃ for 1 hour to protect the oil cells on the pepper’s epidermis from damage; then dry at a constant temperature of 50-55℃ for 8-10 hours to ensure uniform evaporation of moisture; finally, return to 40℃ for 1 hour to make the pepper dry uniformly inside and outside.
After this drying system was put into use, the effect was immediate. First of all, in terms of efficiency, the drying time of a single batch was shortened to 10-12 hours, and the daily processing capacity was increased to 2 tons, which is 4 times the original. In terms of quality, the dried pepper has bright and uniform color, full and complete grains, and the aroma retention rate reaches more than 90%, which fully meets the standard of special-grade pepper. What surprised customers even more was that due to the use of heat pump technology, compared with the traditional coal-fired drying method, it can save more than 40% of energy and save more than 50,000 yuan in fuel costs each year.
The person in charge of the processing plant said: “Since using Jinlu Machinery’s heat pump drying equipment, the quality of our pepper has been significantly improved, and the purchase price has increased by 20%-30%. More importantly, we no longer have to rely on the weather for food, and the production plan is more secure.” At present, the customer’s pepper products have successfully entered the high-end market and have been recognized by more brand customers.
This case fully proves that modern drying technology can not only solve the pain points of traditional processing methods, but also create higher added value for agricultural products. Jinlu Machinery will continue to delve deeper into the field of agricultural product drying and use technology to help more farmers and enterprises achieve industrial upgrading.