Pneumatic Cassava Dryers

Low-cost mechanized drying of cassava using Flash Dryers

The equipment "Mechanized Drying of Cassava using Flash Dryers (Pneumatic Dryers)" is a vital component in the cassava processing chain. The process involves the wet product entering the drying duct and being carried by a hot airstream, utilizing negative or positive pressure conveying systems in pneumatic dryers. As the material is transported, heat is transferred to the particles, drying the material as it moves through the system. A cyclone is commonly used at the end of the drying duct to separate the dry product from the drying air. The technology's large surface area of product particles allows for high drying rates and short residence times, facilitating the drying of heat-sensitive materials at relatively high temperatures without overheating. The flash dryer is comprised of a feeding point, a drying duct carrying cassava grits dried by a hot airstream, an air blower, and a cyclone for separating the dried material from the drying air. This innovative technology significantly aids in efficiently and economically converting cassava into higher value-added products like starch and high-quality cassava flour, revolutionizing the cassava processing industry.

This technology is TAAT1 validated.

8•8

Scaling readiness: idea maturity 8/9; level of use 8/9

IP

Open source / open access

Problem

Inefficient and Costly Drying: Conventional drying systems can be inefficient and costly, constraining the processing of cassava into dried products at commercial scale.
Heat-Sensitive Cassava Products: Prolonged or poorly controlled exposure to heat during drying can overheat cassava materials and affect product quality.
Long Drying Times: Long residence times reduce drying efficiency and limit the volume of cassava that processors can handle within a given period.

Solution

Efficient and Cost-Effective Drying: Pneumatic drying uses a stream of heated air to rapidly remove moisture from cassava materials, providing an efficient drying process suitable for commercial processing.
Controlled Product Drying: Rapid heat and mass transfer limits prolonged heat exposure, allowing heat-sensitive cassava materials to be dried without excessive overheating.
Short Drying Time: Very short residence times enable rapid moisture removal, increasing throughput and processing capacity.

Key points to design your business plan

The Mechanized drying of cassava using flash fryers technology may be of interest to users (food industry).

Users

Utilizing mechanized drying of cassava using flash fryers presents significant advantages in processing efficiency.

Key partners in this initiative include manufacturers of mechanized equipment specialized for cassava drying using flash fryers.

In terms of cost structure, consider the cost of equipment and maintenance.

It's crucial to consider additional expenses such as delivery costs, import duties, and taxes, especially since the technology may be sourced from countries like Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Malawi, Za

Adults 18 and over: Positive medium

The poor: Positive medium

Under 18: Positive medium

Women: Positive high

Climate adaptability: Moderately adaptable

Biodiversity: No impact on biodiversity

Carbon footprint: Same amount of carbon released

Environmental health: Moderately improves environmental health

Water use: Same amount of water used

Scaling Readiness describes how complete a technology's development is and its ability to be scaled. It produces a score that measures a technology's readiness along two axes: the level of maturity of the idea itself, and the level to which the technology has been used so far.

Each axis goes from 0 to 9 where 9 is the “ready-to-scale” status. For each technology profile in the e-catalogs we have documented the scaling readiness status from evidence given by the technology providers. The e-catalogs only showcase technologies for which the scaling readiness score is at least 8 for maturity of the idea and 7 for the level of use.

The graph below represents visually the scaling readiness status for this technology, you can see the label of each level by hovering your mouse cursor on the number.

Scaling readiness score of this technology

Maturity of the idea 8 out of 9

Uncontrolled environment: tested

Level of use 8 out of 9

Used by some intended users, in the real world

Maturity of the idea										Level of use
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9

Countries with a green colour: Tested & adopted
Countries with a bright green colour: Adopted
Countries with a yellow colour: Tested
Countries with a blue colour: Testing ongoing

Countries where the technology is being tested or has been tested and adopted
Country	Testing ongoing	Tested	Adopted
Cameroon	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Democratic Republic of the Congo	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Ghana	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Liberia	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Madagascar	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Malawi	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Nigeria	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Sierra Leone	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Tanzania	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Uganda	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Zambia	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted

This technology can be used in the colored agro-ecological zones. Any zones shown in white are not suitable for this technology.

Agro-ecological zones where this technology can be used
AEZ	Subtropic - warm	Subtropic - cool	Tropic - warm	Tropic - cool
Arid
Semiarid
Subhumid
Humid

Source: HarvestChoice/IFPRI 2009

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that are applicable to this technology.

Goal 2: zero hunger

Goal 8: decent work and economic growth

Factory Setup: Prepare a suitable factory building or dedicated space equipped with other cassava processing machines for the installation of the flash dryer.
Cassava Preparation: Process fresh cassava roots using appropriate machinery to create wet but free-flowing granules.
Drying Process: Place the wet cassava granules into the flash dryer (pneumatic dryer) for the drying process.
Drying Completion: Once dried, take the dried granules out of the dryer.
Milling: Mill the dried granules to obtain the desired flour for further use or processing.

Last updated on Sep 23, 2026