Flatbed Rice Dryer of 5 tons capacity Built by FINIC in Sierra Leone

This Flatbed Rice Dryer of 5 tons capacity was designed and manufactured by FINIC in Sierra Leone. The equipment removes moisture content of 5 tons (100 bags) of parboiled rice at the rate of 1.5% per hour. Usually, parboiled rice has a moisture content of 29%. To bring it to the required 13% for milling, it will take the equipment about 10 hours.
The fuel for generation of the heat source for the equipment is Engine Waste Oil ( spent engine oil) consumed at the rate of 10 litres per hour. Given the efficiency of the burner, the equipment hardly emits smoke and One of the good attributes of this equipment is that fumes of the burning oil does not enter the drying bin. Rather, clean hot air, at 45 degrees Celsius does the drying. With that, no smell of fumes is mixed with the rice.
The rate at which it removes water from parboiled rice (50 litres per hour) makes it a suitable equipment to dehydrate other agricultural produce such as Cacao beans, mango chips, onions, garlic, pepper etc.

The equipment can be designed to function without electricity thus making it suitable for any rural setting.
Any interested individual, Organization or company anywhere in the world, can contact us and we will be willing to partner with a local metal workshop in that country to construct the equipment.
I would like to acknowledge the contribution of the able FINIC staff listed below whose resilience and creativity led to the successful completion of the design:
Paul Brima Conteh, Abdulai Kargbo, Foday Sheku Sesay, Mohamed Koroma, Tejan Sesay, Santigie, John, Kandeh, Almamy and Bisor.