Excellent Fill Value for Stem, Cigar Filler and Tea

The Garbuio Dickinson FBD employs vibration to assist fluidisation of the product and convey it through the process. The fluid bed is supported within a chassis which floats on Rosta type flexible supports, and is vibrated by two contra-rotating vibro motors.

Air is drawn into the dryer through inlet filters and fans, and is then heated by finned tube steam heat exchangers. This warm air is then passed through perforated stainless steel diffuser plates which carry the fluidised bed of tobacco.
Due to the intimate contact between the fluidising air and the tobacco, rapid drying takes place, so that the expansion achieved in the preceding STS process is maintained.

The moisture laden air from the fluidised bed passes upwards into a divergent exhaust collection hood, so that any product entrained in the air is able to fall back into the bed. The exhaust is then ducted from the top of the hood to the exhaust cyclones or dust collectors, before being discharged to atmosphere.
Depending on capacity, the FBD is divided into two or three separately controlled zones so that air flow and temperature may be independently controlled to optimise the process. Final moisture is controlled by feedback from a moisture meter after the cut stems classifier, by modifying the final zone air temperature set point.

Fill value of FBD product is generally superior to that obtained from rotary dryers, due to the relatively rapid drying in the FBD and the absence of rolling and tumbling which curls the product in a rotary dryer.