5-7T/H Commercial Beet Pulp Dryer in Kazakhstan

The customer purchased a single rotary drying unit from RICHI rather than a complete new production line because their existing extraction equipment, juice presses, and storage facilities were all in good working condition.

The only missing component was a drying stage that could handle two different materials, sometimes separately and sometimes blended together.

This commercial beet pulp dryer in Kazakhstan now operates between their waste discharge points and a new bagging line, transforming two disposal problems into a single sellable product.

Why Blend Beet Pulp and Apple Pomace?

The customer's idea came from talking to their dairy farm customers.

Local dairy farmers in the Almaty region feed their cows a mix of dried beet pulp and apple pomace during the winter.

Beet pulp provides digestible fiber. Apple pomace provides sugar and flavor that makes the feed more palatable.

Farmers were buying both ingredients separately and mixing them on the farm.

The processor realized they could do the mixing at their facility and sell a blended product.

This would save farmers time and labor, and the processor could charge a premium for the convenience.

The optimal blend, based on feeding trials conducted with a local agricultural university, is 70% beet pulp and 30% apple pomace on a dry matter basis.

The wet materials arrive at different times.

Beet pulp comes from sugar extraction at about 78% moisture.

Apple pomace comes from juice pressing at about 80% moisture.

The customer needed a dryer that could handle either material alone or the blended mixture, depending on what was available each day.

The High-Altitude Challenge

The customer's facility sits at 850 meters above sea level.

At this altitude, air pressure is lower than at sea level.

Lower air pressure means lower oxygen content, which affects combustion.

It also means the exhaust fan moves less air mass for the same volume, reducing drying efficiency.

Many equipment suppliers do not account for altitude in their designs.

The result is a dryer that underperforms at high elevation.

We calculated the altitude correction factor for this installation.

At 850 meters, air density is approximately 90% of sea level density.

This means the exhaust fan needed to be sized 10% larger to move the same mass of air.

The burner also needed larger air intake openings to compensate for lower oxygen.

We provided a 45 kW exhaust fan instead of the standard 37 kW, and we enlarged the combustion air inlet by 15%.

Here is the complete configuration they selected after we presented these altitude-specific calculations:

• Selected Model: φ1.8*18 single-pass rotary dryer (modified for high altitude)
• Drum Diameter: 1.8 meters
• Drum Length: 18 meters
• Number of Passes: 1
• Rotational Speed Range: 3 to 10 rpm (they run at 5.5 rpm for blend, 6 rpm for apple pomace alone)
• Inlet Temperature Range: 400 to 500°C
• Outlet Temperature Range: 70 to 80°C
• Main Drive Power: 30 kW
• Exhaust Fan Power: 45 kW (upsized from standard 37 kW for altitude compensation)
• Wet Feed Capacity - Beet Pulp Alone: 5 to 7 tons per hour
• Wet Feed Capacity - Apple Pomace Alone: 4 to 6 tons per hour (pomace is stickier)
• Wet Feed Capacity - 70/30 Blend: 5 to 6.5 tons per hour
• Water Evaporation Capacity: 2.5 to 3.2 tons per hour

The Sticking Problem with Apple Pomace

Apple pomace is stickier than beet pulp.

It contains pectin, a natural gelling agent.

When heated, pectin becomes tacky and can stick to the dryer flights and drum walls.

This was a major concern for the customer.

We addressed it in three ways.

1. First, we designed the first 4 meters of the drum with a self-cleaning flight pattern. These flights have a curved profile that gradually releases material rather than letting it accumulate.
2. Second, we recommended a slightly higher drum speed for apple pomace - 6 rpm instead of 5.5 rpm - to keep the material moving and reduce contact time with the hot drum surface.
3. Third, we added a small water spray system at the dryer inlet that can inject a fine mist when processing pure pomace. The moisture from the mist helps prevent the pomace from sticking in the first few meters. The water evaporates quickly once the material reaches the hotter middle section of the drum.

The Blending Strategy

The customer built a simple blending system before the beet pulp dryer.

Two screw conveyors feed from separate wet bins into a common hopper.

Variable-speed drives on both screws allow precise control of the blend ratio.

For the 70/30 beet pulp to apple pomace blend, the beet pulp screw runs at 70% speed and the apple pomace screw at 30% speed.

The blended material then drops into the dryer feed conveyor.

The customer tested three different blend ratios during the first month of operation.

The 70/30 blend dried fastest and produced the most uniform product.

Pure apple pomace took 15% longer to dry and consumed 10% more fuel per ton.

Pure beet pulp was in between.

The customer now runs the 70/30 blend as their standard product and only processes pure materials when one of the waste streams is unavailable.

The Fuel Situation in the Almaty Region

The customer does not have access to natural gas. The Almaty region is not fully connected to the gas grid. Diesel is available but expensive at approximately 320 tenge per liter.

The customer needed an alternative fuel source. They found it in the form of walnut shells.

Kazakhstan is a major walnut producer, and the Almaty region has hundreds of small walnut processing operations.

These operations generate tons of walnut shells as waste. The shells have a high lignin content and burn hot and clean. The customer negotiated agreements with five walnut processors to take their shells for free. The only cost is trucking, which is about 25,000 tenge per load. The walnut shells are inconsistent in size.

Some are whole half-shells. Others are crushed into small pieces.

We designed a fuel handling system with a hammer mill to grind the shells to a uniform size before feeding them to the furnace. The hammer mill runs only when the shell storage bin gets low, so it does not consume significant power.

Pre-Sale Testing That Made the Difference

Before the customer committed to this commercial beet pulp dryer in Kazakhstan, RICHI's team conducted tests that no other supplier was willing to do.

We requested separate samples of their wet beet pulp and wet apple pomace, plus a blended sample at 70/30 ratio.

Our lab ran all three materials through our pilot dryer at simulated high-altitude conditions.

We adjusted the pilot dryer's exhaust fan to 90% of normal airflow to mimic 850 meters elevation.

The tests showed that the blend dried more efficiently than either pure material - the apple pomace's natural sugars seemed to help release moisture from the beet pulp fibers.

We provided a 22-page report documenting the test results, including drying curves for each material, fuel consumption projections, and recommendations for the self-cleaning flight design.

We also sent a senior engineer to Almaty to measure the actual air pressure at the customer's site and confirm our altitude calculations.

The customer later told us that no other supplier had even mentioned altitude as a factor, let alone tested for it.

How the Dryer Works in Their Daily Operation

The customer runs the dryer for about 12 hours per day during the autumn harvest season.

Wet beet pulp arrives from their sugar extraction line.

Wet apple pomace arrives from their juice press.

Both materials are stored in separate holding bins.

The operator selects a blend ratio on the control panel, and the screw conveyors automatically proportion the two materials into the common hopper.

The blended material feeds into the dryer at a controlled rate.

Inside the 18-meter drum, the self-cleaning flights lift and shower the material through hot air generated by burning walnut shells.

The dried blend exits at approximately 11% moisture.

After cooling, it is bagged in 25kg sacks and sold to dairy farmers across the Almaty region.

What Else This Dryer Can Do in Kazakhstan

The customer has already identified several other applications for this commercial beet pulp dryer in Kazakhstan during the off-season.

1. First, they plan to dry carrot pomace from a nearby baby food processor. Carrots are grown extensively in the Almaty region, and carrot pomace is similar to apple pomace in drying characteristics.
2. Second, they will dry wet brewers' grains from several craft breweries in Almaty city.
3. Third, they are experimenting with drying tomato pomace from a local sauce manufacturer.

The same dryer can handle all of these materials because of the self-cleaning flight design and the variable-speed feed system.

The customer estimates they can run the dryer for an additional 200 days per year processing these other materials, turning their facility into a regional drying center for agricultural byproducts.

Customer Feedback: Six Months of Operation

"The altitude modifications worked exactly as calculated.

We have no loss of drying efficiency compared to sea level operations.

The self-cleaning flights solved the apple pomace sticking problem completely.

We have run pure pomace for three full days without any buildup on the flights.

The walnut shell fuel system is working well.

We processed approximately 40 tons of shells during the harvest season.

Our fuel cost was essentially zero.

The blended product is selling well.

We are getting 95,000 tenge per ton for the 70/30 blend, compared to 110,000 tenge per ton for pure beet pulp and 85,000 tenge per ton for pure dried apple pomace.

The farmers tell us their cows prefer the blended product and eat it more readily than either ingredient alone.

The only issue we had was a failed temperature sensor on the exhaust.

Your technician sent us a replacement within five days, and we installed it ourselves.

We are now looking at adding a second dryer specifically for tomato pomace, as that market is opening up."

Shipping to Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan is landlocked, so all ocean freight arrives at neighboring ports.

The complete drying system was loaded at RICHI's Qingdao port facility.

The 18-meter drum was shipped in two sections that bolt together on-site.

The drum sections, support rollers, drive assembly, control panel, and fuel handling system were packed into a combination of open-top containers and flat racks.

The shipment traveled to Poti Port in Georgia, the most common Black Sea gateway for industrial equipment heading to Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries.

From Poti, the equipment traveled by rail across Azerbaijan and by ferry across the Caspian Sea to the port of Aktau in western Kazakhstan, then by rail again to the Almaty region.

The total transit time from Qingdao to the customer's facility was approximately 45 days.

Final Thoughts: Why This Dryer Was the Right Choice for Kazakhstan

This project demonstrates that a commercial beet pulp dryer in Kazakhstan can serve multiple purposes beyond traditional sugar beet processing.

The customer identified an opportunity to blend two waste streams into a premium product. The altitude-specific modifications were essential for proper performance. The self-cleaning flight design solved the sticking problem.

And the walnut shell fuel system eliminated fuel costs. For any agricultural processor in Kazakhstan generating wet organic waste, the same approach could work. The key is identifying complementary waste streams that can be blended for animal feed.

RICHI Machinery provided the equipment, the testing, the altitude calculations, and the logistical coordination to make it happen.