MET MANN Deploys Wood-Pellet Hot Air Generator for Citrus Coating Drying in Uruguay

MET MANN has installed a wood-pellet hot air generator at an industrial citrus facility in Uruguay to deliver continuous, controlled heat for drying the protective coating applied to oranges directly on the production line.

The drying challenge

In citrus postharvest processing, drying the protective varnish is a fundamental stage before subsequent handling and commercialization. The key requirement is maintaining exact temperature, proper ventilation, and uninterrupted process continuity so that fruit dries uniformly while moving through the line. The project's central task was to guarantee a steady heat supply and optimal airflow that promote even, continuous drying without interrupting production.

How the generator works

The unit is built around a high-performance combustion chamber with automatic pellet feeding. A powerful heat exchanger transfers the generated heat to the drying process air while keeping it completely separate from combustion gases. A dedicated ventilation system then drives this clean, thermally adapted airflow into the drying zone, where it removes moisture from the protective varnish rapidly and safely, ensuring a consistent finish on the fruit.

Integration and energy source

The thermal solution, based on proprietary European technology and manufacturing, integrates fully automatically into existing processing lines and adapts to varying production speeds demanded by the food and agriculture sector. Because the fuel is wood pellets, the installation draws on a 100 percent renewable energy source for an industrial process that requires uninterrupted heat. MET MANN notes that this approach allows packinghouses to reduce their dependence on conventional fossil fuels, while the fully automatic feeding and combustion systems demonstrate the practical potential of biomass energy in real industrial applications.

MET MANN, which has more than 50 years of experience in designing and manufacturing climate control equipment, positions the installation as evidence that sustainability and high industrial performance can advance together.

Source: MET MANN. Postharvest: Cooling and CA.