摘要 |
Conditioning apparatus for conditioning a leaf vegetable material of a fibrous nature, which apparatus comprises a perforate bed whereby gaseous conditioning medium may be supplied through the perforations to establish a conditioning zone immediately above the bed whereby, in use, the material can be maintained in effectively a fluidized state, the bed being supported in a frame in a manner which permits adjustment of the configuration of the bed relative to the frame at least in a direction of feed of the material to be conditioned. The bed is supported above a plenum chamber arranged to be supplied with conditioning medium being supplied from means comprising an inlet duct for conditioning medium under pressure, said inlet duct communicating with a first and second duct each communicating with said plenum chamber, heating means provided in said first duct, and bleed-off means associated with at least one of said first and second ducts whereby the relative proportions of heated and unheated conditioning medium entering the plenum chamber can be adjusted.
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