DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF A MONITORED EXPERIMENTAL DRYING SHED

An experimental drying shed has therefore been designed, a small-scale replica of the industrial shed. It is completely computer-directed and allows the reproduction of any condition or process that one desires to study.

Its interior measurements are 1.86 m x 2.20 m x 2.20 m, and it holds some 30 to 40 hams hung in three rows as is habitual in industrial drying sheds. If one wishes to study a smaller number, hams made of plastic are available so that the shed can be filled and work carried out on two or three real hams.

As any condition can be reproduced in this drying shed, it is hoped that it will be a very useful tool for obtaining process data and for validating the computer models developed.

It can also be used for determining the drying curves anticipated in previous sections.

It can be declared as a final conclusion that:

The salting process is fundamental to ham quality and further study is needed.

A complete data-gathering process allows knowledge of its evolution (traceability) and guarantees correct processing.

Study of the data obtained from the process is the best tool for improving them.

"If one wishes to produce a standardised ham of constant quality, automation and monitoring of the physical parameters intervening in its elaboration becomes necessary."