Pressing apparatus
A Lloyds EZ 50 material testing machine with a cylinder and piston was used in this study (Fig.1). The material testing machine was used to generate the compression force, as well as record force and position of the piston. Force and distance traveled by the piston were used to calculate the work required in the compression drying . The pressing range of the machine was 0-50 kN with the accuracy of 0.5%.The inner diameter of the steel cylinder was 20 mm and the height of the cylinder was 118 mm. The steel piston fitted the cylinder precisely. There were four holes (diameter of 5 mm) near the cylinder for the water to run-off. Also there was a non-waterproof joint between the bottom plate and the cylinder.