REDESIGN OF A DRYING SYSTEM WITH SOLAR ENERGY IN THE YUCATAN PENINSULA, MEXICO

摘要

Into the field of renewable energies, solar stands out because of being easily accessible and it has been used in several processes with good results. In this research a redesign of a drying process was done through the solar energy use into the drying processing of habanero chili in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, by analyzing the traditional process through techniques like exergy analysis and the exergetic life cycle to determine the best technology to be used. The results obtained indicated that the new drying process will be held in two stages, in the first one, a solar dryer was used, and in the second one, an existing pilot fluidized bed dryer was adapted with a low temperature solar collector for air heating. Habanero chili was dehydrated from 90% to 5% moisture in 10.3 hours, with good quality product; it is available for commercialization. A reduction in the average drying time of 50% was obtained also in the energy usage of 77% in the fluidized bed dryer, with an energy saving of 2.6 KW that represents 0.52 kg of natural gas per kg of fresh habanero chili with the required final moisture content of 5%. This redesign will be strategic to expand the market for habanero chili at low energy cost in a sustainable way.