Study of Air-flow and Temperature Distribution in a Small-scale Dryer for Grains Drying

摘要

This paper describes the work performed on a small-scale dryer designed to allow agricultural product to be dried by farmers via usage of slanted plates for grains transportation. This work involves the prototype design, computational simulation using Comsol Multiphysics and study of the results. The computational simulation results are plotted in temperature contour-plots based on the prototype modelling and boundary conditions. The results illustrate the difference in opening and closing of grains inlet and also effects of the temperature distribution within the dryer. Air-flow relative humidity is also introduced to allow observation of the drying air-flow on the grains. The simulation results are shown and elaborated here. From the results, it is evident the grains can be dried as the injected heated air-flow is projected onto the plates. It can also be concluded here that farmers may need to close the grains inlet of the dryer to prevent heat loss and non-uniform distribution of heat.