Biomass-Energized Crop Drier

摘要

Crop drying is one of the most energy-intensive agricultural operations. The concept of a totally self-contained crop drier energized with biomass such as wood chips was proposed. The concept included the use of a gas producer or gasifier to make fuel gas from biomass for an internal-combustion engine used to drive the drier fan. Since nearly 75% of the energy going into an internal combustion engine is lost in heat carried away in the engine exhaust and the cooling system, it was proposed that most of this energy could be reclaimed if the waste heat from the fan power unit was utilized in heating the drying air. The components of the proposed drier were arranged as shown in Figure 1, with the engine and the gasifier along with the gas cleanup equipment mounted in a duct through which the drying air was drawn before the air entered the bin containing the commodity to be dried. It was invisioned that this biomass energized drier would be used to complement solar crop driers because it could function on cloudy days or at night. This unit might also be used in developing countries where LP gas or fuel oil are in short supply and electricity is not readily available. Results of testing are presented. (ERA citation 08:057002)