Resumen

MOREJON MESA, Yanoy; TSUJIMOTO, Toshiyuki  y  WATAHIKI, Tadashi. Fabrication and evaluation of a Solar Grain Dryer. Rev Cie Téc Agr [online]. 2011, vol.20, n.3, pp.68-72. ISSN 2071-0054.

The drying process is a principal activity in postharvest operations in grains; to economize on energy sources and reduce pollution of the environment it is possible to develop solar grain dryers. For that reason the fabrication and testing of a Solar Grain Dryer was done. The following show  the main results, the mean moisture content before drying  on the surface was 22,51% and after drying was 11,6%, and at the bottom the mean moisture content before drying was 22,78% and after drying was 13,2%, therefore the average mean moisture reduction rate was 0,84%/h, also before drying the mass of paddy was 120,28 kg and after drying was 105,40 kg, therefore 14,88 kg of water was removed and the fuel consumption of the diesel engine during 12 hours operation was 2,75 L. The overall results were impressive; therefore this prototype will help the small scale farmers to improve the quality of grain during the operations of postharvest.

Palabras clave : drying; solar energy; moisture content.

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