| Application of solar tunnel dryer for pre- drying of paddy in the field |
| Paper ID : 1087-NICAME1402 |
| Authors: |
|
Hamid Reza Gazor *1, Kobra Tajaddodi Talab2, Hormoz Asadi3, Omid Reza Roustapour1, Akbar Younesi4 1Agricultural Engineering Research Institute, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO) 2Rice Research Institute, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO) 3Associate Professor of Agricultural Economic researches, Seed and Plant Improvement Institute(SPII), Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization(AREEO) 46. Agricultural Engineering Research Institute, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization(AREEO) |
| Abstract: |
| Paddy harvested with a combine harvester is prone to fermentation and mold due to high humidity (20% w.b), so it should be dried quickly to be able to be stored. The low capacity of rice drying factories in the country’s northern provinces limits the possibility of quick drying of the harvested paddy, and the existing dryers do not meet the needs of farmers during the rice harvest. To solve this problem, two portable solar tunnel dryers were built for preliminary drying and storage of paddy. Their performance was compared to the traditional drying of paddy in the open field. The basis of this dryer is to absorb the sun’s thermal energy in a closed chamber and transfer it to the harvested paddy. The moisture absorbed from the paddy is removed from the dryer using an air stream. The obtained results showed that it takes 4.5 hours to reduce the moisture content of paddy from about 19 to 14% w.b. The use of these dryers significantly increased the drying capacity of paddy in limited spaces, and the specific capacity of the drying surface of paddy by solar tunnel dryers increased 9 times. To dry one ton of paddy in solar tunnel dryers with a thick layer (10-15 cm), 0.11% of the drying surface of the thin layer of paddy (3-5 cm) in the open field was needed. Regarding milling quality, there were no significant differences between the paddy dried with solar tunnel dryers and the field conditions. |
| Keywords: |
| Dryer, Sun, Paddy, Rice |
| Status : Paper Accepted (Oral Presentation) |
