SOLAR GRAIN DRYING IN HUMID AND HOT-TEMPERATE CLIMATES

A natural solar drying system has been tested with wheat. Simple solar collectors give the small temperature rise needed for low temperature drying. The system, with a capacity of 35 tomes, is placed in a region of humid hot-temperate climate. It has been designed to dry all the locally produced grain (wheat, corn, soybean, sunflower, sorghum, etc.), without a supplemental heat source.

Two different types of solar collectors of the same effective area were tested, with one a storage-collector and the other a bare plate collector

Data from four field tests performed between 1981 and 1983 are given and discussed. The mean mass of water removed from the wheat per hour was of 6.54 kg, under an average air flow of 4.3 m3 /min. tonne