Aerial solar collector usage in drying technologies of medicinal and spice plants
2018
Cipliene, A., Aleksandras Stulginskis Univ., Akademija, Kauno reg. (Lithuania);Vilnius College of Technologies and Design (Lithuania) | Zvicevicius, E., Aleksandras Stulginskis Univ., Akademija, Kauno reg. (Lithuania) | Raila, A., Aleksandras Stulginskis Univ., Akademija, Kauno reg. (Lithuania)
In Lithuania small farmers more often are focusing on alternative plant production like medicinal and spice plants. Processing of medicinal-spice raw material cannot be performed without the drying process. It is known that a drying process of medicinal and spice plants takes up to 50-70 % of all its production costs. The aim of this research was to determine the possibilities of decreasing the energy consumption by using solar energy while drying medicinal and spice plants. In the medicinal plant dryer with 131 m2 air solar collector integrated into the roof of the building, solar irradiance was 453.3 ± 317.9 W·mE-2 and the ambient air temperature of 23.1 ± 3.8 ºC from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. maintained at 31.3 ± 3.8 ºC temperature of the drying agent. It means that external solar collector, within 8 hours, converts 130.21 ± 37.3 kWh of thermal energy. The largest solar collector efficiency factor was 0.6, while comparative air flow from 1.8 to 2.0 kg·sE-1 was moving over the panels. It is possible to convert 15235 kWh of thermal energy as well as to reduce about 64 % of fossil fuel or biofuel consumption and the amount of environmental emissions while using an aerial solar collector in preparation of the drying agent during the harvesting period of medicinal-spice plants.
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