Development of a direct-fired corncob furnace for corn drying
2006
Bitog, J.P.P., Philippines Univ. Los Banos, College, Laguna (Philippines)
A direct-fired corncob fuelled furnace was designed and fabricated at the College of Engineering and Agro-Industrial Technology, UPLB, College, Laguna [Philippines] to evaluate the furnace performance and established the best combination of the operating parameters involved, namely: fuel feed rate, combustion air, and fuel size. The developed corncob furnace had the following components: hopper, rotary feeder, variable motor, inclined grate, and horizontal grate. The furnace wall was made up of cement and red volcanic cinder. Results showed no trend from the computed burning efficiency when the fuel feed rate was varied. All the levels of combustion air and fuel size significantly affect the burning efficiency. All levels of the independent parameters revealed significant differences in terms of furnace efficiency. In terms of furnace capacity, all independent parameters revealed no significant differences. The developed furnace can supply the required energy needed for the flat bed dryer to dry corn grains from 28 percent moisture to 12 percent moisture content for 8 hour operation theoretically. Fuel feed rate of 15 kg/hr with 3,300 cu m/hr combustion air and fuel size greater than 2.5 cm was the best operating condition for the furnace to operate at high furnace efficiency. The average computed furnace efficiency for this operating condition was 89 percent.
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