Process engineering in solar drying of biogenous residuals

Publication Type

Contribution to conference

Authors

Starcevic N, Bux M

Year of publication

2006

Page (from - to)

129-139

Conference name

34. Int. Symposium Actual Tasks of Agricultural Engineering

Conference location

Opatija, Croatia

Conference date

23.02.2006

Keywords

Klärschlamm, solare Trocknung, Systematisches Konstruieren

By- or end products of many communal, industrial and agricultural processes are biogenous residuals. Drying of these materials before disposal or further processing is advantageous in most cases, since the disposal costs and transport volume are reduced, the calorific value is increased and the biological stability is improved. However, due to the high water content, the energy consumption for drying is high and most of the conventional high temperature drying processes are too expensive for an application in this field. In terms of the energy requirement, solar drying is favourable. However, it is only a realistic alternative to other processes, if the investment costs are competitive and the required standards in terms of process control and automation are met. The objective of this research is therefore the systematic design of a tool for a fully automated operation of solar drying plants. In combination with an intelligent system control the equipment should be able to provide a fully automatic loading, unloading, mixing, transportation and accumulation of the materials within a greenhouse type dryer. The paper describes the different steps required during the development process together with the first results recorded with an appropriate solution.