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Encontro de Energia no Meio Rural
Abstract
MORAES-DUZAT, Rejane, MACEDO, Humberto, ROCHA, Leonardo Caldas et al. Secador solar multi-uso para beneficiamento de produtos naturais da amazônia. In Procedings of the 4th Encontro de Energia no Meio Rural, 2002, Campinas (SP) [online]. 2002 [cited 11 December 2024]. Available from: <http://www.proceedings.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=MSC0000000022002000200052&lng=en&nrm=iso> .
The use of solar energy for drying seeds, food crops and other forest products is an excellent possibility in tropical regions such as Amazônia. In processing and storing natural products, drying is the fundamental process for preventing biodegradation, especially when food products are concerned. The use of solar dryers needs little capital investment, allows the product to be processed near where it was produced and requires no specialised operational skills. A new multi-purpose solar dryer for natural products (grain, fruit seeds, nuts, medicinal plants and others) was developed with a view to encourage local farmers to use simple, efficient techniques. In one batch, the prototype is capable of drying up to 600 Kg of cupuaçu seeds (which currently have an immense commercial potential in the manufacture of chocolate, cosmetics, oils etc). It is simple to build and all the materials necessary for construction can be obtained locally. One innovation of the dryer is that it is totally independent of conventional energy, in that the energy used to power the circulating fans is obtained by the use of solar panels, the photocells of which convert sunlight directly into electricity. This means that the unit is 100% self sufficient and can be used in the remotest areas, where there is no electricity grid available, with an operational energy cost of zero. In this work, details of the construction and operation of the dryer are discussed, along with the first practical results concerning the drying of some Amazonian natural products.
Keywords : Secadores solares; energias renováveis; secagem de produtos naturais; eletrificação rural; tecnologias alternativas.