Solar-powered Efficient Dryer for Crop Preservation, Conditioning, and Storage

Solar-powered Efficient Dryer for Crop PreservationConditioning and StorageDr. Michael SchmidMicro Nano Technologiesnd 747 SW 2 AvenueIMB 34 Suite 214Gainesville FL 32601Phone: (407) 719-5435Email: mschmid@mntusa.comDr. Saeed MoghaddamMechanical and Aerospace Engineering DepartmentUniversity of FloridaGainesville FL 32611Phone: (352)392-0889Email: saeedmog@ufl.eduDrying is an energy-intensive process utilized in numerous agricultural and food processes. Thusthere are great incentives for reducing energy use in drying to improve economics of the dryingprocess benefiting farmers and reducing food cost to consumers. However challengingthermodynamics barriers limit the opportunities to reduce energy consumption in this domain. Theuse of re-circulatory direct-expansion (DX) heat pump (HP) drying systems have beendemonstrated to be a state-of-the-art energy efficient drying technology. However DX-HPtechnology is limited in terms of the maximum air temperature it can deliver and significant dropin efficiency making it unsuitable for drying crops. Here we propose a new generation absorptiontechnology enabled by innovations in ionic liquid (IL) desiccants and compact heat and massexchangers. The system is primarily operated by a new generation low-profile and -cost solarthermal panel with collection efficiency 3-4 times higher than photovoltaic (PV) cells enablinginstallation within a mobile crop drying system conforming to a highly integrated system withoutland use. The technology addresses the cost size efficiency and operational limitations of currentdryers providing access to low-cost sustainable drying in small farm communities. Under thisproject a proof-of-concept heat-driven IL-based membrane-based absorption heat pump systemwill be developed and tested at typical agriculture/crop drying temperatures to establish theviability and performance of this technology. This low-cost technology facilitates NIFA's missionconcerning improvement in sustainability and profitability of small and mid-size farms andranches.