On the Possibility of Using Renewable Energy Sources for Operation of Microwave Convective Drying of Grain

Federal State Budgetary Scientific Institution “Federal Scientific Agroengineering Center VIM”, Moscow, Russia

^* Corresponding author: dimm13@inbox.ru

Abstract

Currently, the power supply of agricultural enterprises should be designed considering not only the required installed capacity but also the peculiarities of production. Thus, the presence of livestock operations implies waste, the disposal of which entails costs. At the same time, feed preparation, including drying of fodder grain is associated with significant energy costs. Thus, the availability of biogas equipment will allow the synthesis of utilization technologies in the form of processing into biogas and the energy supply of equipment to carry out drying. At the same time, attention should be paid to technologies with reduced energy consumption for technological processes. For example, microwave convective or infrared convective drying of grain. These technologies have a reduced energy consumption for moisture removal, but the installed capacity of the equipment is higher than in traditional technologies. This work is aimed at investigating the ratio of heat and electric energy expended in the process of microwave convective drying and the choice of possible renewable energy sources for the implementation of technological operations. Considering that drying of grain is mainly carried out during the harvesting period before storing, it allows considering energy equipment as a source of thermal energy in the cold period, when drying is not required.