Biomass energy of rice drying

Abstract

An indirect-fired biomass furnace was used to determine the thermal energy available from rice straw, Dallis bermudagrass and sugarcane bagasse. Bomb calorimetry was used to determine the energy content of the agricultural biomass. Temperature, airflow and relative humidity measurements were made to determine the heat utilized for drying. Three batches of rough rice were dried from 21 to 12·7% moisture with average furnace efficiency of 41% for rice straw and bermudagrass bales. Drying efficiency of over 60% was achieved with air temperature rise of at least 5°C.