Drying of Agricultural Products with Geothermal Energy

Abstract

The basic idea of drying agricultural product is to provide: longtime storage without degradation, early harvesting which reduces field losses, higher prices of agricultural products and better quality. The industrial drying processes are performed with consumption of heat and electricity for driving the auxiliary equipment. Basic energy requirements are connected to heating the product to suitable temperature in order to initiate the process of evaporation (of the moisture) and energy necessary to evaporate certain percentage of the moisture. Mostly, the process goes by direct contact of the prepared product (grain, vegetables, fruits, etc.) submitted to drying with warm air at relatively low temperature (35 to 80