HOW TO ZERO THE CONSUMPTION OF FUELS, THE SECONDS, AND THE CO2 EMISSIONS IN THE DRYNG PROCESS OF CEREALS

Ing. Roberto Gaietta, CO.M.I.GE. s.r.l.- PAVIA - comige@comige.it - www.comige.it - www.energymais.info

The cereals drying process request a big amount of fossil fuels (oil, methane, LPG) and many studies have been made for improving the efficiency of the dryers to obtain a reduction of the fuel consumption.

CO.M.I.GE. has dedicated its efforts to study a system not so much to the reduction, but to the total elimination of the fuels consumption for the drying process.

To reach this goal, we designed a combustor that burns biomasses instead of oil or gas.

We started by the combustion of cereals, as corn or barley grains, but they have a value, also if sometimes low, and however it is difficult to justify the concept of burning cereals removing them from the main purpose for food.

So after the design, manufacture, test, patent of the cereals grain burner, we moved to the combustion of the SECONDS produced by the drying process.

The cereals drying process produces a quantity of seconds of about 3%. These seconds (broken grains, cobs, leaves, straw, hulls, husks, powders) has always a good Caloriphic Value (about 3.500 kCal/kg), and by an efficient combustion system we can obtain the result to zero the consumption of fossil fuels for the drying process.

In fact:

  • To dry 100 kg of corn it is necessary to burn about 1kg of oil = 10.200 kCal
  • By the drying process of 100 kg of cereals are produced about 3% of seconds, so: 3 kg x 3.500 kCal/kg = 10.500 kCal
  • 3 kg seconds are equivalent to 1 kg oil, so if the oil cost is 1,00 €/kg the seconds value is 0,33 €/kg!!! The seconds value is about the DOUBLE of the cereals value!!!
  • By recovering the heating contained in the seconds, with a very efficient combustion process like applied in the "ENERGYMAIS" combustor, we can obtain extraordinary results, well beyond those expected by EU 20-20-20 program:
  • The zero consumption of fossil fuels used in the drying process
  • The disposal of the seconds because incinerated and reduced to 2% ashes, still usable
  • The total reduction of CO2 emissions into atmosphere by burning biomasses