# Estimation of the Energy Consumption of the Rice and Corn Drying Process in the Equatorial Zone
## 2 Methods
### Technological Evaluation of the Dryers
It should be noted that the equipment used for monitoring temperatures, wind speed, grain moisture meter, and water activity meter were previously calibrated. Table 1 presents dryers' technical evaluation in the rice processing plants. It should be noted that there were several dryers in the second-generation plants; therefore, all the existing dryers in plants were assessed. Figure 5: Parts of a grain dryer; drying chamber, burner, and exhaust fan. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline  & \multicolumn{5}{c}{**Dryer Evaluation**} \\ \hline
**Parameter** & \begin{tabular}{c} **First** \\ **Category** \\ **(4 Dryers)** \\ \end{tabular} & **Dryers** & \
\begin{tabular}{c} **Second Category** \\ **(31 Dryers)** \\ \end{tabular} & **Dryers** &
\begin{tabular}{c} **Third Category** \\ **(15 Dryers)** \\ \end{tabular} & **Dryers** \\ \hline
**Dryer type** & Elevator & 4 & \
\begin{tabular}{c} Retangular chamber \\ Rotary dry for aged rice \\ Electric dry for aged rice \\ \end{tabular} & 24 &
\begin{tabular}{c} Rectangular \\ chamber \\ \end{tabular} & 15 \\ \hline
**Dryer capacity** & 13,636 kg & 1 & \begin{tabular}{c} Chamber (LPG use): \\ 2730-5452 kg \\ \end{tabular} & 22 & 724–908 kg & 10 \\ \begin{tabular}{c} **Dryer capacity** \\ \end{tabular} & 22,727 kg & 1 & \begin{tabular}{c} Chamber (biomass use): \\ 5454–10 909 kg \\ \end{tabular} & 2 & 908–1818 kg & 5 \\ \begin{tabular}{c} **40,909 kg** \\ \end{tabular} & 1 & \begin{tabular}{c} Rotary: \\ 450 kg \\ Electric \\ 1000 kg \\ \end{tabular} & 6 & \begin{tabular}{c} Rotary: \\ 450 kg \\ \end{tabular} & 6 & \begin{tabular}{c} Rotary: \\ 35–55 \({}^{\circ}\)C \\ \end{tabular} \\ \
\begin{tabular}{c} **54,545 kg** \\ \end{tabular} & 1 &
\begin{tabular}{c} Electric: \\ 1000 kg \\ \end{tabular} & 1 & & \\ \hline
**Drying time** & 12 h & 1 & 12–16 h & 24 & 12–15 h & 10 \\ \begin{tabular}{c} **Drying time** \\ \end{tabular} & 12 a 14 h & 1 & 8 h (aged rice) & 7 & 14–24 h & 5 \\ \hline \hline \multirow{4}{*}{\
\begin{tabular}{c} **Chamber temperature** \\ \end{tabular} } & \multirow{4}{*}{45–55 \({}^{\circ}\)C} & \multicolumn{3}{c}{Chamber: 45–70 \({}^{\circ}\)C} & \multicolumn{3}{c}{35–55 \({}^{\circ}\)C} \\  & & \multicolumn{3}{c}{Rotary: 100 \({}^{\circ}\)C} & \multicolumn{3}{c}{} \\ \cline{4-5}  & & \multicolumn{3}{c}{Electric} & \multicolumn{3}{c}{100 \({}^{\circ}\)C} \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{
\begin{tabular}{c} **Flame temperature** \\ **temperature** \\ \end{tabular} } & \multirow{2}{*}{Biomass use} & LPG industrial: 280–600 \({}^{\circ}\)C & Industrial LPG & \multicolumn{3}{c}{250–350 \({}^{\circ}\)C} \\  & & \multicolumn{3}{c}{Biomass use:} & Domestic LPG & \multicolumn{3}{c}{200–270 \({}^{\circ}\)C} \\  & & \multicolumn{3}{c}{250–380 \({}^{\circ}\)C} & \multicolumn{3}{c}{200–270 \({}^{\circ}\)C} \\ \hline
**Inlet temperature at the extractor** & & 130–180 \({}^{\circ}\)C & \multicolumn{3}{c}{80–170 \({}^{\circ}\)C} \\ \hline
**Chamber dimension** & 24 m\({}^{2}\) & 1 & 24–32 m\({}^{2}\) & 22 & 9–12 m\({}^{2}\) & 10 \\  & 84 m\({}^{2}\) & 1 & 48 m\({}^{2}\) & 2 & 18–24 m\({}^{2}\) & 5 \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{
\begin{tabular}{c} **Energy source** \\ \end{tabular} } & \multirow{2}{*}{Biomass} & \multicolumn{3}{c}{Industrial LPG} & 28 & Industrial LPG & \multicolumn{3}{c}{1} \\  & & \multicolumn{3}{c}{Biomass} & 2 & Domestic LPG & \multicolumn{3}{c}{14} \\ \cline{1-1}  & & \multicolumn{3}{c}{Electricity} & 31 & Electricity & \multicolumn{3}{c}{12} \\ \cline{1-1}  & & \multicolumn{3}{c}{Diesel (generator)} & 1 & \multicolumn{3}{c}{Diesel (generator)} & 3 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: Assessment of the rice dryers. Figure 6: This figure shows (**a**) measurement of the drying chamber using a temperature recorder with type K thermocouples; (**b**) measurement of the inlet hot air temperature by the extractor, a ceramic-coated lance thermocouple; (**c**) measurement of the initial and final humidity of the product, spear type grain moisture meter. Table 2 shows the results of the technical evaluation of corn dryers.