Analysis of Tobacco Drying with Different Energy Sources

Abstract

Excessive use of fossil fuels has an extremely negative impact on the environment and climate, as it results in the emission of harmful gases into the atmosphere. The goal of this research was to compare the use of solar energy and biomass as an energy source for drying tobacco in relation to natural gas. The research covered the drying of Virginia tobacco leaves with batch dryers, namely: thermogen models that use wood chips ("Model 1"), firewood ("Model 2") and pellets ("Model 3"), one model with natural gas thermogen combined with solar cells ("Model 4") and one thermogen with classic tobacco drying with ground gas ("Model 5"). In the first and third drying phase "Model 1" provides enough energy for drying the tobacco leaf but in the second phase it could not provide the required temperature, so it is necessary to increase the capacity of the combustion chamber. "Model 2" fully meets the requirements of tobacco leaf drying technology. Using pellets according to "Model 3" there were no difficulties and the tobacco was dried with good quality. Energy saving by using solar collectors according to "Model 4" is about 20%. Natural gas drying showed as the most expensive one.