Bioclimatic analysis of three buildings for wet processing of coffee in Colombia

Abstract

This study aimed to perform a bioclimatic comparison of wet processing facilities of coffee in Colombia, with three typical types of Colombian coffee region, through computer simulation, specifically evaluating the effect of heat and steam generated by mechanical drying machines, and natural ventilation area on the temperature and relative humidity within these facilities. The effect of the natural ventilation area was observed, indicating that the greater the natural ventilation area, the lower the temperature and relative humidity, i.e. it was observed that typology b behaved better bioclimatically than typology a. The indoor environment of type a (stepped type), had a greater biological risk of proliferation of fungi and bacteria, with an average temperature of 27.5 °C, and average internal relative humidity of 70.6%. In type c, as its mechanical drying machine protrudes from the building, and expel the vapor and heat produced in the drying process to the external environment, showed the best bioclimate conditions for parchment coffee, with an average temperature of 23.5 °C and average internal relative humidity of 65.5% most of the time.