Design, development, and testing of rice-husk fueled mixed-flow rice dryer for small-scale rice producer farmers

In underdeveloped nations, rice is frequently harvested at a relatively high moisture content and then dried under the open sun to a storage moisture content. However, direct UV exposure, rain, dust, premature drying, contamination, and open sun drying are all associated with problems like poor grains, discolorations, and cracking. Commercial mechanical dryer utilization is not practical in remote regions due to the absence of electrical service, high startup costs, and ongoing operating expenses. In this work, a pilot mixed-flow rice drier that ran on rice husk energy and solar energy to power the driving fan was designed, produced, and tested. The major parts of the dryer assembly that were conceived and created were the combustion chamber, heat exchanger, and mixed-flow dryer. The results of the trial revealed that the combustion chamber's average temperature was 347.3 °C, the drying air at the heat exchanger output, where the drying chamber was attached, was 63.3 °C, and the combustion chamber and heat exchanger's respective efficiencies were 52.4% and 14.9%. The mixed-flow dryer powered by rice has a significantly lower operating cost than a comparable dryer powered by electricity, petrol, and diesel. The study makes it evident that such a reasonably priced and effective rice dryer might significantly help small-scale rice producers to extend the storage duration and maintain the quality of their product.