Analisa Prototype Pengering Gabah Type Batch Dryer Berbahan Bakar Biomassa Terhadap Laju Pengeringan

Abstract

Drying is the process of reducing water content to a certain moisture content so that it can inhibit damage to agricultural products (grains) due to biological and chemical activities. The batch dryer is one of the mechanical grain dryers whose use is quite easy, does not require a large space, and does not depend on the weather. This study aims to analyze the effect of biomass fuel in the form of coconut husk, rice husk, and palm fronds on dryer air temperature, drying rate, and efficiency produced in the prototype batch dryer.  This research method uses coconut husk biomass waste, rice husks, and oil palm fronds as a source of drying air thermal energy. Hot air from the biomass combustion process in the heating furnace is flowed by blower air to reduce grain water from ±25% to 13"“14%. The average drying air temperature produced by coconut husk, rice husk, and palm frond biomass fuel was 58.17 °C, 39.8 °C, and 71.4 °C, respectively. Palm fronds produce the highest drying air temperature. The average drying rate was 59.5%/h, 3%/h, and 6.63%/h, respectively. The highest drying rate is using palm frond biomass. The energy efficiency values of drying are 82.3%, 88.5%, and 81.1%, respectively. While the energy efficiency value of the dryer and the mass of fuel used are 8.7% and 4.1 kg, 6.9% and 5.2 kg, and 6.8% and 4.7 kg, Drying efficiency using rice husk biomass is the highest. While the highest energy efficiency value of the dryer is coconut husk biomas.