Energy Saving from Heat Recovery in Paddy Drying Process

Moisture removal station is an important process to perverse the quality of paddy rice. This process is usually energy intensive and cost a lot of money which significantly reduced the margin profit. This research is regarding the reuse of hot air from rice paddy drying process using the installation of a heat exchanger at the air outlet duct. The installed heat exchanger will increase the inlet air temperature from 303 K to 310.5 K by using the released air. The results were reduction in energy consumption by 1,837,080 MJ per year that is worth 145,800 Baht per year. The net present value is worth 237,260.87 Baht and the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) payback ratio is 17.32 %. The expected payback period is 6 year. Therefore, the application is practical and cost effective for agricultural usage. This research provided an incentive for rice mill entrepreneur to upgrade the drying unit.