FORAGE PRODUCTION ENGINEERING BY SOLAR DRYING OF VEGETABLE CROP RESIDUES

Abstract

Due to animal feed shortage in Egypt, scientists are searching for an alternative feed to meet with this nutritional gap. Agricultural lands are not sufficient for human and animal needs both even in summer or winter seasons. Maximizing the utilization from agricultural by-products is the trend towards problem solving for searching an agricultural residue available in winter season besides Alfalfa to decrease the cultivated area for animal feeding purposes. Peas was at the top crops available in winter season and cultivated much in most places in Delta and besides zones and Peas residues have high content of protein. Peas residues (vine) used for animal feed and cause usually some digestion problems for animal stomach. Drying process contribution can resolve this digestion problem. A semi-cylindrical greenhouse type was used as a solar drier oriented East-West direction and located at Rice Mechanization Center, Meet Eldeebah Village, Kafr Elsheikh Governorate for drying the vegetable crop residues. A solar collector greenhouse type was utilized to provide heated air to the solar drier to enhance its thermal efficiency. The combination of solar drier and solar collector was installed at the same weather conditions during drying experiment (March 2014). The experiments of solar drying of peas residues were conducted under three different levels of drying air velocities (0.5, 1.0 and 1.5m/s), two chopping lengths of peas residues 3 and 6cm and two drying bed depths of 1 and 5cm. The variation in peas residues moisture content was monitored versus drying time. The initial moisture content was of 72%wb.