Life Cycle Cost of Solar Biomass Hybrid Dryer Systems for Cashew Drying of Nuts in India

Abstract

Cashew nut farming in India is mostly carried out in small and marginal holdings. Energy consumption in the small scale cashew nut processing industry is very high and is mainly due to the high energy consumption of the drying process. The drying operation provides a lot of scope for energy saving and substitutions of other renewable energy sources. Renewable energy-based drying systems with loading capacity of 40 kg were proposed for application in small scale cashew nut processing industries. The main objective of this work is to perform economic feasibility of substituting solar, biomass and hybrid dryer in place of conventional steam drying for cashew drying. Four economic indicators were used to assess the feasibility of three renewable based drying technologies. The payback time was 1.58 yr. for solar, 1.32 for biomass and 1.99 for the hybrid drying system, whereas as the cost-benefit estimates were 5.23 for solar, 4.15 for biomass and 3.32 for the hybrid system. It was found that it is of paramount importance to develop solar biomass hybrid dryer for small scale processing industries.

Recent advances in sustainable drying of agricultural produce: A review

“…An economic analysis to redesign a 180 kg capacity steam driven cashew nut dryer was assessed by Dhanushkodi et al [153]. There configurations were proposed for the steam generator boiler by using solar, biomass and hybrid solar-biomass.…”

Recent Advancements in Technical Design and Thermal Performance Enhancement of Solar Greenhouse Dryers

“…The motive of the economic analysis is to maximize the net benefits and minimize the costs and investments (capital and maintenance). Therefore, an energy conversion device can be technically efficient but its implementation becomes financially infeasible [135]. In some cases, various kinds of engineering modifications have been conceptualized for the performance improvement of SGHDs, but it may incur additional costs with the modified system, making them economically infeasible.…”

“…Among various other parameters, the following ones are the major point of concern during an economic analysis for a typical SGHD: primary capital investment, operating and maintenance costs, running costs, interest rate, PP, net present value, cost of the dried product per unit kg, cost of supplementary heating (if required). It has been proposed to assess the economy of the SGHDs according to the following three methods [135,137]: the annualized cost calculation (ACC), lifecycle cost saving calculation (LCSC), and PP calculation. The ACC method determines the cost of the kg/unit of products dried in SGHDs compared with the cost of the products dried in conventional fossil fuel-based electric drying systems, while the LCSC method generally reveals the amount of cost saved by the solar energy-based drying systems compared to the fossil fuel-based conventional drying systems in their whole life cycle.…”

Life Cycle Cost Analysis of Biogas Production from Cerathophyllum demersum, Fucus vesiculosus and Ulva intestinalis in Latvian Conditions

“…Life cycle costs analysis is a cost-effectiveness approach and requires detailed inventory (or estimations) of overall costs as well as benefits [15]. The 4 main phases of any project areacquisition and design phase, construction phase, operation, maintenance and repair phase and residual phase [16].…”