Thermal performance of a solar hybrid dryer for Conilon coffee (Coffea canephora)

The study was aimed at design and development of an energy efficient hybrid solar dryer suitable for drying of organic Conilon coffee placed in the town of Seropédica, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The energy efficiency and the drying efficiency were the evaluation criteria for thermal performance of the hybrid solar dryer during the coffee drying. Temperature and relative humidity (RH) of the drying and ambient air, solar radiation intensity and coffee weight loss were monitored during the drying process. The process occurred over six consecutive days; the drying time was from 07:00 to 17:00 h, totalling 120 h of operation with an intermittent period (at night) of 14 h. During intermittence, the exhaust system kept off and solar collector and drying chamber sealed. The effective drying period took 60 h, with temperature and RH, respectively, of 38.3 °C and 60.6% outlet of the solar collector, 32.7 °C and 72.2% outlet drying chamber and 27.8 °C and 74.5% ambient air. The maximum temperature in the solar collector and drying chamber reached 54 and 47.7 °C, respectively, with an ambient air temperature of 32 °C at 12:00 h. These values showing temperature increase 22.2 °C in solar collector and 10 ºC drying chamber. The mean variation for the reduction in RH between the drying air inside the solar collector and the ambient air was 28%, while in the chamber obtained in a range of 10.5% at 13:00 h. The solar collector and dryer chamber efficiency were 29.1 and 40.8%, respectively, while the overall dryer efficiency 39.7%

Qualidade das sementes de girassol de diferentes genótipos

O girassol é uma das mais importantes culturas produtoras de óleo comestível, portanto, o estudo foi desenvolvido com o objetivo de avaliar aspectos da qualidade física, fisiológica e sanitária das sementes de diferentes genótipos de girassol produzidas no Norte de Minas Gerais. As sementes foram avaliadas por meio das seguintes determinações e testes: teor de água, massa de 1000 sementes, biometria das sementes (comprimento, largura e espessura), teste de germinação, primeira contagem, índice de velocidade de germinação, teste de tetrazólio e sanidade das sementes, em delineamento inteiramente ao acaso. Nos diferentes genótipos, foi observada desuniformidade no tamanho e massa de sementes e, para os genótipos SYN 034A, SY 3840, SY 4065, HLA 06270, M 734 e SYN 039A constatou-se elevado vigor e viabilidade, enquanto que, o SYN 034A e SY 3840 tinham baixa qualidade por meio do teste de tetrazólio. Os fungos detectados nas sementes dos diferentes genótipos tiveram baixa influência sobre o vigor e germinação dela