Techno-economic Analysis (TEA) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of a Low Temperature Closed-Cycle Grain Drying System

Thumbnail Image
Date
2019-01-01
Authors
Ma, Mingjun
Rosentrater, Kurt
Major Professor
Advisor
Committee Member
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Authors
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Is Version Of
Versions
Series
Department
Food Science and Human NutritionCenter for Crops Utilization ResearchAgricultural and Biosystems EngineeringEnvironmental ScienceSustainable AgricultureCenter for Bioplastics and BiocompositesCenter for Crops Utilization Research
Abstract

The aim of this study was to understand the environmental and economic impact of the low temperature closed-cycle grain drying system by using techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life cycle assessment (LCA). For TEA, three scales including small (60 bu/batch), medium (600 bu/batch) and large (6000 bu/batch) were chosen for analysis the total annual drying cost and unit drying cost. For LCA, the greenhouse gasses (GHG) emission was the only environmental impact that considered in this study, since the electricity was the only energy source for this drying system. The TEA result shows that the drying costs for one bushel of corn were $0.62, $0.49, $0.46 for the small, medium and large scales of this drying system, respectively, and the drying cost could potentially be lower than grain elevators. The LCA results indicate that greenhouse gas emissions will increase along with the expansion of the drying system since the electricity comes from a local coal-based electricity plant, which potentially makes this drying system’s greenhouse gas emissions higher than other types of drying systems. Farmers can use this method to make decisions when handling their grain.

Comments

This article is published as Ma, Mingjun, and Kurt A. Rosentrater. "Techno-economic Analysis (TEA) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of a Low Temperature Closed-Cycle Grain Drying System." Journal of Agricultural Science 11, no. 6 (2019). DOI: 10.5539/jas.v11n6p52. Posted with permission.

Description
Keywords
Citation
DOI
Copyright
Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 UTC 2019
Collections