Sponsor: Tobacco Education and Research Council (TERC)
Start Date: 1/01/08
End Date: 12/31/08
Abstract
Utilizing funds from a special $107,000 grant from the North Carolina Tobacco Research Commission, a pair of full size, 10 box bulk curing barns were built on the campus of North Carolina State University during the spring of 2007 and successfully tested this summer. The barns we have built are an accumulation and embodiment of as many of the energy, labor, cost and time saving ideas as possible.
These are two full-size ten-box barns capable of curing up to 30,000 pounds of green tobacco each in a regular 6-7 day curing schedule. The barns employ a common wall design that saves approximately 50% of the pad space as well as reducing the cost of the barn. The barns have approximately 3 times the insulation of the best commercially available barns. Each barn is equipped with a 15 hp Aero-Vent direct-drive bladed fan capable of moving 20,000 cfm at 1.75 inches of water pressure. Heat for the barn is provided by a wood-fired Taylor Water Stove rated at ½ million Btu/hr. The instrumentation designed into these barns allows us to collect the following data on a continuing basis:weight of the tobacco, the electrical power consumed, the heat required, wet and dry bulb temperatures, air pressure over and under the tobacco and air flow through the curing tobacco.
The following are some of the Goals and Objectives we intend to address during the 2008 season with our new facility:
A rapid and accurate tobacco ordering system to re-introduce moisture into the cured leaf at the end of the cure is essential the economic use of barns and the production of a quality product.
A reduction of electrical energy by the use a variable speed fan which has been shown to reduce electrical use during the cure by as much as 30%. This technology is available but needs to be adapted to curing barns.
Establishing the correct location for dry and wet bulb sensors has proven problematic for automatic cuuring systems. We intend to investigate the correct placement of these sensors.
As farms expand and the price of equipment falls, wireless communication systems for control and alarm of curing barns are becoming an item desired by many growers. We intend to investigate the systems on the market with an aim of identifying those best suited for different situations.
