Design and Simulation of a Renewable Energy – Solar Powered - Tobacco Curing System

Tobacco, colloquially termed the golden leaf, contributes, significantly, towards sustaining the Zimbabwean economy, wherein its annual contribution to the Gross Domestic Product – through substantial revenue and exports earnings - had averaged more than 10% for a period stretching more than five decades to date. Production, curing and processing flue cured tobacco in Zimbabwe is substantially energy demanding. The principal energy sources utilised in the mercantile tobacco processing, in Zimbabwe, are coal, wood and grid electricity. Wood is the main source of energy used in the tobacco curing process in the country side farms where deforestation acceleration is reported to be a major problem attributable to tobacco processing, in those regions where there is no alternative fuel, to wood, for curing the golden leaf. This study present the results of a proposed design of renewable energy (solar energy) fuelled tobacco curing system in a barn for bulk tobacco curing. The designed system utilises solar thermal collectors to generate the heat energy for physical curing of the tobacco and accumulating thermal storage reservoir during the day. The design of the automated solar-powered tobacco curing system aims to provide a sustainable and cost-effective solution for tobacco farmers by reducing their reliance on non-efficient traditional curing methods that rely on fossil fuels and the use of extensive manual labour. The automated system is designed to optimise energy use and minimise costly wood use and manual intervention by utilising an Arduino Uno controller for automated system elements actuation. The design prototype simulation results are promising.