Design of a Prototype Solar Thermal Tobacco Curing Barn

Abstract

A feasibility study survey held in July 2020 had tobacco farmers agreeing that there was strong need to move away from using firewood for tobacco curing. It became necessary to develop alternative renewable energy systems. Prototyping takes precedence before introducing the renewable energy tobacco curing system for use by farmers. The initiative is to design a prototype tobacco curing barn for use with solar thermal collector tobacco curing energy systems tests. The design accommodates dimensions of maximum cross-section of a tobacco leaf at 65 centimetres long and 40 centimetres wide. Prototype roof rail sustains tobacco mass of 100 kilogrammes. Barn mobility is enabled by mounting 4 roller wheels sustaining a gross weight of 500 kilogrammes. A barn handle is at one narrow side. The paper explains a detailed design process and sketches of the prototype tobacco curing barn as well as presents a lifecycle costing of the project’s investment in Zimbabwe.