摘要：The steaming of raw cashew seeds prior to shelling is adopted widely in small-scale cashew nut processing mills with the help of baby boiler. The wide variations in energy intensity of these mills reveal the scope for energy conservation. The baby boiler coupled with cooker commonly used for steaming of raw seeds was evaluated. The variation in steam pressure, temperature and operating time with respect to fuel was observed along with thermal efficiency of a boiler. The energy intensity to produce the steam using different fuel sources determined. The study revealed that the thermal efficiency of boiler using electricity as a fuel was higher (69.31%) as compared to 4.66% (Wood) and 4.47% (Cashew nut shell). It was observed that, the energy consumed per kg of cashew nut steaming using electricity (248.99 kJ/kg) was minimum followed by wood (3829.96 kJ/kg) and cashew nut shell (3835.64 kJ/kg). The variation of energy consumption for cashew nut steaming revealed the scope for energy conservation in biomass combustion system. The improvement in the biomass combustion efficiency for steam generation could results in less fuel consumption and shorter period.
