| Abstract |
This article contains the first summary on agricultural dehydration in the world, this report is based on information collected from 1980 to the present, with information presented at the last World Geothermal Congresses in Turkey, Indonesia and Australia in the years 2005, 2010 and 2015, respectively (WGC2005, WGC2010 and WGC2015). The goal of the article is to update the information of the countries involved, because it was found that several of them changed the type of food that dehydrated, and even some have stopped operating due to the high costs of operation and maintenance, on the contrary, countries such as Mexico have reactivated their technological developments to take advantage of low enthalpy geothermal energy. However, since the year 2000 projects that began their operation since 1992 have been abandoned, as was the case of the wood dryer, the cultivation of mushrooms and in 1995 a food dehydrator. However, since 2017, the Food Conservation with Geotermal Energy project was reactivated through the research group Institute of Engineering, Desalination and Alternative Energies (IIDEA), with the first dehydration tests with geothermal energy from the energy remnants of the Geothermal Power Plant, San Pedro Lagunillas, in Nayarit. The energy used was 50 [Ton/h] of brine at a temperature of 90 [°C]. Currently, food production has increased to a production capacity of up to 200 [kg] of dehydrated fruit, which modified the geothermal water intake system with the intention of making the dehydrator system more efficient and more economical. Dehydration of fruits likes pineapple, mango, papaya, apple, pear, melon, watermelon and even highly perishable foods such as shrimp have become a reality. The relevance of dehydration projects for food with geothermal energy, responds to a growing need to ensure the supply of food in different parts of the world, due to its growing waste, which amounts to 1.3 billion tons, the most important products being representative fruits, vegetables, meats and foods derived from flours, such as bread; which represents a total cost of 940 billion dollars, because for every two tons of food consumed, one ton is wasted. On the other hand, it is estimated that between 8 and 10% of global emissions are associated with the loss and waste of food. If it is considered that the use of geothermal energy of medium and low enthalpy for the development of this type of projects has increased worldwide to the point of stopping burning 46 million tons of coal, which translates into stop emitting 148 million tons of CO2 into the atmosphere; then it is said that the dehydration of food with geothermal energy has two principle areas of opportunity, food security and environmental. |