A Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 parchment coffee drying program was developed. Two separate programs, based on Thompson and MSU models and using Cenicafé's coffee parameters were successfully tested for the evaluation of the performance of all mechanical coffee dryers existing in Colombia. Based on the good results, a unique simulation program was implemented for drying parchment coffee and used to determine the most adequate ways to operate each one of the existing mechanical dryers and to give the necessary recommendations for their most efficient operation with the purpose of obtaining dry parchment coffee with final water content between 10 and 12% wb, and to predict the drying time, the thermal efficiency and the behavior of the grain during the drying. 753 tests of simulation were made altogether, which corresponds to an average of 151 simulations by each type of dryer.
mathematical simulation; drying; Thompson's model; MSU model
