Vol. 10(1), pp.

1-8, January 2018

DOI: 10.5897/IJWREE2017.0758
Article Number: A93FBFE55683
ISSN 2141-6613
International Journal of Water Resources and
Copyright © 2018 Environmental Engineering
Author(s) retain the copyright of this article
[Link]

Full Length Research Paper

Evaluating the use of hot spring for agricultural

process in Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines
Anthony J. Taplah Jr1,2*, Jose Mari C. Cabahug2, Luther John R. Manuel2, Erwin P. Quilloy2
and Pepito M. Bato2
1
Central Agricultural Research Institute, Liberia.
2
Institute of Agricultural Engineering College of Engineering and Agro-Industrial Technology, University of the
Philippines Los Baños, College, 4031 Laguna, Republic of the Philippines.
Received 2 November, 2017; Accepted 27 November, 2017

This is an exploratory research aimed at examining the use of hot spring as a renewable energy source
to replace conventional electrical energy for suitable agricultural process in the Los Baňos area,
Laguna, Philippines. Here, a potential site was selected by analyzing data of the temperature, relative
humidity and hot spring temperature. Preliminary results revealed that average air temperature, relative
humidity and hot spring temperature were 26.82°C, 87.48% and 41.49°C respectively. The standard
deviation of the hot spring temperature was 0.021°C and analysis revealed that the ambient condition
had no effect on the temperature of the hot spring. A prototype water hyacinth dryer was designed from
locally available materials using the hot spring as a heat source. The dryer was tested at two settings
(closed lid and partially opened lid). Results revealed the average temperature above and below the
drying mesh and rate of moisture reduction with closed lid and partially opened lid were 33.30°C,
36.54°C and 16.8 g per hour; 32.47 and 30.56°C and 4.33 g per hour respectively. However, the color of
the dried product is unacceptable. The hot spring incubator for balut revealed that average, maximum
and minimum temperature was 39.995, 40.5 and 39.38˚C, respectively at opened setting of 45° waste
valve. However, the hot spring incubator can be developed for incubating duck eggs which will reduce
the operational cost of balut producers in Los Baňos, Laguna, Philippines.

Key words: Hot spring, water hyacinth, drying, incubating, duck eggs.

INTRODUCTION

Los Banos City is located between the northern part of Because of the hot spring resorts, Los Banos is also
Mt. Makiling and north shore of Laguna de Bay. It is in recognized as a tourist destination. Most of the hot
Laguna Province, Luzon Island, Philippines. Los Baňos springs found were located in the barangays (villages) of
City lacks major commercial core. In 2014, there have Lalakay, Tadlac, Bambang and Baybayin. These hot
been 42 hot spring resorts registered in Los Banos. spring resorts are estimated to consume large volume of

*Corresponding author. E-mail: ajtaplah@[Link] Tel: + 231 886 511 043/+231 775 993 188.

Author(s) agree that this article remain permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution
License 4.0 International License
2 Int. J. Water Res. Environ. Eng.

Table 1. Agricultural application of hot spring.

Temperature (°C) Process

20 Fish farming
40 Soil warming, biodegradation and fermentations
50 Mushroom growing
60 Animal husbandry, greenhouses by combining space and hotbed heating
70 Refrigeration (lower temperature limit)
80 Space heating (buildings and greenhouses)
90 Drying of stock fish
100 Drying of organic materials, washing and drying of wool
120 Most multi-effect evaporation, concentration of saline solution
130 Evaporation in sugar refining
140 Drying farm products at high rates and canning of food

groundwater which could result to over-extraction and weeks of favorable weather condition which may extend
decrease in ground water quantity. However, up to four weeks depending on the weather. Water
groundwater is significant for domestic, agricultural, hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) forms dense mats that
commercial and industrial uses in urban and rural interfere with navigation, recreation, irrigation, and power
development. Groundwater is often tapped as water generation (Rajamohan, 2009). For this reason, it has
supply because of its quality, reducing the costs of become one of the major problems in Laguna Lake and
treatment compared to surface water sources and its has been blamed for the flooding in Metro Manila and
reliability, especially during drought or extended dry other nearby provinces (Abon et al., 2012).
periods (Jago-on et al., 2017). The emergence of hot springs at near volcano areas
Hot spring is considered as geothermal energy freely has provided an alternative option for system with low-
flowing to the surface. Geothermal energy can be stored energy input for drying or incubating. Since Los Baňos is
as sensible or latent heat. It is the heat contained in the among the three large producers of duck eggs in Laguna,
solid earth and in its internal fluids (Clauser, 1988). emergent of weaving water hyacinth and recognized for
Geothermal energy is the energy contained as heat in the the availability of hot spring, it is deemed necessary to
Earth's interior (Barbier, 2002); and is well thought-out as explore an alternative means of utilizing the hot spring for
a renewable energy and sometimes requires replacement agricultural processes using the hot spring as heat
of water in the ground. The temperature of geothermal source for drying or incubation. This study focuses on the
energy is usually at a constant level which makes it exploration of alternative use of hot spring for agricultural
suitable for various applications such as industrial, processes instead of using hot spring for resorts which
agricultural and aquaculture process. Table 1 shows are high consumers of water.
some agricultural and aquaculture applications of a hot
spring or geothermal heat (Fanchi, 2005).
Balut is the fertilized duck egg that has been incubated MATERIALS AND METHODS
for a period of 14 to 18 days, then steamed or cooked for
Selection of test site
about 20 to 30 min. It is common in Asian countries such
as Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, The test site located at Barangay Malinta, Los Baños with
Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. The conventional coordinates 14° 10’ 55.91” N and 121° 13’ 36.49” E was selected as
incubator used for incubation is the electrical incubator. In it features a hot spring, a source of renewable energy which is not
the Philippines, duck egg production sites are usually optimized for any productive purpose, aside from being in a shaded
located near rivers and lakes. In the province of Laguna, area or a pool of unused and abandon hot spring.
large scale duck egg production is located in the
municipalities of Los Baños and Victoria due to its Initial data gathering
proximity to the Laguna de Bay (Atienza el al., 2015).
Another emergent industry in Los Baňos is the Fresh stalks of water hyacinth were collected for determination of
manufacturing process of these handicrafts which moisture content; thereafter, the stalks were cut into three sections:
bottom; middle; and top. The sections of each stalk were mixed and
involves drying of water hyacinth before weaving.
bound prior to weighing. The total weight of the samples was
Conventional drying of the Water hyacinth is usually obtained using triple beam balance, while the moisture content (dry
accomplished by spreading the water hyacinth on the basis) of the samples was obtained using oven dry method by
concrete pavement. The process takes at least two drying the samples for 48 h. The final weight of the bone dried
 Taplah et al. 3

Figure 1. Prototype hot spring dryer.

samples determined the amount of moisture that the samples closed with three equal evaporating pans while varying the supply
contain. of hot spring in the incubator using the waste valve to monitor the
Stalks that were dried to an industry-acceptable level were temperature. The temperature was recorded every hour by
obtained. The dried stalks were cut into three sections: bottom; averaging hundred samples per hour, taking the reading of the
middle; and top. The sections of each stalk were mixed and bound atmospheric temperature, the temperature at the bottom and top
prior to weighing. The total weight of the samples was obtained tray in the hot spring incubator. Temperature data were collected
using triple beam balance, while the optimum moisture content (dry over the period of three consecutive days.
basis) of the samples was obtained using oven dry method by Descriptive statistical analysis was use to analyze the means,
drying the samples for 48 h at 105˚C. maximum and minimum of the temperature, rate of drying and
moisture content.

Design and fabrication the prototypes

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Two prototypes were fabricated to evaluate the utilization of hot
spring for agricultural processes (drying and incubating). The heat
loads were calculated using principles of thermodynamics and heat Ambient conditions
transfer. All materials use to fabricate were locally available
materials. The dimension of the dryer was 1.0 m × 0.5 m × 0.1 m Results of the initial data gathering showed that the
while the capacity of the hot spring incubator was 165 duck eggs. average dry bulb temperature was 26.82°C. In addition,
the average wet bulb temperature was found to be
Testing procedure 25.13°C. By plotting the dry and wet bulb temperature on
the psychometric chart the relative humidity (RH) was
The purpose of this fabrication was to explore the utilization of the obtained. The average relative humidity was 87.48% with
hot spring for appropriate agricultural process which includes the a maximum of 92.92% and a minimum of 74.19% RH
two processes: water hyacinth drying and incubation of duck eggs were collected respectively (Figure 3). These values
for balut. The testing of the dryer hot spring dryer (Figure 1)
consisted of two cycles of 48 h run with the dryer fully loaded. The showed a rhythmic variation wherein the maximum
test consisted of a single factor (lid setting) at two levels (lid fully relative humidity occurs during the early hours in the
closed and lid partially opened). The temperature data collected morning and the minimum occurring at noon time.
during the test were at a point above the mesh, below the mesh Figure 3 also indicated that the water temperature had
and the hot spring. The weight of the water hyacinth was also at the a small variation throughout the duration of the
beginning and end of each run.
The no load test was also conducted to explore the use of the
preliminary data gathering. The average temperature of
hot spring incubator for balut production (Figure 2) which is a major water was noted to be at 41.49°C with a very small
industry in Los Baňos City. The significance of the no load test was standard deviation of 0.021°C which also indicated that
to observe the temperature in the hot spring incubator which was the ambient condition does not affect the temperature of
4 Int. J. Water Res. Environ. Eng.

Figure 2. Prototype hot spring incubator.

70.00 100

60.00 90
Temperature ( C)

50.00 80 RH (%)

40.00 70

30.00 60

20.00 50
1/16/12 12:00 1/17/12 0:00 1/17/12 12:00 1/18/12 0:00
Time of Day
Ambient Temperature (wet buld), ˚C Ambient Temperature (dry buld), ˚C
Hotspring Temperature, ˚C Ambient Relative Humidity, %

Figure 3. Ambient condition at the test site.

 Taplah et al. 5

38

36

34
Temperature ( C)

32

30

28

26

24
3/15 14:24 3/16 14:24 3/17 14:24 3/18 14:24 3/19 14:24 3/20 14:24
Day
Ambient Above the mesh Below the mesh Column1
`
Figure 4. Temperature of prototype dryer with closed lid.

water from the hot spring. Furthermore, it was also observed that the diurnal
temperature readings of the ambient condition did not
affect the temperature readings inside the dryer.
Fresh and optimal drying moisture content of water From an initial weight of three kilograms, the weight of
hyacinth the samples inside the dryer was reduced to 985 g. The
percent of moisture removed from the samples was
From an initial weight of 460.46 g, the moisture content of computed to be 67.1% after running the prototype dryer
a fresh water hyacinth sample was found to be at 93.46% for five days. The rate of moisture reduction was
wet basis and 1,429.77% dry basis. The optimum computed to be 16.8 g per hour. On the other hand, the
moisture content of the water hyacinth based on industry samples placed outside the dryer (control) with an initial
acceptable level for handicraft production was 16.58% weight of three kilograms was reduced to 800 g. The
wet basis and 19.87% dry basis from an initial weight of control had a percent moisture reduction of 73.3%, with a
9.23 g. This shows that a lot of water needs to be rate of moisture reduction of 18.3 g per hour.
removed from the fresh stalks for it to be useful. Comparing the percent and rate of moisture reduction
of the control and the samples inside the dryer, it was
noted that the dryer had a lower drying performance
Evaluation of prototype dryer with closed lid which may be attributed to the lower air flow inside the
dryer which is aggravated by the closed lid scenario. The
As shown in Figure 4, a decrease in the temperature dryer was designed to increase air flow rate by
reading at the reference point below the mesh was noted. introducing a temperature gradient; however, the air flow
This may be attributed to opening of the lid during loading was actually impeded. This may also be due to the lack
of samples. An average difference of 3.24°C was of air vents in the upper portion of the dryer.
observed during the test which is more than three times
that of the dryer without samples.
The average temperature at the reference point below Evaluation of prototype dryer with partially opened
the mesh had an average of 33.30°C while the reference lid
point above the mesh had an average of 36.54°C. The
temperature readings above the mesh were notably Figure 5 shows that the temperature profile of the dryer
consistent. Only the readings below the mesh expressed decreased when the lid was partially opened. The
a noticeable drop which may be attributed to the cooling temperatures approached near the ambient temperature,
effect of the fresh samples loaded into the dryer. indicating that the ambient condition had an effect on the
6 Int. J. Water Res. Environ. Eng.

38

36

34
Temperature ( C)

32

30

28

26

24
3/20 12:00 3/21 12:00 3/22 12:00 3/23 12:00 3/24 12:00 3/25 12:00 3/26 12:00
Day
Ambient Above the mesh Below the mesh

Figure 5. Temperature of prototype dryer with partially opened lid.

temperature readings inside the dryer to the point of closed lid setup. The air flow inside the dryer was
having a diurnal trend. The average difference between increased with the opening of the lid, which also
the temperature readings at the two reference points increases the drying rate.
(below and above the mesh) was 1.91°C. This difference
was lower compared with that of closed lid setup which
may be attributed to the increase in air flow rate inside Evaluation of the hot spring incubator
the dryer.
From an initial weight of 985 g, the weight of the The hot spring incubator for duck eggs was tested with
samples inside the dryer was reduced to 210 g after 10 no load and opening the waste valve for the hot spring
days of running the setup. The percent of moisture flow at three different levels. The temperature and
removed from the samples was computed to be 78.7%. relative humidity (RH) were evaluated over the period of
The rate of moisture reduction was computed to be 6.46 24 h per run with the experiment consisting of five runs.
g per hour. On the other hand, the samples placed The results from the experiment revealed that the
outside the dryer (control) with an initial weight of 800 g average, maximum and minimum temperature for the
was reduced to 280 g. The control had a percent three settings (waste valve fully closed, 45° opened
moisture reduction of 65%, with a rate of moisture waste valve and fully opened waste valve were 40.161,
reduction of 4.33 g per hour. 41 and 37.5°C; 39.995, 40.5 and 39.38°C; and 38.919,
For a three kilogram fresh sample, the desired final 40.7 and 36.5°C, respectively as shown in Table 2.
weight should be 235 g based on the previously In passerine birds, embryos develop optimally between
determined values of moisture content for fresh and 36 and 40°C, temperatures above 40.5°C is lethal, and
optimum moisture content. The final weight of samples development is suspended below 24 to 26°C (that is,
from the prototype dryer (210 g) was comparable with physiological zero (Arnold et al., 1987; Webb, 1987;
that of the desired final weight. However, the color of the Stoleson and Beissinger, 1995; Cooper et al., 2005).
product is not yet visually acceptable since some Further study by Taplah et al. (2013) revealed that the
sections of the stalks are still green (Figure 6). hatchability (percentage of duck eggs successfully hatch)
Comparing the percent and rate of moisture reduction and balutability (percentage of duck eggs successfully
of the control and the samples inside the dryer, it was incubated for 14 to 18 days) were 62.5 and 99.31%
noted that the dryer had a better drying performance. respectively.
This may be attributed to the increased air flow inside the
dryer brought by the heat exchanger which introduced
larger temperature gradient to the system. Conclusion
Results of the experiment showed that the partially
opened setup was observed to perform better than the The possibility of integrating a solar collector could also
 Taplah et al. 7

Figure 6. Samples dried using the prototype dryer.

Table 2. Temperature analysis in hot spring incubator.

Average temperature Maximum temperature Minimum temperature

Level of factor Standard deviation
(°C) (°C) (°C)
Fully closed waste valve 40.161 41 37.5 0.415437
45° opened waste valve 39.995 40.5 39.38 0.365737
Fully opened waste valve 38.919 40.7 36.5 1.332035

improve the system by introducing additional heat input. incubator for duck eggs which will reduce the operational
This could cause an increased temperature gradient cost of balut production in Los Baňos, Laguna,
through the utilization of another renewable energy Philippines.
source. Further study which includes effects of ambient
conditions that could enhance fungal activities and the
effect of drying on color is recommended since it is not CONFLICT OF INTERESTS
covered by this study.
Majority of the ducks grown in the Philippines are the The authors have not declared any conflict of interests.
Mallard and about 90% of the eggs produced are used to
process balut (Chang and Villanoz, 2008). Deep body
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