DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF SOLAR DRYER FOR SELECTED AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE
Abstract
ABSTRACT
A solar dryer was designed, fabricated and tested at the department of mechanical engineering, school of industrial engineering for drying selected agricultural produce.
A DC fan of 0.5-1 AMPS was installed and used for exhausting moisture with the help of solar panel of 18 watts and a battery of 7ah was also incorporated in the design. Fresh red pepper (Red chili) was selected for the performance evaluation because it is widely cultivated, moisture rich, and requires gentle drying to preserve colour and flavour. Testing was carried out in an open, unobstructed area to maximize exposure of sunlight. The location experience average solar radiation of 4–7 kWh/m² per day during test period. In the solar dryer 8.0kg dried chili was obtained from 10 kg per batch of red chili.
In the study, the area of collector designed for 8.5m2 dryer was 4m2. The average solar radiation, average ambient temperature, average relative humidity and average sunshine duration was 7.0w/m2, 32oC, 65% and 7hrs respectively during experiment. The temperature in the dryer was significantly (p
Full-Text Access Notice
In accordance with the NERD Policy on promoting peer-reviewed publication, public access to the full text of a project, thesis or dissertation is restricted for three years, allowing the author and supervisors sufficient time to pursue peer-reviewed publication.
During this period, researchers with legitimate academic or research purposes may request authorisation directly from the author to enable NERD to release the indexed full texts of the work using the form below.