Manufacturing Technology Today

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access
Open Access Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Restricted Access Subscription Access

Experimental Investigation on Performance of Domestic Type Solar Crop Dryer Under Free Convection


Affiliations
1 Dept. of Engg. and Technology, Apeejay Institute of Management and Engineering Technical Campus, Jalandhar, Punjab, India
2 Mechanical Engineering Department, Beant College of Engineering and Technology, Gurdaspur, Punjab, India
     

   Subscribe/Renew Journal


Drying of food items/crops under the sun (open conditions) is presumably one of the conscious and purposeful technological activity undertaken since long. Drying of products using solar crop dryer is very much advantageous over drying done in open conditions and mechanized form of drying. Many investigations on drying of crops/food products by using the solar crop dryers with different modifications have been reported in the literature. In the same direction, it has been thought to modify the dryer in which the wiremesh type of tray is used as an alternative to perforated trays and reflector plate was also attached for having more solar radiation on to the solar crop dryer. The present solar crop dryer is fabricated in such a way that it can be used under free and forced convection conditions. However, the present experimental investigation on performance of domestic type solar crop dryer has been carried out only under free convection for drying ginger and green chilli crops. Maximum average temperature of 54.8oC was recorded inside the solar crop dryer. Moisture removal from ginger and green chilli with drying in solar crop dryer was found much higher than that found with drying of the crops in open conditions. Maximum moisture removal of 23.7% was found in the case of ginger when reflector was used and shading plate was not used. Maximum thermal efficiency of solar crop dryer has been found as 14.4% for drying of ginger crop.

Keywords

Solar Energy, Crop Dryer, Free Convection, Thermal Efficiency.
User
Subscription Login to verify subscription
Notifications
Font Size

  • Ezekwe, C.I. (1981). Crop drying with solar air heaters in tropical Nigeria. ISES, Solar World Forum, Brighton, UK. 997-1005

  • Sodha, M.S., Dang, A., Bansal, P.K., & Sharma, S.B. (1985). An analytical and experimental study of open sun drying and a cabinet type drier. Energy Conversion Management.25(3), 263–271.

  • Khattab, N.M.(1996). Development of an efficient family size solar dryer. Energy sources. 18(1), 85-93.

  • Hallak, H., Hillal, J., Hilal, F. &, Rahhal, R.(1996). The staircase solar dryer: design and characteristics. Renewable Energy.7(2), 177-183.

  • Ekechukwu, O.V., & Norton, B. (1999). Review of solar-energy drying systems II: an overview of solar drying technology. Energy Conversion and Management. 40(6)615-55.

  • Ahmad, M., Hauser, J.C., Heijnen, C. &, Chaudry, M.A. (2002). Solar drying of fruits and vegetables. Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Research.

  • Desai, S.R., Kumar, V., & Guruswamy, T. (2002).Performance evaluation of mini multi-rack solar dryer for grapes drying. Agricultural Engineering Today. 26(3-4), 30-37.

  • Singh, P.P., Singh, S., & Dhaliwal, S.S. (2006).Multi-shelf domestic solar dryer. Energy Conversion and Management. ;47(1314),1799-1815.

  • Akoy, E.A., Ismail, M.A., Ahmed, E.F., & Luecke, W. (2006). Design and construction of a solar dryer for mango slices. Proceedings of International Research on Food Security, Natural Resource Management and Rural Development-Tropentag. University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.

  • Gbaha, P., Andoh, H.Y., Saraka, J.K., Koua, B.K., & Toure, S. (2007). Experimental investigation of a solar dryer with natural convective heat flow. Renewable Energy. 2007 32(11), 1817-1829.

  • Afriyie, J.K., Nazha, M.A., Rajakaruna, H., Forson, F.K. (2009). Experimental investigations of a chimney-dependent solar crop dryer.Renewable Energy. 34(1),217-222.

  • Saleh, A., & Badran, I. (2009). Modeling and experimental studies on a domestic solar dryer. Renewable Energy. 34(10):2239-2245.

  • Rajeshwari, N., & Ramalingam, A. (2012). Low cost material used to construct effective box type solar dryer. Archives of Applied Science Research. 4(3), 1476-1482.

  • Hii, C.L., Jangam, S.V., Ong, S.P., & Mujumdar AS. Solar drying: Fundamentals, applications and innovations. TPR Group Publication, Singapore.

  • Gutti, B., Kiman, S., & Murtala, A.M. (2012).Solar Dryer-An Effective Tool for Agricultural Products Preservation. Journal of Applied Technology in Environmental Sanitation. 2(1).

  • Eke, B.A. (2013) Development of small scale direct mode natural convection solar dryer for tomato, okra and carrot.International Journal of Engineering and Technology. 3(2).

  • Ozuomba, J.O., Okonkwo, N.A., Uzor, B.C., & Uba, J.I. (2013). Fabrication and characterization of a direct absorption solar dryer. Advances in Applied Science Research.4(3),186-194.

  • Yelttiwar, S.G., Wajire, P.N., & Kalbande, S.R.(2014). Investigation on domestic solar cabinet dryer assisted with reflectors. International Journal & Magazine of Engineering, Technology, Management and Research.

  • Chaudhari, R.H., & Bhavsar, S. (2015). Hybrid Solar Box Type Dryer cum Cooker of Chilly Drying For Domestic Usage. International Journal of Science and Research. 6(6), 1614-1618.

  • Gupta, P.M., Das, A.S., Barai, R.C., Pusadkar, S.C., & Pawar, V.G. (2017). Design and Construction of Solar Dryer for Drying Agricultural Products. International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology.04(03), 1946-1951.


Abstract Views: 226

PDF Views: 0




  • Experimental Investigation on Performance of Domestic Type Solar Crop Dryer Under Free Convection

Abstract Views: 226  |  PDF Views: 0

Authors

Pahulpreet Singh
Dept. of Engg. and Technology, Apeejay Institute of Management and Engineering Technical Campus, Jalandhar, Punjab, India
Ranjit Singh
Mechanical Engineering Department, Beant College of Engineering and Technology, Gurdaspur, Punjab, India

Abstract


Drying of food items/crops under the sun (open conditions) is presumably one of the conscious and purposeful technological activity undertaken since long. Drying of products using solar crop dryer is very much advantageous over drying done in open conditions and mechanized form of drying. Many investigations on drying of crops/food products by using the solar crop dryers with different modifications have been reported in the literature. In the same direction, it has been thought to modify the dryer in which the wiremesh type of tray is used as an alternative to perforated trays and reflector plate was also attached for having more solar radiation on to the solar crop dryer. The present solar crop dryer is fabricated in such a way that it can be used under free and forced convection conditions. However, the present experimental investigation on performance of domestic type solar crop dryer has been carried out only under free convection for drying ginger and green chilli crops. Maximum average temperature of 54.8oC was recorded inside the solar crop dryer. Moisture removal from ginger and green chilli with drying in solar crop dryer was found much higher than that found with drying of the crops in open conditions. Maximum moisture removal of 23.7% was found in the case of ginger when reflector was used and shading plate was not used. Maximum thermal efficiency of solar crop dryer has been found as 14.4% for drying of ginger crop.

Keywords


Solar Energy, Crop Dryer, Free Convection, Thermal Efficiency.

References