DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF A SOLAR TUNNEL DRYER FOR DRYING VEGETABLES AND FRUITS
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Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology & Science (Formerly Allahabad Agriculture Institute) Allahabad - 211007 (U. P.) INDIA
Abstract
Drying is one of the simplest and oldest methods of preservation of vegetables. As
concentration of solids is the dried vegetable become high, water activity reduces greatly;
product becomes chemically stable and free from insect, pest attack and mould, yeast
growth during storage. Use of solar energy for drying application is gaining- importance
because of growing realization of pollution free nature of renewable energy. But the
direct use of the solar energy as a drying energy for the drying of vegetables, fruits and
other small plants is not convenient, because it require more time and the ingredient
values of them has affected by direct sun light and the drying process is also not universal.
So overcome of these problems many researchers had designed and fabricate several
solar dryer in the past and these dryer have many advantages and disadvantages. In this, a
modified and high efficient solar tunnel dryer has developed and fabricated and also
evaluated it for five samples (potato, onion, pineapple, methi and mint) at various sites
being developed and fabricated in the farm machinery labs, SHUATS, Allahabad.
Developed solar tunnel dryer have many component. Such as semi cylindrical tunnel,
main frame, frame base, solar collector, dryer, trays, air inlet and outlet, wire mesh sheet
and fan system. After the fabrication of the solar tunnel dryer, the performance evaluation
was carried out by many means and quantities for the five samples. For this purpose, each
sample have taken and dried for the six days and observed the value of temperature rise
(θ), change in humidity of the drying chamber by the inlet and out air, reduction in the
moisture value and also find out the drying rate of the solar tunnel dryer which was found
as maximum 25.5oC and minimum 2.2o C rise temperature. Due to this rise temperature,
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Ph.d thesis
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