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Solar Dryer Engineering
Project reports
ABSTRACT
In many countries of the world, the use of solar thermal systems in the agricultural area to conserve
vegetables, fruits, coffee and other crops has shown to be practical, economical and the responsible
approach environmentally. Solar heating systems to dry food and
HATCHBOX PLA other crops can improve the quality of the product, while reducing wasted produce.
3D Printer... Under the module of Advance topics in mechanical engineering projects, we were assigned to design the
$19.99 low cost vegetable dryer. The design of dryer consists of several steps and sequence procedure.
This report consists of back ground about project and the first chapter covers the introduction about drying
Shop now and our project. Second chapter covers the over view, applications of solar dryer and benefits of solar
drying foods. The third chapter consist with literature review and description of dryers. The forth chapter is
written on materials and methods and fifth chapter gives cost estimation for the dryer. sixth chapter covers
CONTENTS conclusions and recommendations and final chapter consist with references.
This project report gives a great guideline about designing of low cost vegetable dryer compare with the
other competitive industrial food processing technique. Samsung 128GB
1. Industrial 100MB/s (U3)...
application of CHAPTER 01
pneumatics 1.0 INTRODUCTION $19.99
Basic Pneumatic 1.1 BACKGRUONDS
Training Course Shop now
"Drying is an excellent way to preserve food and solar food dryers are an appropriate food preservation
Component of a technology for a sustainable world." Actually, solar food drying is one of the oldest agricultural techniques
pneumatic system
related to food preservation, but every year, millions of dollars worth of gross national product is lost
Compressed air through spoilage. Reasons include, ignorance about preservation of produce, inadequate transportation
preparation
systems during the harvest season (mostly climate related), and the low price the rural farmer receives for
Electro Pneumatics
products during the harvest season.
Engine block Drying of crops can change this trend and is useful in most areas of the world, especially those without a
manufacturing
process
high humidity during the harvesting season. If drying of produce were widely implemented, significant
savings to farmers would be achieved. These savings could help strengthen the economic situation of
Fans and Blower
design numerous developing governments as well as change the nutritional condition in these same countries.
Industrial
Drying generally refers to the removal of moisture by evaporation rather than by pressure or other physical
Application of means. The factures that are affecting the drying can be identified as the temperature, humidity, pressure, amFilm Glass
Pneumatics velocity of air and the size and the shape of the wet surface and the air moment with respect to it. There Screen...
Internal are various mechanical drying methods that are available at present. Some of these are operating utilize $6.99
Combustion Engine fans for air circulation, and electric or gas heater for heating of drying air. But they are very expensive
Cycles of Shop now
Operation
drying methods so we have introduced a high efficiency low cost vegetable dryer for our advance topic in
mechanical engineering module.
Manufacturing of
Integrated Circuits This dryer has been designed to construct from material available in the market at low cost. This
Manufacturing of
especially to over come the problems encountered in the sun drying such as over drying occur, low drying
Plastic Bottles rate, risk of spoilage, contaminating with impurities. It uses solar energy for heat generation. Evaluation of
Manufacturing of a prototype of this dryer is important to reduce the drying losses and optimize the utilization. This dryer
brake disc consists of main parts namely the body of the dryer, the cabinet, chimney, and solar unit.
Pneumatic 1.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
Cylinders 1. To study about solar energy.
Pneumatic 2. To obtain knowledge about industrial applications of solar dryers.
complete lecture 3.To Understanding the way of selecting required components.
note
4. To familiarize with the workshop environment. Fire HD 10
Pneumatic tutorial
5. To get Familiarize with the way of project presentation. Tablet with...
problems
6. To get the maximum benefit of the teamwork. $149.99
Programing PIC
microcontrollers
7. To obtain knowledge about report writing.
Shop now
Rotational molding
process 1.3 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
Sheet Metal Work
The project is carried out in order to get out side knowledge and involve in practical applications beyond in
using SolidWorks our day-to-day academic studies under in the module of “Advanced Topics in Mechanical Engineering”.
Solar Dryer Designing of the solar dryer minimizing shortcomings associated with than low efficiency, cost not portable Amazon Books
solar dryer
CHAPTER 02

2.0 SOLAR DRYING

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2.1 OVERVIEW
Drying preserves foods by removing enough moisture from food to prevent decay and spoilage. Water
content of properly dried food varies from 5 to 25 percent depending on the food. Successful drying
depends on:
• Enough heat to draw out moisture, without cooking the food;
• Dry air to absorb the released moisture; and
• Adequate air circulation to carry off the moisture.
When drying foods, the key is to remove moisture as quickly as possible at a temperature that does not
MP3 Player, seriously affect the flavor, texture and color of the food. If the temperature is too low in the beginning,
16GB MP3... microorganisms may grow before the food is adequately dried. If the temperature is too high and the
$39.99 humidity too low, the food may harden on the surface. This makes it more difficult for moisture to escape
and the food does not dry properly. Although drying is a relatively simple method of food preservation, the
Shop now procedure is not exact.
Food drying is a very simple, ancient skill. It requires a safe place to spread the food where dry air in large
quantities can pass over and beside thin pieces. Sun is used to provide the hot dry air. Dry, clean air
including dry cold air from any source will dehydrate food. Draping food over branches or spreading it on
wide shallow baskets on the roof is an old widespread tradition still in use around the world. Many other
arrangements have been used to support a thin spread of food pieces
2.2 APPLICATIONS
For centuries people of various nations have been preserving dates, figs, apricots, grapes, bananas,
pineapples, other fruits, herbs, cassava, yams, potatoes, corn, peas, onions, garlic, carrots, peppers, milk,
coffee, meat, and fish by drying. But drying is also beneficial for hay, copra (kernel of the coconut), tea
and other income producing non-food crops.
Echo Dot (3rd
Gen) - Smart... 2.3 BENEFITS OF SOLAR DRIED FOOD
$39.99 "Dried foods are tasty, nutritious, lightweight, easy-to-prepare, and easy-to-store and use. The energy
input is less than what is needed to freeze or can, and the storage space is minimal compared with that
Shop now needed for canning jars and freezer containers.
"The nutritional value of food is only minimally affected by drying. Vitamin A is retained during drying;
however, because vitamin A is light sensitive, food containing it should be stored in dark places. Yellow
and dark green vegetables, such as peppers, carrots, winter squash, and sweet potatoes, have high
vitamin A content. Vitamin C is destroyed by exposure to heat, although pretreating foods with lemon,
orange, or pineapple juice increases vitamin C content.
"Dried foods are high in fiber and carbohydrates and low in fat, making them healthy food choices. Dried
foods that are not completely dried are susceptible to mold. "Microorganisms are effectively killed when
the internal temperature of food reaches 145 degrees Fahrenheit (F)."

CHAPTER 03
3.0 LITERATURE REVIEW

3.1 THE DRYING OF SOLIDS AND MECHANISM OF DRYING

Drying is the removal by evaporation of volatile substances (e.g. moisture) from a wet material in order to
obtain a dry product.
When a wet solid is subjected to thermal drying, two process occur simultaneously, namely, Fire TV Stick
1) Transfer of heat to raise the temperature of the wet solid and to evaporate the moisture. with Alexa...
2) Transfer of mass in the form of internal moisture to the surface of the solid and its subsequent $39.99
evaporation.
The rate at which drying is accomplished is governed by the rate at which these two processes proceed. Shop now
Heat transfer in the drying operation will occur throw the flow of heat as a result of convection, conduction
and radiation.
Mass transfer in the drying of a wet solid will depend on two mechanisms
1) Evaporate of moisture from the surface Amazon
2) Migration of moisture from the interior of a particle to the surface
In a drying operation, either of these mechanisms may be a limiting factor on the rate of drying, although
they will both proceed simultaneously through out the drying cycle. With some materials, at a certain stage
of the drying operation, the rate of movement of the moisture within the solid to the surface may be
controlling factor. In the approach to a drying problem and to obtain optimum drying conditions, it is
important to bear this in mind and to understand the processes. They are equally important from an
energy efficiency point of view.
3.2 QUALITY CHANGES DURING DRYING
The action of applying heat to material in order to dry does not merely remove the moisture but can affect
the quality of the dried product. These affect are varied from only those phenomena commonly
encountered will be describe herein.
3.2.1 BROWNING
Browning is the discolouration of the material during drying, which can be caused by either the physical
processes or chemical reactions. It is depend upon the combustion effect of time and temperature on
moisture content of the drying material.
3.2.2 CASE HARDENING
This is characterized by the material surface becoming drying and relatively impermeable to further flow of
moisture but with the interior remaining at somewhat higher moisture content. But with drying of most
vegetable and fruit, case hardening is not commonly observed.
3.2.2 REHYDRATION
It is not be through that rehydration is a complete reversal of the dehydration process. Rehydration in
terms of producing rehydrated product similarly in appearance to the original form is not so important as
the dried product is utilized in soup or stews by adding directly to the cook pot.

3.3 INDUSTRIAL DRYERS

3.3.1 CLASSIFICATION OF INDUSTRIAL DRYERS

Wide varieties of dryer designs have evolved over the years with a view to conduct the unit operation of

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drying. Several methods have been suggested as to how best to classify them but before considering the
methods of classifications seriously, it is necessary to define, on broad principles,
a) How the necessary thermal requirements are supplied
b) The mode of operations of dryers
In the first place, heat must be transferred to the wet material to promote the drying operation. Heat can
be applied by one or more of the following methods.
a) Convection, whereby the heating medium, usually air or the products of combustion, is in direct contact
with the wet material.
b) Conduction, where heat is transmitted indirectly by contact of wet material with a heated surface.
c) Radiation, where heat is transmitted directly and solely from a heated body to the wet material by
radiation of heat.
In a drying operation, heat supplied by radiation alone is exceptional, and is usually restricted to so-called
infrared dryer installations, which will be described later.
However, radiation may have quite an important bearing on the performance of a dryer designed for
convection or conduction effects to predominate.
The majority of industrial drying installations rely on the heat transfer and drying effect through convected
heat supplied directly to the wet material. This heat is supplied by a mass of heated air or combustion
gases, forced induced or circulated in contact with the material by means of fans.
The conduction of heat to the material through a retaining enclosure, heated externally from source of
heat, is another commonly used technique. Water vapour released in the drying operation is removed by a
mild exhaustion of humid air.
Therefore industrial dryers fall into two broad categories, namely, convection dryers and conduction
dryers, with additional special types involving almost entirely radiation or some other specialized form of
heat generation or application.
Such dryer will also take the form of intermittent or ‘batch’ type dryers or alternatively, continuous dryers.
Therefore, there are two categories of convection dryers and two categories of conduction dryer. For the
reader to be familiar at this stage with the wide variety of industrial drying plant falling within these
categories, the fallowing is a brief description of each type/category with illustrations of typical application.
3.3.2 CONDUCTION VS. CONVECTION DRYERS
For both batch and continuous dryers, a distinction can be made between conduction and convection
drying. Convection dryers (e.g., flash and spray dryers) often require relatively large solid gas separating
equipment. Thermal efficiency of convection dryers increases with increasing inlet temperature of the
drying gas. There are no such effects with conduction dryers. Further more conduction dryers may be
preferred for dusty products.
The difference between two methods is the relationship between product temperature and heating
medium temperature. However, in conduction dryers, products in contact with hot metal will attain its
temperature.
Wireless
The residence item in conduction dryers can be up to several hours. The residence time in flash and spray Electronics
dryers can be quite short ten seconds or less, both time and temperature are important with regard to
thermal degradation.
3.3.3 RADIATION VS. CONVECTION DRYERS
A radiation oven is much faster and requires less energy than convection drying, since only the surfaces
to be dried are heated. However only the surfaces exposed to radiation can be dried and this limits the
possible shape of the material. Another disadvantage is that different colors, pigments and surface
structures are not heated to the same degree. Convection drying does not have these product restrictions,
but a big thermal mass has to be heated.
Drying usually occurs in two different ways.
a) In radiation drying. The surface is wet during most of the drying time and the resistance to transfer is
mainly in the air film surrounding the material to be dried. The drying is usually performed with acceptable
energy economies and 50%-80% of the energy is used for evaporation.
01. Designing of an H H O
b) In convection drying, the rate of drying is mainly dependent on the resistance of the embedded Generator system in
moisture to transfer in the material. Energy utilization is often poor and it is not unusual that only 10%-20% collaboration with Thermo-
of the energy is used for evaporation. electric Generator for car.
For energy management and efficiency improvement, it is always important to calculate the mass and
energy balances of the dryer in order to check the efficiency.
02. DESIGN OF LPG
COOKING STOVE WITH
3.4 DESCRIPTION OF DRYERS
IMPROVED
Some examples of dryers are presented below.
3.4.1 TRAY DRYER 03. Design of an Automatic
Tray dryers (figure 3. 1) are classified as batch type and can dry almost everything. However, because of Tire Pressure Control
the labors required for loading and unloading, they are expensive to operate. They find most frequent System
application when valuable products like dyes and pharmaceuticals are involved. This type of dryer is
frequently used for drying of wood and various agricultural products. 04. Hydraulic Coconut De-
husker

05 Rubber Roller mill

design

06.Arduino Based Security

System

07. Voice recognized fan

controller

08. Behavior of concrete

produced with cement having
partial replacement of Rice
husk ash

Figure 3.1-Schemitic diagram of a Tray dryer

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3.4.2 BAND (BELT) DRYERS
A band dryer (figure 3. 2) is preferable if the particles to be dried are rather coarse (i.e. between 5 to 10
mm). The particles spread evenly into slowly moving, e.g. 5mm/s, perforated belt. The belt moves into a
drying cabinet and warm gas passes downward through the layer. This type of dryer is chosen when it is
not possible to suspend the particles in the drying gas. The dryer must offer a residence time, say 15min,
because bound moisture must defuse through the pellet.
Many band dryers are used to dry pre-formed particles. The wet particle material is mixed with additives
granulated and dried. One reason for doing this is that direct drying of the wet material may yield a dusty
material, whereas the granules are less dusty. Band dryers are also used in food applications, for
example, in the drying of diced carrots.

Exhaust air
damper

Figure 3.2 –Schematic diagram of a Band dryers

3.4.3 ROTARY DRYER
Rotary dryers consist of a cylindrical shell, horizontal or slightly inclined toward the outlet. They are heated
by
a) Direct contact of air or gas with the solids,
b) By hot gasses passing through an external jacket on the shell, or,
c) By steam condensing in a set of longitudinal tubes mounted on the inner surface of the shell.
The product is fed to the upper orifice and transported during mixing through the cylinder. Regardless of
the method of the heating, the water is removed with the air. The disadvantage of rotary dryers is the big
power losses, which occur if the product is fine grained. The installation of the particle/ gas separation at
the moist air outlet (e.g. cyclones) may reduce the product losses significantly.

3.4.4 ROLLER DRYERS

A roller dryer consist of a cylinder, heated from the inside by stream. A thin film of the product is sprayed
on the outside of the cylinder and it is heated while the cylinder rotates. The rate of drying and the final
water content in the product is affected by the
a) Rotational spread of the roller,
b) Steam pressure,
c) Thickness of the film, and
d) Properties of the product.
Owing to the sort contact time in combination with high drying temperature, the roller dryer is well adapted
to heat sensitive products. Typical applications are fabric drying in textile industries and paper band drying
in paper mills.
3.4.5 FLUIDIZED BED DRYER
In a fluidized –bed dryers, the particles are fluidized by air or gas in a boiling bed unit. The average time a
particle stays in a bed is usually between 30and 60s. If fine particles are present, there may be
considerable solids carried over with the exit gas, and cyclones and bag filters are needed for there
recovery.
3.4.6 SPRAY DRYERS
In a spray dryer (figure3.3), a slurry or a liquid solution is dispers3ed in to a stream of hot gas in the form
of a mist of fine droplets. The chief advantage of spry dryer is the very short drying time, of the order of 2
to 20s, which permits drying of highly heat sensitive materials, and the production of solid or hollow
spherical particles. They can also yields a dry product from a solution, slurry or thin paste, and thus
simplify the overall manufacturing process. When considered solely the dryers, spray dryers are not highly
efficient.
Dry Material

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Figure 3.3 -Schematic diagram of a Spray Dryer

CHAPTER 04

4.0 PROPORCED SOLAR DRYER

Though food preservation is the main objective of the solar dryers, diversified shortcoming can be
observed which are associated with them. The following are the shortcomings.
· Low efficiency.
· High cost.
· Not portable enough.
But, the solar dryer model, which we suggest, has over come the above shortcomings.

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The body of the dryer is a locally constructed by simple design with portable size. Because main parts of

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the body such as chimney, cabinet, solar unit can be separated. UV stabilized polythene is used to cover
the whole the dryer body externally. Frame of the body is made of L- iron.
4.1.2 THE CABINET
This cabinet consists of four walls. One wall is opened into the solar collector. Which bring air into the
cabinet and is moved up through the chimney and out the vent at the top. Air circulation is of utmost
importance, as the moisture must be able to escape the cabinet, and the entire product must be exposed
to circulation, in order for proper drying. There are seven trays in the cabinet so capacity of the dryer is
high. And there is a 36” height chimney top of the cabinet and it is help to the natural convection process
of the dryer. Instead of normal bend, used smoothes bend to increase the flow rate of air inside the
cabinet as shown in Figure No: 4.3

4.1.3 TRAYS
The frames of the Seven trays which is 18”x18”, made by using steel rod(1/4”) and nylon wire mesh fixed
into it.

Figure No: 4.4

4.1.4 SOLAR UNIT

The frame of the solar unit is made using steel rods and it is covered with UV stabilized polythene except
two sides. Both of them, one side which air entering side is covered with a wire mesh in order to avoid
entering numerous particles and insects. Other side is connected to the cabinet using two spring locks.
Here the joint is sealed with rubbers in order to minimize the leakage of the airflow to the environment.
Black colored galvanized plate is located middle in the solar unit. Due to this the solar unit absorbs more
amount of solar energy. There is an inclination of about 2 0 for the purpose of gather solar energy through
out the day.
4.1.5 CHIMNEY
The frame of the chimney is made using steel rods and it is covered using UV stabilized polythene. Which
is connected the top surface of the cabinet using spring locks. Here also joint is sealed with rubber in
order to avoid airflow leakage from the system. Inside the chimney, there exist a unit as shown in the

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figure no 4.5 made using black colored galvanized steel plates. Which is absorbed more solar energy.
Due to this air flow of the top of the chimney is heated and move away. So it provides better ventilation for
the system.

4.2 OPERATIONAL CONDITIONS

During the drying process the humidity ratio changes from 0.0104 to 0.0140 i.e. about 0.0036 kg of vapour
per kg of dry air is absorbed. Now by using solar energy, the air is heated to 45oC with a relative humidity
of 17 per cent and is passed over drying material. During the drying process, this air is cooled
adiabatically along the 24oC wet bulb line, and then the final humidity ratio will be 0.0189. thus the
moisture evaporated with the heated air will be 0.0075 kg of vapour per kg of dry air which is almost
double the water evaporated compared to when air was too heated.
The initial moisture content, the final moisture content and the maximum temperature at which product
should be dried are very important and the values for a variety of products are given in Table.
Table: 3.1 Maximum temperature allowable for drying and the initial and final moisture contents of various
products.
Maximum temperature
Moisture content
Product allowable for
(%)
the drying ( oC )
Initial Final
Rice 24 11 50
Carrots 70 5 75
Green beans 70 5 75
Onions 80 4 55
Potatoes 75 13 75
Chilies 80 5 65
Pineapple 80 10 65
Yams 80 10 65
CHAPTER 05
5.0 COST ESTIMATION FOR DRYER
5.1 MATERIAL COST
Table5.1 Material cost
DESCRIPTION UNITS QTY UNIT COST / Rs COST / Rs

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Spring lock Nos 4 150.00 600.00
Nylon mesh Ft2 16 10.00 160.00
Wire mesh Ft2 1/2 150.00 75.00
Nuts and Bolts Nos 100 2.00 200.00
Flat iron (1/4”) Ft 42 7.00 294.00
L- iron (1/2 " * 1/2" *1/4") Ft 37 25.00 925.00
Galvanize plate(1/8”) Ft2 9 70.00 630.00
UV stabilized polythene Ft2 40 5.00 200.00
Total material cost 3084.00

5.2 LABOUR COST

Table:5.2 Labour cost
DESCRIPTION NO. OF DAYS COST/DAY(Rs) COST / Rs
Welder 1 400.00 400.00
Labour 2 300.00 600.00
Total labour cost 1000.00

5.3 SUMMARY OF COST

Material cost 3084.00
Labour cost 1000.00
Sub total 4084.00
Over head (5%) 154.00
Estimated cost 4238.00
Total cost for the dryer 4238.00
CHAPTER 06

6.0 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Under the module Advance Topics in Mechanical Engineering Projects on process engineering
was to design a low cost vegetable dryer all over the semester five we got lot of effort to reach
our targets according to our time schedule.
Data collection was the difficult test on this project and we had to refer Internet and lot of
standard books about dryers and chemical engineering.

Chapter 07

7.0 REFERENCES
· IPHT lecture notes
Coulson JM
Coulson and Richerdson’s Chemical Engineering: Vol-5
2nd Edition 1979 (1997)
· Oxford: Butterworth
· Energy Audit manual module 5: Furnaces Kilns and Dryers
Jasiewicz, Jan. (comp.)
Siyambalapitiya, Thilak (ed.)
Colombo: Sri Lanka Energy Manager’s Association, 1999.
· Internet

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