Performance Evaluation of a Developed Multipurpose Solar Dryer

Post-harvest losses in developing countries have contributed to the unavailability of foodstuff. Estimation of these losses is generally cited to be of the order of 4% but under very adverse conditions, it is estimated as high as 100%. A significant percentage of these losses are related to improper and/or untimely preservation of foodstuffs. This research work is therefore aimed at developing a multipurpose solar dryer. The solar dryer consists mainly of solar collector and dryer chamber compartment. The materials used in this research work include based frame, transparent fiberglass cover, an absorber (oven baked Aluminium), thermometer, wire gauze, etc. The frame was constructed from a wood bars with a dimension of 900 mm x 900 mm x 600 mm. The dryer chamber is a truncated rectangle and it comprises of a double walls made up of a plain ply board measuring 800 mm x 800 mm x by 500 mm with a transparent fiberglass cover inclined at an angle of 15o. Three different samples namely sample A (sliced plantains), sample B (sliced yams), and sample C (fish) were used for test performance evaluation of the developed multipurpose solar dryer. The results obtained reveal that overall heat energy transfer coefficient of 4.91w/m0C, dryer chamber rate of 0.654 kg/hr., and dryer chamber area of 0.659 m2 were required by the solar dryer. Besides, the solar dryer dried the three samples used in this research work within duration of 8 hours (i.e., 9am-5pm). The maximum solar chamber dryer temperature and ambient temperature were recorded as 55.00 oC and 35.46 oC respectively. Besides, the minimum lower temperature values recorded were obtained as 40.45 oC for solar chamber dryer temperature and 29.02 oC for ambient temperature. The improved results obtained with the multipurpose solar dryer were due to improved temperature obtained with the solar dryer chamber.