Design, Construction and Performance Study of a Low Cost Solar Dryer for Food Preservation in Bangladesh

Abstract

Solar drying system utilizes solar energy to heat up air and to dry any food substance, which is beneficial in reducing wastage of agricultural products and helps in preservation. The objective of this research is to design, develop and evaluate performance analysis of solar dryer using thermal energy storage for the drying of vegetables and other foods. The system has been designed by considering various features such as cost, efficiency, durability and performance has been studied by testing the parameters such as temperature, air velocity, collector efficiency and weight loss. In this research it has been found that the use of this type of solar dryer reduces the drying time significantly and essentially provides better product quality compared to conventional drying method. The effect of temperature to moisture contents against time and rate of drying have been studied and presented in this paper.