Experimental Study of Solar Dryer used for Drying Chilly and Ginger.

Open air solar drying is one of the most popular methods for drying food products holds many drawbacks resulting in contamination of food products. This project is to transform the traditional method to an innovative, clean and cost-effective method to dry chilly and ginger, two being the top export commodity of India. Here a solar dryer is made which comprised of flat plate air heater, a chamber for drying and an air blower which induces forced convection. This system enhances the drying process even at low-intensity sunlight by assimilating heat storage materials. The equipment was tested in the meteorologicalcondition of the faculty of engineering, Christ (Deemed to be University) (latitude of 12.86°N, a longitude of 77.43°E) Bangalore, Karnataka. The process has reduced the moisture content from around 72.69% to 28.24% in the case of chilly and from 68.88% to 14.31% in the case of ginger within a period of 10 hours for a mass flow rate of 0.051kg/s. Average drier efficiency was estimated to be about 22%. The specific moisture extraction rate was estimated to be about 0.76 kg/kWh. This process resulted in a better moisture extraction rate, eliminating the defects caused by open sun drying. This process resulted in a better moisture extraction rate, eliminating the defects caused by open sun drying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]