Lab Overview

Preservation of agricultural and marine produce is one of the major problem faced by developing countries. Additionally, as time passes, these issues will become worse due to the countries' expanding populations' increasing dietary needs. The issue can be addressed by drying the items, which will also significantly improve the population's supply and income conditions. Drying is a most important process of removing moisture content from the agricultural and marine products. Since solar energy is abundant and free, adopting solar drying technology can be the best solution for drying agricultural and marine products in which the moisture content of products is reduced, assisting in their long-term preservation. The present invention relates to an energy efficient mixed mode forced convection solar dryer for drying foods, agricultural products like vegetables and, fruits, seafood, edibles or organic foods etc. The experimental setup consists of following components:

• Double pass solar air heater with V- grooved absorber plate
• Drying chamber with perforated trays and covered with polythene sheet
• Blower for air circulation
• 1.2 kVA Solar off gird combo for electricity generation