EXPERIMENTAL PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF LABORATORY AND FIELD SOLAR AND HYBRIDS CROP DRYERS
EXPERIMENTAL PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF LABORATORY AND FIELD SOLAR AND HYBRIDS CROP DRYERS
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Date
1991-07
Authors
BEN, EKE AKACHUKWU
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Abstract
Five small scale and two medium scale crop
dryers with and without rockbed heat store
well as a hybrid crop dryer, suitable for crop
drying in different locations in savanna
of Norther Nigeria were designed, constructed
and lab-tested in IAR/ABU, Zaria
The full capacity of the small scale
dryers are 50kg of maize grain, 20kg of fresh
tomatoes and 15kg of fresh okro The full
capacity of the medium scale dryer
fresh tomatoes and 30kg of fresh okro. The
hybrid dryer is of capacity 600kg of unthreshed
maize. The medium scale wood type, large scale
metal type solar crop dryers were constructed
the field, at Jere in Kaduna State, New-Wuse and
Kwada in Niger State, The full capacity of the
medium wood type dryer is 250kg of unthreshed
fresh maize and 400kg of unthreshed fresh maize
for each of the metal and mud type solar dryers.
These dryers were built with the locally
available and affordable materials.
Laboratory and field tests were conducted
on these dryers from May 1990 to June 1991.
During the test 50 to 99% of savings in
drying time were achieved with the natural
convection solar dryers and the hybrid crop dryer
when compared with the traditional open sun
drying method. Up to 60% crop drying percentage
cash flow gain over the traditional drying method
was realised. Dryers cost analysis and their
payback period showed that the designed dryers
are within the farmers reach and that it is more
economically profitable than the usual traditional
open sun drying method.
The nutrient value of vegetables and. fruits
dried with the direct mode solar dryers having
rockbed heat storage proved to the best when
compared to the traditional drying method and the
indirect mode solar crop dryer method.
Data on the rate of crop drying are fully
presented in Chapter five.
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EXPERIMENTAL PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF LABORATORY AND FIELD SOLAR AND HYBRIDS CROP DRYERS, EXPERIMENTAL PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF LABORATORY AND FIELD SOLAR AND HYBRIDS CROP DRYERS