Development of Solar Poly House Tunnel Dryer (STD) for Medicinal Plants
There was a scenario present day that drying of fresh
fruits and vegetables by indirect solar drying by using mechanical
device; hence, an effort was made to develop a small scale solar
tunnel dryer (STD). Drying of spinach is carried out to analyze the
performance of the dryer and to study its drying characteristics. To
evaluate the performance of dryer the independent variables were
selected as air flow rate, loading density and shade net while collector
efficiency, drying efficiency, overall efficiency and specific energy
consumption were selected as responses during performing the
experiments. The spinach was dried from initial moisture content
88.21-94.04% (w.b.) to final moisture content 3.50-5.13% (w.b.). The
drying time considerably reduced as compared to open sun drying of
spinach as sun drying took 15 h for drying. The average collector
efficiency, drying efficiency and overall efficiency were in the range
28.73-61.15%, 11.63% to 22.13%, and 7.61-14.66%, respectively.
[1] Anonymous, 2001. Solar energy potential in India. Ministry of New and
Renewable energy report, www.mnre.gov.in
[2] Hossain M. A., Woods J. L. and Bala, B. K. 2005a. Simulation of solar
drier of chilli in solar tunnel drier. Int.J. Sustainable Energy 24(3): 143–
153.
[3] Leon, M. A., Kumar, S. and Bhattacharya, S. C. 2002. A comprehensive
procedure for performance evaluation of solar food dryers. Renewable &
Sustainable Energy Reviews 6:367–393.
[4] Singh, S., Singh, P.P. and Dhaliwal, S. S. 2004. Multi-shelf portable
solar dryer. Renewable Energy 29:753–65.
[5] Luh, B. R. and Woodroof, J. G. 1975. Commercial Vegetable
Processing, the AVI Pub. Com. Inc, West Port, pp 650.
[6] Garg, H. P and Kumar, R. 2000. Studies on semi-cylindrical solar tunnel
dryers: thermal performance of collector. Apply Thermal Engng. 20:
115–131.
[7] Negi, P. S. and Roy, S. K. 2001. Effect of drying conditions on quality
of green leaves during long term storage. Food Res. Int. 34: 283-287.
[8] Sagar, V. R. 2001. Preparation of onion powder by means of osmotic
dehydration and its packaging and storage. J. Food Sci. Technol. 38(5):
525-528.
[9] Myers, R. H. 1971. Response Surface Methodology, Allyn and Bacon,
Bosten.
[10] Ranganna, S. 1986. Hand book of analysis and quality control for fruit
and vegetable products. 2nd edn. Tata McGraw hill publication Co. Ltd.,
New Delhi. pp. 112.
[11] Bala, B. K. and Janjai, S. 2005. Solar drying of fish (Bombay Duck)
using solar tunnel dryer. Int. Energy J. 28(2): 91–102.
[12] Soysal, Y. and Oztekin, S. 2001. Technical and economic performance
of a tray dryer for medicinal and aromatic plants. J. Agril. Engng. 79 (1):
73-79.
[1] Anonymous, 2001. Solar energy potential in India. Ministry of New and
Renewable energy report, www.mnre.gov.in
[2] Hossain M. A., Woods J. L. and Bala, B. K. 2005a. Simulation of solar
drier of chilli in solar tunnel drier. Int.J. Sustainable Energy 24(3): 143–
153.
[3] Leon, M. A., Kumar, S. and Bhattacharya, S. C. 2002. A comprehensive
procedure for performance evaluation of solar food dryers. Renewable &
Sustainable Energy Reviews 6:367–393.
[4] Singh, S., Singh, P.P. and Dhaliwal, S. S. 2004. Multi-shelf portable
solar dryer. Renewable Energy 29:753–65.
[5] Luh, B. R. and Woodroof, J. G. 1975. Commercial Vegetable
Processing, the AVI Pub. Com. Inc, West Port, pp 650.
[6] Garg, H. P and Kumar, R. 2000. Studies on semi-cylindrical solar tunnel
dryers: thermal performance of collector. Apply Thermal Engng. 20:
115–131.
[7] Negi, P. S. and Roy, S. K. 2001. Effect of drying conditions on quality
of green leaves during long term storage. Food Res. Int. 34: 283-287.
[8] Sagar, V. R. 2001. Preparation of onion powder by means of osmotic
dehydration and its packaging and storage. J. Food Sci. Technol. 38(5):
525-528.
[9] Myers, R. H. 1971. Response Surface Methodology, Allyn and Bacon,
Bosten.
[10] Ranganna, S. 1986. Hand book of analysis and quality control for fruit
and vegetable products. 2nd edn. Tata McGraw hill publication Co. Ltd.,
New Delhi. pp. 112.
[11] Bala, B. K. and Janjai, S. 2005. Solar drying of fish (Bombay Duck)
using solar tunnel dryer. Int. Energy J. 28(2): 91–102.
[12] Soysal, Y. and Oztekin, S. 2001. Technical and economic performance
of a tray dryer for medicinal and aromatic plants. J. Agril. Engng. 79 (1):
73-79.
@article{"International Journal of Biological, Life and Agricultural Sciences:71753", author = "N. C. Shahi and Anupama Singh and A. E. Kate", title = "Development of Solar Poly House Tunnel Dryer (STD) for Medicinal Plants", abstract = "There was a scenario present day that drying of fresh
fruits and vegetables by indirect solar drying by using mechanical
device; hence, an effort was made to develop a small scale solar
tunnel dryer (STD). Drying of spinach is carried out to analyze the
performance of the dryer and to study its drying characteristics. To
evaluate the performance of dryer the independent variables were
selected as air flow rate, loading density and shade net while collector
efficiency, drying efficiency, overall efficiency and specific energy
consumption were selected as responses during performing the
experiments. The spinach was dried from initial moisture content
88.21-94.04% (w.b.) to final moisture content 3.50-5.13% (w.b.). The
drying time considerably reduced as compared to open sun drying of
spinach as sun drying took 15 h for drying. The average collector
efficiency, drying efficiency and overall efficiency were in the range
28.73-61.15%, 11.63% to 22.13%, and 7.61-14.66%, respectively.", keywords = "Solar dryer, collector efficiency, drying efficiency,
spinach.", volume = "9", number = "12", pages = "1274-7", }