Design and Performance Analysis of

Solar Dryer for Banana slices using

Scheffler Dish and its Comparison
with Electrical Food Drier

Prof.R.D.JILTE 1, PROF.DR.A.B.DATYE2

1 VidyaVardhini’s
College of Engineering & Technology,
Vasai Dist:Thane Maharashtra,India

2Institute of Petroleum Technology, Gandhinagar, Gujrat,

India
1
 Introduction

z Vasai is a region with abundant Banana

cultivation. Preservation of surplus bananas is
a major problem faced by the farmers of this
region. This is due to lack of appropriate
storage facilities and short shelf life.

z The paper discuss the outcome of a socio-

economic project intended to dehydrate food
products to increase their shelf life.

2
 Drying technology for
food processing
z Several dryers have been developed and use
an expensive source of energy such as
electricity or a combination of solar energy
and electrical energy.

z However, to carry out drying of these

materials effectively and to produce products
of desired quality at minimum cost remains a
challenging task requiring in- depth
knowledge of not only heat and mass transfer
but also product properties and how they are
3
affected by drying conditions.
 The paper emphasis on using Parabolic dish
type solar collector (Scheffler dish) , which at
present extensively used for cooking
applications, can be used for drying of food
products.

4
Why SOLAR DRYERS?
| Solar dryers have the principal advantage of
using solar energy--a free, available, and
limitless energy source that is also non-
polluting.

| Solar dryers use the energy of the sun to heat

the air that flows over the food in the
dryer. As air is heated, its relative humidity
decreases and it is able to hold more
moisture. Warm, dry air flowing through the
dryer carries away the moisture that
evaporates from the surfaces of the food

5
Design procedure
| The size of the dryer was determined as as a
function of the drying area needed per
kilogram of banana slices.
| The drying temperature was established as a
function of the maximum limit of temperature
the banana might support.
Design calculations
1. Amount of moisture to be removed from the
product
2. Quantity of heat needed to evaporate the H2O
3. Determination of Drying time
4. Average drying rate

6
z ASHRAE Handbook (Refrigeration), Moisture
content of banana is specified as 74.26%.
z Detailed procedure to measure moisture
content of the fresh food and final dried food
can be found by weighing the food, heating at
100°C in an oven for 24 hours and reweighing
as given in www.practicalaction.org
initial weight - final weight
Moisture content (%) = × 100
intial weight
7
 Design Conditions and
Assumptions
Items Conditions or assumptions
Location Mumbai

Food Product Banana

Initial Moisture content(moisture content at harv est) 80% w.b.

Final Moisture content(moisture content for storage) 10% w.b.

Ambient air temperature 32 0C

Ambient relativ e humidity 65%

Maximum allowable temperature 70 0C

Wind speed 2.5 m/s

Thickness of sliced banana 3mm

Vertical distance between two adjacent trays 6cm

Specif ic heat capacity of food 3.8 kJ/kg

8
 Step 1
Amount of moisture to be removed from 1 kg of
banana slices to bring the moisture content to a
safe storage level in a specified time mw, in kg

M p (M i − M f )
Mw =
(100 − M f )

Where: Mp is the initial mass of product to be dried, kg;

Mi is the initial moisture content, % wet basis and
Mf is the final moisture content, % wet basis.

This gives 0.778 kg , moisture to be removed from 1kg

of food product.
9
 Step 2
The quantity of heat required to evaporate
0.778 Kg of H2O

Q = Mw hfg = 0.0778 hfg

The amount needed is a function of temperature and moisture
content of the crop. The latent heat
of vaporization was calculated using equation given by Youcef-Ali et
al. (2001) as follows: 3
Hfg = 4.186 x 10 {597 – 0.56(Tp)} = 2.43 MJ
Q = 0.778 X 2.43 = 1.890 MJ.
Total heat energy required for 1 kg of matter (food)‫‏‬
= 2.149 MJ

10
Step 3
Determination of drying time
2
Calculation of Gr and Re shows, Gr/Re >1 therefore case
is pure free convection

Nu × K
htop =
Lc where Nu L = 0 . 54 ( Ra L ) 0.25
gives h top =5.426 W/m2K
Nu × K
hbottom =
L c where Nu L = 0 .27( RaL ) 0.25 gives h =2.713 W/m2K
bottom
Q =153.55 W
Heat to be removed = 2.149 MJ
Drying time = 13995 s = 3 hr 53 min

11
 Average drying rate

Average drying rate, mdr, was determined from the mass of moisture
to be removed by solar heat
and drying time by the following equation:
mdr = mw/ td
The mass of air needed for drying was calculated using equation
given by Sodha et al. (1987) as
follows: m`= mdr / [wf –wi]
Where: mdr = average drying rate, kg/hr
wf –wi , final and initial humidity ratio, respectively, kg H2O/kg dry air

12
Flow Diagram of drying process

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The Reflector
Table 1: Technical Characteristics of parabolic
dish collector using Al as a reflector

Sr. Item Value

No.

01. Aperture diameter of dish 1.4 m

02. Focal length of dish 0.28 m
03. Distance from point on rim to 0.75m
focus
04. Rim angle 550
05. Concentration ratio 14.7
06. Focal image width 0.012
m
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Heating unit
Sr. No. Item Value

01. Total diameter of tube 1.0 cm

02. Internal diameter of tube 0.8 cm

03. Length 33 cm

04. Breath 22 cm

05. Height 4 cm

06. No. of passes of tube 18

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Heating unit placed in
reflector

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 Drying chamber

Sr. Item Value

No.
01. Length 33 cm

02. Breath 22 cm

03. Height 45 cm

04. Maximum no. of plates 5

can be mounted

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 Experimental Setup

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 Observations
Product: Banana
Weight of product: 1000 gm
Initial temperature of banana slice: 280 C
Drying cabinet temp before the start of experiment: 300 C
No. of slices: ~ 400
Surface temp of heating unit=1150 C
Air velocity entering heating unit= 2.8 m/s
Air velocity entering drying cabinet = 0.8 m/s
Air temperature before passing through heating unit: 320 C
Air temperature before passing through drying cabinet: 700 C
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Air vents temperature: 350 C
Product before & after drying

20
 Electrical Food Dryer
z Comparison is done with electrically heated food dryer,
where air-temperature is normally set between 700C and
900C.
z Batch cabinets are the simplest and cheapest to construct.
The cabinet is a metal box (SS 304) fitted with internal
runners to support the trays of food being processed.
z As per the calculation and requirements 3kW power was
needed and thus we have used six , 500 W U-coiled air
heaters, which are placed into parallel rows adjacent to
each other as to heat the air efficiently and uniformly.
These are connected in series with a thermostat, which
21
enables us to maintain a desired temperature.
 Results

Solar Food Dryer Electrical Food Dryer

Parameters
Theoretical Experimental Theoretical Experimental
Drying time 3 hr 53min 4 -5 h 11 min 56s 20 – 30 min

22
Conclusions
| It was concluded that banana can be dried in
the solar drier with scheffler dish collector by
using hot air at 70°C in a time period of 4-5 h,
while for electrical food dryer with 3kW heater
it was found to be 20-30 minutes.
| The average drying rate for solar dryer is
found to be 0.17 kg/h. For electrical food drier
it is 1.94 kg/h
| The main factor in controlling the drying rate
was found to be the drying air temperature
23and air velocity.
Conclusions (contd.)
z With air velocity of 0.8 m/s , the value of
heat transfer coefficient are found to be
2.713 to 5.426 W/m2K for bottom and top
surfaces respectively. It is possible to
reduce drying time by combined mode of
free & forced convection.

z The key uncertainties during the test are

wind, cloud cover and manual tracking
require after every 20 minutes. During the
trials, the wind velocity was between 2.0 to
2.9 m/s as measured by anemometer.
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THANK YOU

25
 References
z A.B. Datye, 2005, The design, fabrication and testing of dehydrator for
various food products, Emerging trends in mechanical engineering, NIT
Kurukhestra, 515-518.
z ASHRAE Handbook, 2002, Refrigeration, SI Edition, Thermal
Properties of food, 8.3
z Akwasi Ayensu, Dehydration Of Food Crops Using Solar Dryer With
Convective Heat Flow
z Biondi P,et.al ,1988, Performance analysis of solar air heaters of
conventional design, Solar Energy, 41, 101-107.
z C B Joshi et. Al. Performance of Solar Drying Systems : A Case Study
of Nepal
z EL- Amin Omda Mohamed Akoy ,et.al. Design and Construction of A
Solar Dryer for Mango Slices
z K. S. Ong1 and C. F. Than, A Theoretical Model Of A Natural
Convection Solar Air Heater
z Ong K. S. and Chow C. C. 2003, Performance of a Solar Chimney,
Solar Energy, 74, 1-17.
z Ong K. S. 1995, Thermal performance of solar air heaters:
Mathematical model and solution procedure, Solar Energy, 55, 93-109
z R.J.Fuller, et al.2005, Technical and financial evaluation of a solar dryer
in Bhutan
z
26 Solar 2005 - ANZSES Conference, Dunedin, Dec 2005