Investigation of Thermal Performance and Characteristics of Solar Food Dryer Provided With Forced Circulation and Variable Angle Booster Mirror

Project Report Submitted to the department of Mechanical Engineering The solar drying process utilizes solar energy to heat up air and to dry food produce loaded, which is advantage in reducing wastage of agricultural produce and helps in preservation of agricultural produce. Based on the limitations of the natural sun drying e.g. exposure to direct sunlight, liability to pests and rodents lack of proper monitoring, and the highly cost of the mechanical dryer, a solar is therefore developed to overcome for this limitation. My project clearly reveals the performance of a solar dryer for food preservation. In this dryer, the heated air from a separate solar collector was passed through a grain bed. The results obtained during the test period revealed that the temperatures inside the dryer and solar collector were much higher than the atmospheric temperature during most hours of the day-light. The dryer possess maximum ability to dry food produce reasonably rapidly to a safe moisture level and simultaneously it ensures a superior quality of the dried produce.