[01] Samir J. Deshmukh, Department of Mechanical Engineering, PRM Institute of Technology and Research Badnera, Amravati (MS), India. [02] Abhinav D. Sardar, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kirti Polytechnic, Amaravati (MS), India. [03] Sachin S. Ingole, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sipna College of Engineering and Technology, Amaravati (MS), India.

The objective of this work was to evaluate performance of pop can solar dryer which works as indirect type passive mode without thermal energy storage for the drying of product. Drying is one of the oldest methods using solar energy where the product such as vegetables, fruits, fish, and meat to be dried exposed directly to the sun. This method has many disadvantages such as spoilt products due to rain, wind, dust, insect infestation, animal attack and fungi. Foods should be dried rapidly, but the speed of drying will cause the outside becomes hard before the moisture inside has a chance to evaporate and it will affect the quality of dried product due to over drying. Food products, especially fruits and vegetables require hot air in the temperature range of 45–75°C for safe drying. This design was employed and has compared with the performance testing through parameters such as temperature, moisture content. All experimentation was carried at Amravati Maharashtra India (Latitude: 20.95 Longitude: 77.75 with 5.44 kWh/m²/day solar irradiance in normal sunny days. The effect of temperature and moisture contents against time and its effect on rate of drying for chilli are studied in this research. It was clear that the use of pop can solar dryer reduced the drying time significantly and essentially provides better product quality compared with conventional drying method.

Air-Heating, Pop Can Collector, Flat Plate Collector, Pop Can Solar Panel

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