INDUSTRY DEFINED PROBLEM/PROJECT (IDP) STATEMENT

FORM
BABARIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, VARNAMA,
VADODARA
7TH SEM. MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, A.Y. 2016-17

1. STUDENT PARTICULARS
FIRST
NAME
LAST
NAME
MOBILE
NO.
EMAIL
SIGNATURE
OF
STUDENT

MIDDLE
NAME

FIRST
NAME
LAST
NAME
MOBILE
NO.
EMAIL
SIGNATURE
OF
STUDENT

MIDDLE
NAME

FIRST
NAME
LAST
NAME
MOBILE
NO.
EMAIL
SIGNATURE
OF
STUDENT

MIDDLE
NAME

Enroll.
No.

Enroll.
No.

Enroll.
No.

FIRST
NAME
LAST
NAME
MOBILE
NO.
EMAIL
SIGNATURE
OF
STUDENT

MIDDLE
NAME
Enroll.
No.

2. INDUSTRY PARTICULARS
---------------INDUSTRY COORDINATOR--------------NAME OF
INDUSTRY
COORDINATOR
CONTACT
ADDRESS
MOBILE NO.
EMAIL
---------------INDUSTRY--------------NAME OF
INDUSTRY
ADDRESS
CONTACT
OFFIC
NO.
E
NAME OF INDUSTRIAL
ESTATE

MOBI
LE
Web Site of
Company

COMPANY
LOGO

Products/
Services offered
by Company

3. INTERNAL GUIDE
NAME
DEPARTMENT
MOBILE NO.
EMAIL
SIGNATURE

4. TITLE OF PROBLEM/PROJECT

DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF SOLAR DRYER FOR

AGRICULTURE PRODUCTS

DISCIPLINARY |
INTERDISCIPLINARY

MAIN BRANCH OF
ENGINEERING

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

RELATED
BRANCHES

PRODUCT DESIGN &

DEVELOPMENT
FABRICATION

5. PROBLEM SUMMARY
Our project is User Defined Project (UDP) based on design and development of solar
dryer for agriculture products. Solar dryers fall into two categories: active and passive.
Passive dryers can be further divided into direct and indirect models.
Solar dryer is used to remove moisture from various products using solar energy. We
have based our project on removing moisture from various agricultural products such as
wheat, grapes etc. so that these seasonal products can be maintained in its most natural
form throughout the year. Here, we are removing some percent of moisture so that grains
can be preserving for a longer period.
The project will consist of the following:
1. Study of food grain dryer.
2. Study of various types of solar dryers.
3. Formulate design requirement specification of a solar dryer for application in the state
of Gujarat.
4. Design of solar dryer.
5. Fabrication of solar dryer.
6. Testing of solar dryer fabricated.
7. Evaluation and suggest further action/research.

6. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PROBLEM

Food preservation or processing is done by drying or heating process. High moisture
content is one of the reasons for food spoilage during storage and preservation.
In conventional method hot air is being used to dry the food products such as grapes,
fish, banana etc. by using fuels like kerosene, fire-wood, diesel, or electricity. The
conventional methods of heating are popular but have some problems such as:

Higher cost of fuels and requirement of bulk quantity of fuels

Depletion of conventional fuels

Environmental impacts with emission of co2

Cost of electricity and load shedding.

In India open drying (direct solar heating) of food products is done under sun by
spreading it on open ground or on a base plate is common practice a various places. This
method is cheap but has some disadvantages observed are:

Possibility of contamination of the food products due to dirt, insects, rodents, birds
etc. This makes it unhygienic.

Exposure of food product to the elements such as rain and wind which causes
spoilage and losses.

Loss of nutrition values and natural appearance like color, texture etc.

The process is slow and long time period is required.

Uneven heating or drying can occur.

Solar energy, the mother of renewable sources is an inexhaustible, clean, cheap

source of energy. Need of cleaner environment and the increase in demand of more
healthy and hygienic food-products encourages the use of renewable energy in agroindustrial production process.

Solar hot air generation systems are more reliable, durable and cost effective
energy production methods for agriculture and industry process. It is more efficient,
easily adaptable from existing fuel-driven system, environmentally friendly and
hygienic.
This project will be the replacement of the conventional method of hot air
heating by fuels. Figure (1) shows the block diagram of indirect heating through solar
energy.

Figure (1) Layout of Solar Dryer

Its working is very simple. As shown in the block diagram, we pass normal air
inside a chamber which is known as solar air collector and this air is allowed to
receive the solar radiations and get super heated. Then this super heated air is
allowed to pass into another chamber which is known as the handling unit. This unit
is responsible for the controlled release of super heated air at the time of its
requirement. In the third and the final stage we have our drying unit in which we
keep our material (which we need to get dried off) and then open the valves of the
handling unit. The super heated air is allowed to pass over that material for a specific
interval of time.
Solar dryers usually intake high airflow rates at low temperature over long period of
time. Slow drying of fruits and vegetables preserve the flavour and quality of
products which makes solar drying more attractive.
There are different types of solar dryers; most of them were developed for specific
products or class of products. Selection of a solar dryer represents a compromise
between dryer cost, product quality and installation convenience. According to their
operating mode these can be classified as:

Direct solar dryers:

These are the dryers in which the product receives the direct heat from the sun .
The best example for a direct solar dryer is The Box Type Solar Dryer
They are used in the areas which receives the direct sun rays for longer duration of
time. They are usually rectangular in shape and painted black from inside to create
green house effect. It is covered by a plastic membrane or we can even use a

transparent glass sheet. There is a layer made of mesh wire placed few centimetres
above the base on which we keep our produce ( product to be dried). Holes are
made at the base and at the top of the rare vertical walls, so that evaporated
moisture will be ventilated out through these holes. Figure (2) below showing the
box type solar dryer.

Figure (2) Box Type Solar Dryer

Indirect solar dryers :

These are the dryers which are mentioned above in the block diagram; the sun's
heat is first collected in the solar collectors and then ducted in the drying chamber.
The best example of this type of dryer is Bin-type Grain Dryers.
In these types of dryers, the bin is fitted at the top and the super heated air is ducted
from the bottom of the chamber.
Figure (3) & (4) below showing the Bin-type Grain Dryers

Figure (3) Multi Layer Grain Solar Dryer

Figure (4) Single Layer Grain Solar Dryer

7. EXPECTED OUTCOME
Following are the expected outcome of this project:
1.

Working model of Solar Dryer.

2.

Formulation of heating requirement of agricultural products.

3.

Comparative study and evaluation of various types of solar dryers.

8. PROJECT METHODOLOGY
. The project will be undertaken with the following methods:
1. Literature Study. Study of related literature on Solar Dryers and
Agricultural Drying Requirements. Study will also include analyzing the
design requirements of various types of solar dryers.
2. Survey of Domestic Requirement of Agricultural Heating. The rural and
domestic requirements of Agricultural Heating will be analyzed based on a
structured survey.
3. Comparative Analysis of Solar Dryer Designs. A comparative analysis of
different types of Solar Dryer designs will be undertaken to identify the most
appropriate and feasible type.
4. Design of Solar Dryer. A solar dryer system will be designed for rural
domestic application of agricultural drying.
5. Fabrication.

Working model of solar dryer will be fabricated.

6. Testing and Analysis. The working model will be tested for various
conditions and different agricultural products. The results will be analyzed
and possible improvements will be made

9. MOTIVATION FOR DOING THE PROJECT

Now a days the exhaustible energy sources are being very costly as they are
not going to be available in future so that today we are finding the new way of
effective utilizing the inexhaustible energy sources and also this energy are not going
to affect environment. So we have selected project of solar dryer for agriculture
products.
This method of food preservation can provide healthy food to society as it
removes only water from the products. In addition the solar dryer saves time of
drying.
The project will also help us, the project team to practice what we learnt in the
past four years of engineering such as Non Conventional Energy Systems, Heat and
Mass Transfer, Design of System, Fabrication and manufacturing, performance
analysis and testing etc.

10. REFERENCES

YOGESH MOHAN(IETE), SOLAR DRYER, available at

http://needtosaveearthiete.blogspot.in/2011/06/soalr-dryer.html

, viewed

on 01/07/2012
ABE CONNALLY, SOLAR FOOD DRYER, available at
http://makeprojects.com/Project/Solar-Food-Dryer/707/1#.UBfnfGH_Bd1 ,

viewed on 01/07/2012
N. V. VADER AND M. M. DIXIT, SOLAR DRYER, available at
http://www.archives-ijaet.org/media/48I5-IJAET0407489-SOLAR-HEATINGCopyright-IJAET.pdf

, viewed on 02/07/2012

ROGER G. GREGOIRE, UNDERSTANDING SOLAR FOOD

DRYERS, available at http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNABC941.pdf ,
viewed on 02/07/2012