1

DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION AND PERFORMANCE

EVALUATION OF SOLAR DRYING SYSTEM FOR VEGETABLE
DRYING APPLICATIONS
A PROJECT REPORT PHASE - I
Submitted by

SUBASH.E

(12MER194)

TAMILMARAN.R

( 12MER205)

THILAK.S

(12MER208)

in partial fulfilment of the requirements

for the award of the degree
of

BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING
IN
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
SCHOOL OF BUILDING AND MECHANICAL SCIENCES

KONGU ENGINEERING COLLEGE

(Autonomous)

PERUNDURAI ERODE - 638 052

NOVEMBER 2015

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

KONGU ENGINEERING COLLEGE
(Autonomous)
PERUNDURAI,ERODE- 638 052

NOVEMBER 2015
BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE
This is to certificate that the Project report entitled DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION AND
PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF SOLAR DRYING SYSTEM FOR VEGETABLE
DRYING APPLICATIONS is the bonafide record of project work done by

SUBASH.E

(12MER194)

TAMILMARAN.R

(12MER205)

THILAK.S

( 12MEL208)

in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the Degree of Bachelor of
Engineering in Mechanical Engineering of Anna University, Chennai during the year 20152016.

SUPERVISOR

HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT

DATE:
Submitted for the end semester viva voce examination held on _________

INTERNAL EXAMINER

EXTERNAL EXAMINER

DECLARATION
We affirm that the Project Report entitled DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION AND
PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF SOLAR DRYING SYSTEM FOR VEGETABLE
DRYING APPLICATIONS being submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for
the award of Bachelor of Engineering is the original work carried out by us. It has not
formed the part of any other project report or dissertation on the basis of which a degree
or award was conferred on an earlier occasion on this or any other candidate .

Date:

Signature of the candidates

SUBASH.E (12MER194)

TAMILMARAN.R (12MER205)

THILAK.S (12MEL208)

I certify that the declaration made by the above candidates is true to the best of my
knowledge

Date:

SUPERVISOR

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We wish to express our deep sense of gratitude to our beloved Correspondent
Thiru.V.K.MUTHUSAMY and all trust members of Kongu Vellalar Institute of
Technology Trust for providing all the necessary facilities to carry out the project
work.
We beholden to our beloved Principal Prof.S.KUPPUSWAMI for providing an
opportunity to carry out the project work.
We solemnly express our heartiest gratitude to our beloved Dean, School of
Building

and

Mechanical

Sciences,

Dr.K.KRISHNAMURTHY

and

for

his

encouragement.
We would like to express our gratitude to Dr.P.NAVANEETHAKRISHNAN Head
of the Department of Mechanical Engineering for his precious suggestions.
We take this opportunity to thank Mr.M.MAKESHKUMAR, our supervisor,
Department

of

Mechanical

Engineering

for

his

valuable

suggestions

and

encouragement during the tenure of the project work.

A special debt is owed to Dr.A.SIVAKUMAR, the Project Coordinator, and
Department of Mechanical Engineering for his encouragement and valuable advice that
made us to carry out project work successfully.
We also thank the teaching and non-teaching staff members of Mechanical
Engineering Department and all our fellow students who stood with us to complete our
project successfully.

ABSTRACT
The solar drying system utilizes solar energy to heat up air and to dry any food
substance loaded, which is beneficial in reducing wastage of agricultural product and
helps in preservation of agricultural product. 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 escalated cost of the mechanical dryer, a solar is therefore
developed to cater for this limitation. This project aims to present the design,
construction and performance evaluation of a solar drying system for food preservation.
In the dryer, the heated air from a separate solar collector is passed through a
vegetable bed, and at the same time, the drying cabinet absorbs solar energy directly
through the transparent walls and roof. A prototype of the solar drying system is to be
designed and its performance is to be evaluated for different air velocities.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER

TITLE

NO.

PAGE
NO.

ABSTRACT

LIST OF FIGURES

viii

1.

INTRODUCTION

2.

LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 STUDIES RELATED TO DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION
OF SOLAR DRYING SYSTEM

2
2

PROBLEM DEFINITION

3.1 PROBLEM STATEMENT

3.

4.

5.

3.1.1 Space Problems

3.1.2 Weather Problems

3.1.3 Technology Problems

3.1.4 Power Problems

3.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT OBJECTIVES

3.3 PROBLEM CONSTRAINS

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

10

4.1 DESIGN SPECIFICATION AND ASSUMPTOIN

10

4.1.1 Solar Dryer Components

10

4.1.2 The Orientation of Solar Collector

11

DESIGN PROCEDURE AND IMPLEMENTATION

12

5.1 DESIGN PROCEDURE

12

5.1.1 The Experimental Setup

13

5.1.2 Collector

14

5.1.3 Drying Cabinet

14

5.1.4 Drying Mechanism

15

5.2 DESIGN IMPLEMENTATION

15

FEASIBLITY STUDIES AND MARKET NEEDS

16

6.1 FEASIBLITY STUDY FOR FOOD SOLAR DRYER SYSTEM

16

7.

CONCLUSION

17

8.

REFERENCES

18

6.

LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE NO.

NAME OF FIGURE

PAGE NO.

5.1

SECTIONAL VIEW OF MIXEDMODE DRYER

13

5.2

TYPICAL SOLAR COLLECTOR FOR AIR

HEATING

14