Characteristics of Different Systems for the Solar Drying of Crops

Solar dryers are used to enable the preservation of agricultural crops, food processing industries for dehydration of fruits and vegetables, fish and meat drying, dairy industries for production of milk powder, seasoning of wood and timber, textile industries for drying of textile materials. The fundamental concepts and contexts of their use to dry crops is discussed in the chapter. It is shown that solar drying is the outcome of complex interactions particular between the intensity and duration of solar energy, the prevailing ambient relative humidity and temperature, the characteristics of the particular crop and its pre-preparation and the design and operation of the solar dryer

PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF FORCED CONVECTION EVACUATED TUBE SOLAR COLLECTOR USED FOR GRAPE DRYER

In the present experimental study an evacuated tube solar collector is designed, fabricated and its performance is tested in the force convection mode of heat transfer. The solar collector is designed for the grape dryer of capacity 10kg per batch. Experiments are carried out in the month of April to produce raisins for Thomson Seedless grapes, with initial moisture content of 77 (kg per kg on wet basis)% to final moisture content of 19 (kg per kg on wet basis)% in 36 hours. Raisins produced from this system are tested for varies parameters to check its quality and found satisfactory results. The average collector efficiency is found to be 23.4%

APPLICATION OF KNOWLEDGE ENGINEERING AND COMPUTATIONAL INTELLIGENCE FOR STRUCTURAL TOPOLOGY OPTIMIZATION OF FORGING CONNECTING ROD DIE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (IJMET) IJMET © I A E M E

ABSTRACT In this paper the phenomenon of metal flow through forging die cavity and thermo structural plasticity has been studied from the view points of mechanics, physics and metallurgy. An analytical algorithm has been established and placed in the optimistic way of sequences in need to design an intelligent knowledge based expert system. And a developed research process methodology has been used to refine the mechanics of plasticity, forging product development cycle time with improved error free quality. The research results are applied to mechanics of metal flow and strength of materials, and of course, are used as indispensable tools for analyzing the metal forging processes. This process methodology will leads to develop an automated, robust, quick, quality, accurate & decision making tool for society in order to achieve the power/cost/time/skill effectiveness even if operated by an unskilled user. This paper also summarizes a case study to validate and review the developed process automation tool in need to get a virtual prototype die model with the prediction of forging process variables and parameters for connecting rod. This work will be worth full for forging industrial applications in estimating forging load

Behavior of a portable solar dryer for pineapple fiber Comportamento de um secador solar para fibras de abacaxi

In Costa Rica, there has been a growing interest to use pineapple fiber from plant, for which current processes need to be improved or new processes need to be developed, with emphasis on drying methods. This work presents the design and evaluation of the behavior of a prototype portable solar dryer in four sites of Costa Rica. The design describes the main parts of the dryer, as well as how they were constructed. The behavior was evaluated according to temperature and relative humidity inside e outside the chamber, and the influence of direct and indirect solar radiation. In order to achieve improved dryer efficiency, a dehumidifier was used to control relative humidity, and a heating system was implemented during the hours of low temperature, low solar radiation and high relative humidity. Based on drying time, final moisture content of fibers of pineapple leaves from plant, and the varying hours when fibers were put to dry, the evaluation of the dryer revealed that the best fiber-drying interval is from 6h00 to 14h00, and after that, it is convenient to inject hot air and use a dehumidifier in the dryer in order to increase its efficiency.<br>Na Costa Rica, o interesse pelo uso da fibra proveniente da folha de abacaxizeiro. Tem almentado e essa atividade precisa de melhoramento ou implementação de novos processos para alcançar maior eficiência, principalmente na secagem da fibra. O presente trabalho apresenta o design e comportamento de uma protótipo portátil de secadora solar em 4 sites geográficos da Costa Rica. Estão descritas as principais partes do secador, bem como a metodologia de construção. O comportamento foi avaliado de acordo com a temperatura e umidade relativa interna e externa da câmara e a influencia da radiação direta e indireta. Com a finalidade de melhorar a eficiência da secadora, foi usado um desumidificador para controlar a umidade relativa e ainda um sistema de aquecimento durante as horas de baixa temperatura e baixa radiação solar e nos períodos de alta umidade relativa. Foram avaliados o tempo de secagem, o teor de umidade final das fibras e a variação das horas que as fibras são colocadas no secador. O intervalo do dia onde apresenta as melhores condições para secagem é de 6h até 14h. Após essa hora, é conveniente acrescentar ar quente e/ou desumidificador dentro do secador para aumentar sua eficiência