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Development of a multi-purpose dryer
Abstract
Amulti-purpose dryer was developed in National Root Crops Research Institute Umudike for drying vegetables and fruits. The dryer consists of two compartments, one for producing thermal energy and the other for spreading the products to be dried. The novel design uses heat sources from electric burners and it is located beneath the product spreading chamber. This prevented the problem of discoloration due to direct heat from the burners. A thermostat was used for its temperature control and light indicators were introduced to monitor the operation of the dryer with a standard switch control panel. A digital multi-tester was used to measure the quantity of current and voltage inflow and outflow to the dryer. An axial flow fan was provided in the air inlet which accelerates the drying rate. The dryer has ten perforated trays for loading the material. The burners of the dryer attained a temperature of 120 C when it was studied under no load conditions. The maximum air temperature in the dryer under this condition was 110 C. The dryer was loaded with 10kg of cassava chips having an initial moisture content of 63% and final desired moisture content of 7% was achieved within 3hrs without losing the product color and it took 10hrs for open sun drying depending on the intensity of the sun.
Keywords: Multi-purpose dryer, burners, thermostat, flow fan, control panel.
