Effect of Drying Airflow Rate on H2O Mass Evaporated on Banana Chips Drying using Photovoltaic Solar Panel

Abstract

Solar energy is one source of heat energy that can be utilized with photovoltaic technology using solar panels. One application process that can be used is drying. The dryer uses a heating air media that is produced through the process of converting solar heat absorbed by solar panels. The process of drying bananas is done using variations in the rate of air flow of the dryer entering through the pipe integrated with the fan so that it is expected to be able to speed up the drying time. In this study, the air velocity varied to get the maximum moisture content, and H2O mass evaporated on banana chips. Based on the test results, with a drying time of 3 hours using a maximum airflow rate of 6.090 L/s and a temperature of 39.91 °C, moisture content of 65.30% was obtained with a mass of H2O evaporating as much as 208 grams.