A Microcontroller-Based Monitoring System for Batch Tea Dryer

Abstract

This paper presents an automated tea dryer system based on programmable controller which controls moisture content of the tea leaves and temperature of the chamber in different stages of drying. Several techniques were used for tea drying systems according to the tea genres. The batch tea dryer is designed with 6 to 8 trays. The temperature above the trays is controlled between 50ºC and 100ºC. Moreover, the moisture content of the tea leaves declined from around 68% to approximately under 3%. In addition, the temperature of the leaves increased from a little less than 30ºC to 80ºC. A microcontroller as the main processor was deployed to process received data from sensors and also it provides control signals. Thus, this system equipped a data logger memory to record data during drying process. The analyses of dryer products shown the feasibility of using propose system for batch tea drying