Modification and performance test of fish and keumamah dryer with solar energy sources

Abstract

This present study aimed to modify and test the performance of fish dryer tunnel type. The size of the dryer will be reduced from its original size to 3 m x 2 m, which is adjusted to the volume of salted fish production in the local industry. Some modifications are also made according to the availability of materials on the market and also consider the drying time more effectively. To achieve the purpose, several procedures were performed: structural and functional design, drawings, assembly, and performance tests. Moreover, data analysis was carried out to measure optimum working capacity of the dryer. Obtained data from artificial dryer were compared with conventional drying. The results showed that natural convective drying required at least five and seven days for keumamah salted fish drying respectively. In contrast, forced convective drying by means of modified tunnel dryer shortened the drying period to three and five days for keumamah and salted fish respectively. Furthermore, the optimum loading capacity of the modified tunnel dryer is 30 kg of fish and required days of drying period.