Performance of low-cost dual circuit solar assisted cabinet dryer for green banana

Abstract

A low-cost solar cabinet dryer was designed to dry green banana. The dryer was made of low-cost material readily available locally. The dryer consists of two types of solar collector (air and fluid collectors), water tank, automotive radiator and a drying cabinet. The experiment was conducted in Iligan City, Philippines and placed at the roof top. Banana slices were placed in the cabinet and dried for the whole day. Temperature and moisture were observed during different solar conditions. The temperature of the chamber, output temperature of the air heater and water heater were enough for low temperature drying. Chamber temperature has a mean maximum value of 48 C and an average temperature of 41 C. The overall dryer efficiency was 18 %. The dryer efficiency is lower than the projected simulated dryer efficiency but good enough considering the low-cost construction of the dryer.