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Solar drying is in practice
since the time im-memorable for preservation of
food and agriculture crops. This was done
particularly by open sun drying under open the
sky. This process has several disadvantages
like spoilage of product due to adverse climatic
condition like rain, wind, moist, and dust,
loss of material due to birds and animals,
deterioration of the material by decomposition,
insects and fungus growth. Also the process is
highly labor intensive, time consuming and
requires large area. With cultural and
industrial development artificial mechanical
drying came in to practice. This process is
highly energy intensive and expensive which
ultimately increases product cost. Thus solar
drying is the best alternative as a solution
of all the drawbacks of natural drying and
artificial mechanical drying.
Solar dryers used in
agriculture for food and crop drying ,for
industrial drying process, dryers can be proved
to be most useful device from energy
conservation point of view. It not only save
energy but also save lot of time, occupying less
area, improves quality of the product, make the
process more efficient and protects environment
also. Solar dryers circumvent some of the major
disadvantages of classical drying. Solar drying
can be used for the entire drying process or
for supplementing artificial drying systems,
thus reducing the total amount of fuel energy
required.
Where it can be used ?
Solar dryer is a very useful device for
- Agriculture crop drying
- Food processing
industries for dehydration of fruits,
potatoes, onions and other vegetables,
- Dairy industries for
production of milk powder, casein etc.
- Seasoning of wood and
timber.
- Textile industries for
drying of textile materials.
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