Experimental evaluation of an inflatable solar bag dryer for cocoa drying
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5377/nexo.v36i05.17300Keywords:
thermal performance, energy efficiency, sundryer, bag, quality, cocoaAbstract
In this work, a prototype inflatable solar bag dryer was used to evaluate the drying of freshly fermented cocoa. Said dryer consists of a semi-cylindrical tunnel with a black waterproof vinyl canvas bottom and a translucent plastic cover; both parts joined by a zipper. This low-temperature direct and active hybrid solar dryer has a total length of 6.15 m and a width of 2.00 m; useful drying area 8.82 m2; capacity 177 kg of freshly fermented cocoa. Its photovoltaic system supplies energy to a fan and an electrical resistance. During the evaluation, the humidity of 84.60 kg of freshly fermented cocoa was reduced in five days from 50% wb to 7.4% wb; keeping its temperature always below 65 °C. As it passed through the equipment at 0.017 m/s, the drying air increased its temperature by up to 20 °C and reduced its relative humidity by up to 30 %. The average energy efficiency of the dryer decreased as grain moisture decreased: from 72.63%, on the first day, to 8.51%, on the fifth day. The physical-sensory evaluation of the obtained cocoa indicated that it is acceptable for making chocolate.
Downloads
291
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería
![Creative Commons License](http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/4.0/88x31.png)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The authors who publish in Nexo Scientific Journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain the copyright and grant the journal the right of the first publication under the license Creative Commons Attribution License, which allows others to share the work with a recognition of the authorship of the work and the initial publication in Nexo Scientific Journal.
- Authors may separately establish additional agreements for the non-exclusive distribution of the version of the work published in the journal (for example, in an institutional repository or a book), with the recognition of the initial publication in Nexo Scientific Journal.
- Authors are allowed and encouraged to disseminate their works electronically (for example, in institutional repositories or in their own website) before and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published works.