%0 Journal Article
%T Design and Fabrication of a Direct Natural Convection Solar Dryer for Tapioca
%A Diemuodeke E. OGHENERUONA
%A Momoh O.L. YUSUF
%J Leonardo Electronic Journal of Practices and Technologies
%D 2011
%I AcademicDirect
%X Based on preliminary investigations under controlled conditions of drying experiments, a direct natural convection solar dryer was designed and fabricated to dry tapioca in the rural area. This paper describes the design considerations followed and presents the results of MS excel computed results of the design parameters. A minimum of 7.56 m2 solar collector area is required to dry a batch of 100 kg tapioca in 20 hours (two days drying period). The initial and final moisture content considered were 79 % and 10 % wet basis, respectively. The average ambient conditions are 32oC air temperatures and 74 % relative humidity with daily global solar radiation incident on horizontal surface of 13 MJ/m2/day. The weather conditions considered are of Warri (lat. 5กใ30 , long. 5กใ41 ), Nigeria. A prototype of the dryer so designed was fabricated with minimum collector area of 1.08 m2. This prototype dryer will be used in experimental drying tests under various loading conditions.
%K Solar dryer
%K Tapioca
%K Warri-Nigeria
%U http://lejpt.academicdirect.org/A18/095_104.htm