1. DEVELOPMENT OF A SOLAR DRYER OF
300KG CAPACITY WITH BIOMASS
CHULHA BACK-UP
M. A. Aravindh
12307019
Centre for Green Energy Technology,
Pondicherry Central University
Pondicherry– 605014, India.
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Dr. A.SREEKUMAR
INTERNAL SUPERVISOR
Assistant Professor
Centre for Green Energy Technology
Pondicherry University
Puducherry 605 014.
Mr. K. N. IYER
EXTERNAL SUPERVISOR
Managing Director
Kraftwork Solar Pvt. Ltd.
Adithya, 29/2862, Near Gandhi Square,
Poonithura, Kochi – 682038

2. Outline
• Introduction
• Objectives
• Experimental Setup
• Performance & Economic Analysis
• Outcomes & Conclusion
• References
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3. Solar Power In
India
•India is endowed with
abundant solar energy, which
is capable of producing 5,000
trillion kilowatts of clean
energy.
•Country is blessed with
around 300 sunny days in a
year and solar insolation of 4-7
kWh per Sq. m per day.
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4. Solar Thermal Systems- Air Heating
•Fluid heating is one of the major applications of solar thermal
technology
•Air heating systems designing is complicated as the
thermodynamic properties of the air are bad when compared to
other heat transfer fluids.
•Active and Passive systems
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5. Solar Drying
• Drying is method of removing the moisture from the product
thus inhibiting the growth of microbes and fungi and also
prevents seed germination.
• The older method of open sun drying is found to have many
cons like contaminations by dust and sand, longer drying time,
etc.
• This can be done using a drying chamber and the drying is
done by passing hot air into it. For the generation of hot air,
either fossil fuel powered burners or electric heaters are used.
• Fossil fuel usage will add to the environmental problems like
Global warming, Green house emission etc. which are already
in their peaks.
• Hence to overcome these, solar drying may be used which can
compensate all pros said earlier.
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6. OBJECTIVES
• To make a Solar Dryer for a 300kg capacity for
fish drying with Biomass Chulha Backup.
• To study the performance of the solar dryer
with fish samples which are easily available in
the project location.
• To predict the economic feasibility of the
system so as to broadcast the technology to
larger population.
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7. Project Details
Location Poovar, Kerala
Client Kerala State
Coastal Area
Development
Corporation Ltd.,
Govt. of Kerala.
EPC Kraftwork Solar
Pvt. Ltd., Kochi,
Kerala.
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The project was started as a pilot project by KSCADC Ltd. for
developing Solar Driers for Fish drying in Coastal areas of Kerala.

8. Problem Statement
• Usage of same collector cabinet which was
used for water heating (FPC) of 100mm
thickness, which had a bad impact on the flow
rate and it reduced the turbulence inside the
collector for better heat transfer.
• Electric heater as backup heater.
• Heavy drying chamber with GI and SS304 as
outer and inner layers.
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9. Improvements made for the current
project
• Collector Depth was increased to 100mm
with a total collector depth 150mm.
• Biomass chulha Backup.
• Lightweight SS304 sandwiched with PUF.
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10. Design features
Solar Air Heater
1. Gross Collector Area 2.1 m x 1.1 m 7. Depth of air duct 100 mm
2. Aperture Area 2m x 1m 8. Working Fluid Air
3. Number of collectors 24 9. Collector Tilt 10o
4. Total Aperture Area 48 m2 10. Glazing 4 mm Toughened
glass
5. Absorber material Corrugated Al
sheet with
black coating
11. Type of flow Double Flow
6. Insulation PUF – 50mm
(back and
12. Centrifugal
Blower Capacity
1 H.P. (2500 m3/h)
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11. Drying Cabinet
1. Dimension 3950 mm x 890 mm x 2150 mm
2. Capacity 300 kg
3.Number of trays 112
4. Tray dimension 900 mm x 650 mm x 15 mm
5. Tray material SS304
6. Insulation PUF – 50 mm
7. Axial Fan Capacity 0.25 HP (1000 m3/h)
8. No. of Axial Fans 2
Design features
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12. Schematic for Solar Air Heater
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13. Schematic for experimental setup
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14. Temperature & Solar Radiation Vs
Time
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15. Drying Curve
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16. Samples
Open sun
drying
Solar
drying
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Fresh

17. Economic Analysis
• Economic analysis helps in understanding the
benefits of solar dying by comparing with the
economics involved in other using other
methods of drying, say electric, fuels etc.
• It is done using three methods namely,
Annualized Cost Method, Life Savings Method
and Payback Period Method.
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18. Parameters considered for Economic
analysis
1. Capital
investment for
solar dryer
1,602,140.00 INR 6. Cost of dried
product
150.00 INR
2. Capital
investment for
electric dryer
1,200,000.00 INR 7. Electricity cost 5.00INR/kWh
3. Interest rate 10% 8. Quantity of fresh
pineapple loaded
per batch
35 kg
4. Inflation rate 8% 9. Life span 20 years
5. Cost of fresh
product
30.00 INR 10. Efficiency of the
electric heater
75%
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19. Annualized Cost Method
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
Cost of Drying (INR)
Solar Drying
Electric Drying
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20. Life Savings Method
Year
Annual Savings
(Million INR)
Present worth of
annual savings
(Million INR)
Present worth of
cumulative saving
(Million INR)
1 2.5 2.3 2.3
2 2.8 2.4 4.8
3 3.1 2.4 7.3
4 3.4 2.5 9.8
5 3.7 2.5 12.4
6 4.1 2.6 15.0
7 4.5 2.6 17.6
. . . .
. . . .
. . . .
19 14.3 3.3 53.8
20 15.7 3.3 57.2
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21. PAYBACK PERIOD
• Payback period was calculated to be 0.704
years, which was equivalent 183 drying days.
• It clearly shows that the dryer will produce the
dried product free of fuel cost with nominal
running cost during its entire life period.
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22. Conclusion
• Solar Dryer for fish Drying is designed and
installed.
• Performance analysis is done and found that
solar drying is found to be better, being faster and
hygienic.
• Economic analysis shows better results with a
payback period of nearly 183 drying days.
• Estimated Savings for a life of 20 years is found to
be 57.2 million INR for an initial investment of
only 1.6 million INR.
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23. QUERIES?....
THANK YOU…
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