Case Studies in Thermal Engineering 12 (2018) 489–496

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Case Studies in Thermal Engineering

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Fabrication and testing of hybrid solar-biomass dryer for drying

T
fish
⁎
Hamdani , T.A. Rizal, Zulfri Muhammad
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Samudra University, Kota Langsa 24416, Indonesia

A R T IC LE I N F O ABS TRA CT

Keywords: The fishery has been one of the leading sectors in Aceh Province. In 2016 the production of Aceh
Solar energy dryer province catch fishery reaches 185 thousand tons. To increase the added value of the abundant
Biomass fish products is by doing the post-harvest processing. This study includes the manufacture and
Fish testing of a solar energy drying unit equipped with biomass-fueled air heating. The dryer consists
Techno-economy
of a drying chamber of length 260 cm and width of 80 cm, with glass as a cover. A crossflow type
heat exchanger for an air heater that utilizes biomass fuel also mounted to the dryer. There were
25 kg of fish used as raw material and dried utilizing specific devices using several methods. In
the beginning, drying was conducted using solar energy, from 09:00 to 16:00, and continued with
hot-air produced from biomass combustion from 16:00 to 06:00 and maintained at 40–50 °C. The
test revealed that after reaching 22–23 h of the drying process, the overall weight of the fish did
not change much, and the final weight is 12.5 kg. The cost required for fabrication of a hybrid
dryer is Rp. 25.250.000, - ($ 1870) with a production capacity of 100 kg of fish.

1. Introduction

The potential of Indonesian marine catches, especially fish is immense. In 2016 alone, the catch reached 185 thousand tons [1].
Considering the fish is easy to rot, and to provide added value to the fish results, it is necessary to improve current fish preservation
method and technology. In general, most of the fishers implement traditional technology passed through generations in processing
and preserving fish, namely, drying. Drying is a process of removing a portion of water content from a specific material through
evaporation of the water content using heat to achieve the desired moisture content. The drying process is known as an energy-
intensive process, and in industry, the drying process consumes 10–25% of total energy consumption in developed countries [2].
With appropriate post-processing steps, energy requirements for drying reduceable, and improved product quality is also
achievable. Many researchers have participated in an attempt to reduce energy consumption by introducing a new type of dryer. As
reported by Mujumdar [2], there are about 100 commercially marketed types of dryers among 500 dryers. A variety of dryer designs
are available due to product-specific conditions, operating conditions (temperature, pressure) and various heat input modes. The
description of the drying process by utilizing the solar-energy system, which includes the concept and theory of drying, the appli-
cation on drying agricultural products and solar drying technology, has been described in detail by Ekechukwu et al. [3–5]. While the
study of the utilization of solar-energy for fish dryers has been accomplished with various types of fish and on different climatic
conditions [6–10]
Multiple studies have been undertaken to develop an air-heating burner that can be used for a variety of purpose heating or drying

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: warek2@unsam.ac.id (Hamdani).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csite.2018.06.008
Received 11 April 2018; Received in revised form 1 June 2018; Accepted 29 June 2018
Available online 04 July 2018
2214-157X/ © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/BY/4.0/).
Hamdani et al. Case Studies in Thermal Engineering 12 (2018) 489–496

food products. Piegne et al. [11], conducted an experimental study of the use of simple heat exchangers type gas heat exchangers for
air heating utilizing wood fuel, with the use of fins on the cold-fluid side to increase heat transfer currents. All components of the heat
exchanger made of high corrosion resistance stainless steel. The heat exchanger is actually in the form of a "concentric tube three,"
and is used to transfer the waste heat from the exhaust to the combustion air-channel, which supplies the stove itself, in addition to
air vents that provide mechanical ventilation with a heat recovery system (MVHR). The heat obtained from the system by the vent is
about 500 W, which is equivalent to 38% of the 1325 W lost from the flue gas. Also, preheating of combustion air provides better
stove efficiency which is about ~ 8%.
Yunus et al. [12] investigated the design of heat exchangers that are integrated directly into simple biomass stoves for food drying
purposes (primarily intended for use in developing countries). The plan of the base system involves a simple parallel concentric
current tube heat exchanger. The fins are also included on the cold-fluid side as shown above to increase heat transfer. Stainless steel
(AISI 304) material was selected, although it has low thermal conductivity, nevertheless, it has a relatively high melting point;
resistant to corrosion; ease of fabrication and relatively inexpensive. System geometry designed with the aim of achieving 154 W heat
transfer for drying food. The objective was achieved and shows a value of ΔT > 100 K for cold air flow.
The new system uses a combination of condensed heat recovery to obtain low-level heat. The heat then transformed through a
heat pump to a higher temperature that is possible to feed the boiler itself. In the heat recovery unit, the quench system injects cold
water droplets into the exhaust gas that absorbs heat from the flue gas. Water then acts as a heat source for heat pumps that increase
the low level of heat (i.e., low temperature) to high-grade heat used to heat up cold feed water entering the biomass boiler [13].
The dryer should be ensured to have the ability to save energy. Consequently, evaluation of the cost and practicality of the
solution is viable. For the success and commercialization of any technology, it is essential to know which technology is economically
developed feasible or not. Therefore, efforts have been made to estimate the economics of hybrid solar biomass dryers established.
Several parameters involved in the analysis includes capital costs, variable costs, fixed costs, total costs, revenues, and benefits.
Others economic indicators such as net present value, benefit-cost ratio, and the rate of return calculated during economic analysis
Fudholi et al. [14], conducting a techno-economic study of a solar-assisted drying system using a double-pass solar collector with
finned absorbents, extra heaters, and a drying chamber. The developed solar drying system is used to dry seaweed. From potential
market price assumptions, the results of the economic analysis show that using double-pass solar collectors is best suited to be
developed or marketed in marine products since this is the lowest return period as low as 2.33 years.
Dhanushkodi et al. [15], conducting economic feasibility of substituting biomass, solar, and hybrid dryer in place of conventional
steam drying for cashew drying. Four economic indicators were used to appraise the viability of three renewable centered drying
technologies. The payback-time was 1.58 yr. for solar powered, 1.32 for biomass, and 1.99 for the hybrid drying system. Whereas the
cost-benefit estimates were 5.23 for solar, 4.15 for biomass and 3.32 for the hybrid system. The research also concluded that it is vital
to develop solar biomass hybrid dryer for small-scale processing industries.
Hebenstreit et al. [16] introduced the concept of active condensation, which incorporates a single condensing device and a heat
pump. The exhaust gas becomes an almost full condensation of water vapor after cooling process. Then, the heat pump converts the
recovered low-temperature energy to the backflow temperature. From the results of modeling by the balance of mass and energy. The
study evaluated operating costs, primary energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions in the Austrian database for four test cases.
Two pellet boilers (10 kW and 100 kW) and two wood chip boilers (100 kW and 10 MW) are nominated. Economic analysis showed a
decrease in operating costs between 2% and 13%, but the energy efficiency obtained increased by 3–21% [17].
The thermal efficiency of a solar drying system can be evaluated either based on the thermal performance level (or) drying rate of
the product. Processes based on thermal performance are straightforward and easy to calculate because they involve the use of
multiple variables. The evaluation of the performance of the solar dryer, for the drying of a particular product, actually influenced by
the factor of product quality and system economy. This study is an attempt to evaluate the thermal performance of solar dryers,
biomass, and hybrids.

2. Materials and methods

2.1. Materials

This research took place at Samudra University, Langsa City, Aceh, Indonesia. The dryers used in this study consist of biomass-
fueled air heaters, solar energy drying chamber, a fan, and chimney. Fig. 1 shows a technical drawing with a size for drying the dryer
room.
The pipe used is 2 mm thick stainless steel. The fan pulled the air and then forced it to flow through the pipes. The flowing air then
heated by a biomass-burning hot gas that flows on the outside of the tube. Fig. 2 displays the shape and dimensions of the heat
exchanger used for heating the dryer air, and Fig. 3 shows the configuration of the fabricated dryers.

2.2. Experimental method

In this study, the fish samples used were medium size Queenfish. The fish is cleaned from the scales and gutted; then split into
two. After that, the fish was rinsed and weighed to know the overall weight of the whole fish. Fish weighing 26 kg, arranged in a
drying rack for drying until the final moisture content is about 10–12%.
The test varies in three different treatments, they are (i) the solar drying process where solar energy is the only source of energy
utilized; the research conducted from 09:00 until 18:00. (ii) The biomass drying process where the drying process is carried out by

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Fig. 1. Technical drawing and dimension of the dryer.

Fig. 2. Technical drawings and dimensions of the biomass furnace.

Fig. 3. Hybrid drier fabrication results.

applying hot air heated by biomass; the research conducted from 14:00 to 21:00. (iii) The hybrid drying process begins with the
drying of solar energy from 09:00 to 18:00, and is continued by drying the biomass energy until 06:00 the next day. At the beginning
of the test, 8 kg of wood fuel was fed into the furnace, and added 2 kg every 1 h.
For each one-hour drying duration, the temperature of the drying chamber is recorded by data acquisition instrument connected

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to the thermocouple mounted in the drying chamber. The ambient temperature, the temperature of the drying room covering glass,
and the temperature coming out of the drying chamber are measured using RTD. Several other parameters related to this research
also observed and recorded, they are (i) solar radiation, measured with a solar power meter. (ii) relative humidity in the ambient and
drying chamber, with thermal-hygrometer. (iii) The initial and final weight of the product is measured using a digital weighing scale,
and (iv) air velocity, measured using a hotwire anemometer connected between the fan and the collector and the inlet gasifier. In this
test, the fan operated at a speed of 2500 rpm. The moisture content (Mc) in fish is calculated every hour by taking the initial weight
(Mi) and weight loss (Md) for every hour using electronic balance, utilizing the following equation:
Mi − Md
Mc = x100%
Mi (1)

The heat energy generated from the combustion of wood fuel is determined by the equation [18]:

Q̇ = ṁ f . LHV (2)
where Q̇ is the power of combustion (kW), ṁ f is fuel mass rate (kg/s), and LHV is the lower heating value of fuel (kJ/kg).
The energy from the combustion chamber is moved by hot air to dry the product in the drying chamber. The hot air from the heat
exchanger is flown to dry the product at a rate of 0.13 m3/sec. The energy carried by the hot air is calculated by the equation:

Q̇ = ṁ a.(hf − hi ) (3)

where ṁ a is the hot air flow rate for drying fish (kg/s), hf is the enthalpy of hot air (kJ/kg), and hi is the enthalpy of ambient air (kJ/
kg).

3. Result and discussion

3.1. Hybrid fish-dryer performance

Fig. 4 shows the results of the drying test without a drying load. From the graph, the maximum temperature in the room is 50 °C
from 13.00 to 14.00, while the average temperature reached is 43.7 °C and the average temperature rise is 12 °C above the ambient
temperature. This condition indicates that the drying apparatus made were capable of being used for drying the fish, requiring a
drying room temperature of 40–80 °C [4,19].
Testing starts at 14.00 until 06.00 the next day. The graph above shows that the temperature produced when using biomass is
relatively high, with the highest temperature of 66.7 °C at 19.30 WIB. The lowest temperature was 36.3 °C at the start of the test. The
highest outside temperatures were 33.6 °C at 17:00 and the lowest outside temperature was 25.4 °C at 4:30.
As shown in Fig. 5, the heat distribution to the apparatus and the load shows the highest average temperature on the second rack
is 46 °C. The highest temperature on the first shelf reached 61.6 °C at 19.30, and the lowest reached 31.4 °C at the start of the test. On
the second rack, the highest temperature reaches 67 °C, and the lowest is 34 °C, while the fish temperature tends to decrease in the
middle of the test due to the water-release process in the fish. Highest fish temperatures at 44.9 °C at 15.30 and lowest at 26.8 °C at
23:00.
Air humidity dramatically affects the release of water at the load. Although the temperature at the dryer is high, however, without
adequate circulation the moisture in the dryer becomes saturated vapor. Therefore, the drying process becomes slower. As illustrated
in Fig. 6, the highest moisture air out of the dryer is 72.4%. Arrangements of air circulation in and out of the dryer are arranged to
obtain drying results that are not only dry in the temperature between 30 and 50 °C. The highest humidity in the dryer is 50.5% at the
beginning of the test, and the lowest is 20.7% at 21.30. The hybrid drying process begins with the drying of solar energy from 09:00
to 18:00, and is continued by drying the biomass energy until 06:00 the next day.
The wood fuel used during the 16 h test is 45 kg. With wood fuel LHV is 18 MJ/kg, the obtained energy yield is 14.06 kW. The

Fig. 4. Temperature distribution in drying chamber without load.

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Fig. 5. Hot gas temperatures enter and exit the dryer.

Fig. 6. The relative humidity in the dryer uses biomass.

average air temperature entering the heat exchanger is 27.6 °C with RH 60.1%. The average hot air temperature exit the heat
exchanger was 49.6 °C with RH 31.3%. The total energy contained by hot air at a flow rate of 0.13 kg/s is 6.69 kW. The average
efficiency of wood fuel furnace reached 47%.
Fig. 7 below shows the temperature distribution in the dryer chamber and the exhaust air and gas temperature. Drying room
temperature I (near the chimney) is higher than the temperature when using solar energy (8:00–16:00), this is due to the fan-out air
accumulating around the chimney entrances.
Fig. 8 shows changes in fish weight and water content in fish during the drying process in hybrid mode. The final weight of dried
fish after 17 h rest at 12.3 kg, with an initial load of 25 kg. The graph shows that the water content curve remains flat after 15 h,
meaning the water content tends to be constant. Therefore, it concludes that the designed and fabricated dryers are capable of drying
the fish for 15 h with the final moisture content in the fish around 12%.

Fig. 7. Temperature distribution in a hybrid drying chamber (sun-biomass).

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Fig. 8. Changes in weight and moisture content of fish during the drying process.

3.2. Financial analysis of dry fish production business

In the economic analysis, selected fish drying pattern using simple technology. The elected production capacity of the dried fish
product set according to the availability of excessive captured fish during each season. The period of financial analysis is by the
project's age, which is five years. In this business, all land used for business activities, whether in the form of land and buildings, is
assumed to rent the property of others. Machines and equipment calculated in the cost component are all machinery and equipment,
whether purchased or self-made equipment by the entrepreneur, which is equivalent to some currency.
The land and building area for this fish drying business is 300 m2 and 100 m2 of the building. The number of working days in a
year is 300 days. Production capacity 50 kg/day. The purchase price of fish raw material is Rp 15.000/kg ($1,28/kg), while dry fish
selling price is Rp. 45.000/kg ($ 3,3/kg). The investment cost in this fish drying business is allocated to start the business covering
licensing fees, land and building lease, and equipment purchase. Table 1 presents the components of the fish-dryer business in-
vestment cost.
Operational costs or variable costs always depend on the size of the production per period. These operational costs include the
cost of purchasing raw materials, operational equipment, machine maintenance and labor costs. The most significant of the op-
erational costs expenditure was the purchasing of fish as presented in Table 2.
Budget required for fish drying business comprises of investment and working capital, planned investment fund sourced from
bank loan (70%) and self-fund (30%). For working capital from bank loan (51%) and self-owned funds (75%). Empirical findings
revealed that the period of investment installment and working capital credit channeled for financing this fish business is about one
year, the interest rate of 17.50% per year with effective decreased-interest calculation scheme. Table 3 shows The calculation of the
repayment of investment credit loans.
The dried fish produced each year assuming as much as 300 working days is 12,000 kg with a selling price of $ 3.3 / kg resulting
in an income stream of $ 200,000 per year. Based on the calculation of cash flow using the underlying assumption then simulated
income by estimating the decrease in revenue equal to 3,25%. These simulation results show that if income decreases to 3.25% this
business is still feasible and profitable to be continued due to IRR value > prevailing credit interest rate, that is IRR = 18.61%
positive NPV value, $ 21,091, - and Net B/C Ratio > 1, that is 1.03. Since fish was one of the more significant products of Langsa,
therefore, the fish-dryers processing business is suitable to become an asset to community income source.

4. Conclusion

From the results of this study it can be concluded that the hybrid type fish dryers that utilize solar energy and energy from
biomass can dry the fish in only 15 h, and when there is no sun, this system operates with biomass energy. The cost required for

Table 1
Details of investment costs.
No Cost Volume Unit Price ($) Total Cost ($)

1 Business Licensing 1 40 40
2 Rent of land and building/ year 1 15 15
3 Main machinery and equipment:
- Hybrid Dryer 2 1,900 3,800
- Materials and Supporting Tools 1 650 650
Total Investment Cost (Rp) 4,505

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Table 2
Details of operational costs.
No Cost (Volume/year) Unit Prices ($) Total cost ($)

1 Raw material
Wet Fish (kg) 15,000 1.26 18,889
2 Supporting materials for production
Wood Fuel (kg) 500 3.75 1851
Other materials (kg) 890 1.85 1667
3 Cost of Electricity and Communication
Electricity cost (year) 12 22.22 267
Communication costs (year) 12 11.11 133
4 Maintenance Cost 12 111.11 1333
5 Labor
Permanent Labor ($/month) (2person) 36 161 5800
Manpower Management ($/month) 1 212 212
Total Operational cost 30,152

Table 3
Detailed cost requirements of banks for investment and operations.
No Cost Total Cost ($)

1 Investment funds sourced from

a. Bank 4143
b. Own cost 2762
Amount of investment fund 6905
2 Working capital fund sourced from
a. Bank 17,550
b. Own cost 16,862
The amount of working capital cost 34,412
3 Total project funds sourced from
a. Bank 21,693
b. Own cost 19,624
The amount of project cost 41,317

fabrication of a hybrid dryer is Rp. 25,250,000, - ($ 1870) with a production capacity of 100 kg of fish. Based on the results of the
financial analysis for a dry fish production capacity of 12,000 kg per year, selling price $ 3.3 / kg, obtained IRR = 18.61%, NPV = $
21.091 and break-even point = 2.6 years.

Acknowledgment

The authors acknowledge the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education, the Republic of Indonesia, which has
financed the implementation of this activity through the Grant of Regional Superior Development Program 2017.

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