Solar dryer

Solar dryers are used to eliminate the moisture content from crops,

vegetables, and fruits. The solar dryer consists of a box made up of
easily available and cheap material like cement, galvanized iron, brick,
and plywood.
The top surface of the dryer is covered by transparent single and double-
layered sheets. The inside surface is colored black to absorb the
incoming solar radiation. Since the box is insulated, the inside
temperature of the box is raised. 
The air is ventilated through the small holes at the top of the box. As the
inside air gets warm, it rises by the natural circulation process and
removes the moisture from the fruits, vegetables, and the crops placed in
trays inside the box.
To fill the vacuum, fresh air comes in by a forced draught process and
the process continues, as shown in Fig below..

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Solar dryers could be classified as direct or indirect types. The former
involves directly exposing the material to the sun. While in the latter, the
material is dried by circulating hot air over it without directly exposing
the material to the sun.

The merits of any solar dryer would depend upon the type and quantity
of material to be dried. Sometimes a passive system incorporates a wind-
driven fan for the air circulation.

SPRAY DRYING
Spray drying is a process where a liquid droplet is rapidly dried as it
comes in contact with a stream of hot air, where the atomized feed travel
concurrent with the drying air.
The small size of the liquid droplets allows very rapid drying and the
residence time of the material inside the spray drier is in the order of
seconds. The dried material is separated from air in a cyclone separator.
The dried material is continuously withdrawn and cooled.
Heat could damage the product if contact with the high temperature
drying air is prolonged. While the droplet is drying, the temperature
remains at the wet bulb temperature of the drying air.
For this reason, very high temperatures of the drying air can be tolerated
in a drier with a minimum of damage to the heat sensitive components.
Furthermore, rate of degradative reactions in foods slows down at low
moisture contents. Thus, the portion of the drying process where product
temperatures goes higher than the wet bulb temperature does not result
in severe heat damage to the product.
A major requirement of successful spray drying is the reduction of the
moisture content of a liquid droplet to a dryness level that would prevent
the particle from sticking to a solid surface, as the particle impinges on
that surface.
The rate of drying of the particles must be such that from the time the
particle leaves the atomizer to the time it impinges upon the walls of the
spray drier, the particle is dry.
The trajectory and velocity of the particles determines the available
drying time. The rate of drying and the time required to dry are
dependent upon the temperature of the drying air, the heat transfer
coefficient and the diameter of the droplet being dried.
A constant rate and a falling rate drying stage are also manifested in a
spray drying process. As the wet droplets leave the atomizer, their
surfaces rapidly lose water. Solidified solute and suspended solids
rapidly form a solid crust on the surface of each particle.
The formation of the solid crust constitutes the constant rate stage of
drying. When the crust becomes sufficiently thick to offer considerable
resistance to movement of water toward the surface, the drying rate
drops, and the rate of drying is controlled by the rate of mass transfer.
The temperature of the particle increases and the liquid trapped in the
interior of the particle vaporizes and generates pressure. Eventually, a
portion of the crust breaks and the vapor is released. Spray dried
particles consist of hollow spheres or fragments of spheres. This shape
of the particles is responsible for the excellent rehydration properties of
spray dried powders.

Continuous Tunnel Dryers

Continuous tunnel dryers are often batch truck or tray compartments
operated in series. The solids are placed on trays or on trucks which
move continuously through a tunnel with hot gases passing over the
surface of each tray. The hot air flow can be countercurrent, co-current,
or a combination. Many foods are dried in this way. When granular
particles of solids are to be dried, perforated or screen-belt continuous
conveyors are often used. The wet granular solids are conveyed as a
layer 25 to about 1 50 mm deep on a screen or perforated apron while
heated air is blown upward through the bed, or downward. The dryer
consists of several sections in series, each with a fan and heating coils. A
portion of the air is exhausted to the atmosphere by a fan. In some cases
pasty materials can be preformed into cylinders and placed on the bed to
be dried.
Tray Dryer
In tray dryers, also called shelf, cabinet, or compartment dryers, the
material, which may be a lumpy solid or a pasty solid, is spread u
infirmly on a metal tray to a depth of 10 to 100 mm. Such a typical tray
dryer, contains removable trays loaded in a cabin et. Steam-heated air is
re-circulated by a fan over and parallel to the surface of the trays.
Electrical heat is also used, especially for low heating loads. About 10 to
20% of the air passing over the trays is fresh air, the remainder being re-
circulated air. After drying, the cabinet is opened and the trays are
replaced with a new batch of trays.
A modification of this type is the tray-truck type, where trays are loaded
on trucks which are pushed into the dryer. This saves considerable time,
since the trucks can be loaded and unloaded outside the dryer. In the
case of granular materials, the material can be loaded on screens which
are the bottom of each tray. Then in this through-circulation dryer,
heated air passes through the permeable bed, giving shorter drying times
because of the greater surface area exposed to the air.
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