Design and Development of Family Size Solar Dryer Capable of Single Day Aqua and Horticulture Products Drying: Thermal Modeling and Experimental Validation

Abstract

Mass migration of able labour force from remote and rural areas to big cities is mainly driven by food insecurity, energy unavailability and reduction in economic opportunities. These have created demographic imbalances in larger cities, leading to social tensions and slums. Developing appropriate and cost-effective low-technology intensive solar drying technique has immense potential to initiate sustainable developmental activities in rural areas, where migration has decisively reduced options of development at various levels. In this paper, a family size Cabinet Solar Dryer (CSD) capable of drying aqua-products as well as horticulture products is presented. The model is developed theoretically and validated experimentally to meet various objectives of sustainable development in rural areas of India. It can be used in any other developing countries as well. The results indicate that the dryer designed and proposed is versatile in nature, easy in technology absorption, and localized in manufacturing. The dried products can be preserved for over six months with almost all essential and vital food values intact and without any application of pesticides and preservatives. They can be transported easily to economic hubs at room temperature, without any requirement of specialized services. Further, it does not require involvement of able labour force and can be easily handled by women and children casually.