Dr. B. K. Bala
Professor
Department of Farm Power and Machinery, BAU, Mymensingh-2202
Md. Ashraful Haque
Assistant Professor
Department of Farm Power and Machinery, BAU, Mymensingh-2202
This research presents the field level performances of the solar tunnel drier for drying of jackfruit and jackfruit leather and also presents the prediction of the performance of the solar tunnel drier for drying of jackfruit and jackfruit leather using neutral network. The drier consists of a transparent plastic covered flat plate collector and a drying tunnel connected in a series to supply hot air directly into the drying tunnel using two fans, operated by a solar module. This drier has a loading capacity of 120-150 kg of fruits. Seventeen experimental runs were conducted for drying of jackfruit and jackfruit leather. Of which nine experimental runs were conducted for drying of jackfruit and eight experimental runs were conducted for drying of jackfruit leather. The use of solar tunnel drier leads to considerable reduction of drying time in comparison to sun drying and the quality of the product dried in the solar tunnel drier was of quality dried products as compared to sun dried products. A neural network approach is used to predict the performances of the solar tunnel drier and the model has been trained using solar drying data of jackfruit and jackfruit leather. The prediction of the model has been found very good and can be used to predict the potential of the drier for different locations and can also be used in a predictive optimal control algorithm. The drier is simple in construction and can be constructed using locally available materials by the local craftsman. The solar tunnel drier can be operated by one photovoltaic module independent of electrical grid. The photovoltaic system has the advantage that the temperature of the drying air is automatically controlled by the solar radiation. A neural network with 6 inputs and 2 hidden layer was found to be able to predict the operation of the drier after it was adequately trained.
Jackfruit, Bulbs, Lather, Fruit, Drying jackfruit
Department of Farm Power and Machinery, BAU.
1. To determine the effects of different pretreatment and drying parameters on the quality of dried jackfruit bulbs and lather.
2. To determine the sorption isotherm of dried jackfruit bulbs and lather.
3. To assess the performance of the solar tunnel dried jackfruit bulbs and lather.
4. To develop a computer model to simulate photovoltaic forced convection solar drying of jackfruit bulbs and lather.
5. To optimize the solar tunnel drier for efficient drying of jackfruit bulbs and lather under Bangladesh conditions.
6. To develop safe storage conditions for dried jackfruit bulbs and lather.
7. To identify the most appropriate and economic design best suited to needs of the users in Bangladesh.
Extensive experiments will be conducted in the laboratory to determine the factors affecting the quality of the jackfruit bulbs and lather that will meet international standards. In dried fruit production two types of dried product will be considered- The dried bulbs and the lather. The laboratory experiments will be focused on the determination of the effects of pretreatment and the drying parameters such as drying temperature, relative humidity and air flow rate on the quality products.
Finally an economic analysis will be conducted to evaluate the viability of the system and an appropriate and economic design best suited to the needs of the users will be identified.
Bangladesh Agricultural University Research Progress, Volume 15,
Proceedings of the Workshop 15-16 January 2005,
Bangladesh Agricultural University Research System (BAURES), Mymensingh
Bangladesh.
225000
Finally an economic analysis will be conducted to evaluate the viability of the system and an appropriate and economic design best suited to the needs of the users will be identified.
Report/Proceedings