TITLE: Solar Desiccant Drying And Its Application In Food Drying.

TEAM NO: T13

ABSTRACT

Food is a source of energy for the body, and getting a good quantity of Food is a need for
everyone’s body. As the demand grows due to the fast-increasing population, the limitation of
fertile land leads to a shortage in food production. So, it is necessary to utilize agricultural
products without any wastage. About 30% of food grains are lost due to mishandling, spoilage,
and pest infestation; it signifies that this amount of produce never reached the consumer. This
causes Wastage of Food, most of the wastage of Raw Food is because moisture in the air causes
the Food products prone to insects which tend to destroy them. Food drying can be a good
solution for this issue and it is a well-established fact that drying improves the life of the
product.
This report reviewed the various types of drying methods such as sun drying, vacuum drying,
cold drying, infrared drying, desiccant drying, hybrid drying, and solar desiccant air drying.
The introduction about the selection criteria of desiccant material & regeneration method of
desiccant material is demonstrated. Sun-drying being the oldest of the drying methods is the
cheapest, but the final dried product quality is not uniform. Modern drying methods such as
vacuum drying or infrared drying give good drying results but these are very expensive. Solar
desiccant drying can be a very effective technology for food drying because it can maintain a
balance between the quality and cost of the dried product. In the present study, the optimum
rotation speed of the desiccant wheel is found and several experiments have been performed
for banana drying. Further, the quality of the dried banana is compared with the banana by
using direct solar drying.

KEYWORDS: drying techniques, solar desiccant drying, food drying, desiccant material,
optimum rotating speed.

GUIDE: Dr. Amit Kumar

Assistant Professor MED