Performance Evaluation of Solar Dryer for Drying Agricultural Produce in Ozoro

The solar drying system employs the radiation of solar energy to heat up air in the chambers and dry any food substance loaded in it, which is beneficial not only in reducing wastage of agricultural produce but also helps in its preservation. Conventional methods of food preservation, such as exposure to direct sunlight, even though it's simple, has its limitations, which include liability to pests and rodents’ attacks, lack of proper monitoring, and the high cost of the mechanical dryers. Due to these limitations, this paper presents the design and construction of a domestic solar dryer, which was used to preserve agricultural produce. The dryer is composed of a solar collector (air heater), a solar drying chamber containing a rack of drying trays, both being integrated, a heater, an axial fan, a temperature sensor, and a thermostat. The air allowed in through the air inlet is heated up in the solar collector and channeled through the drying chamber, where it is utilized in drying agricultural produce placed in it. The design was based on the topographical location of Ozoro and climatological data were obtained for proper design specification. Locally available materials were used for the construction of the solar dryer. Testing and performance analysis were carried out using plantain, tomato and onion as agricultural samples, and with the results obtained with these samples, this solar dryer can also be used to dry other types of crops.