Design and fabrication of a domestic solar dryer for banana fruits.

Abstract

Many farmers of the world are faced with. the problem of. reducing the moisture content of their harvested crops. to prevent spoilage during. storage (Bukola and Bolaji, 2008); banana is one of the most important crops in Uganda with 16 million people depending on the plant as a source of food and income (Kikulwe, 2008). According to (Byarugaba, 2000), Uganda produces a lot- of cooking bananas of lack of value addition-most of it goes- to waste. Well as -traditional- sun drying is the oldest, simplest and widely used method, it is unhygienic and time consuming. [n addition. the direct mode dryers being used are associated with long drying hours and lass of the product quality. Improved sun dryers are expensive because they require more than one energy source. A solar dryer utilizing energy from the sun and a slotted air chamber for proper heat distribution to drying. trays in. the drying chamber was designed, fabricated and tested in this study and was be for use by farmers for drying of bananas in rural areas of Uganda and at the domestic level. The production potential of bananas in Uganda, characterization of bananas varieties grown in Uganda as well as the different drying methods and technologies were presented in chapter two of this study; additionally, the different. ways in which dried banana products. could be utilized were presented. Chapter three presented the various methods and tools that were used in achieving the objectives of the study which included; characterization of the banana varieties grown in Uganda, design of a solar dryer for drying bananas, fabrication of a prototype of the solar dryer as well as performance testing and economic evaluation of the dryer. The major findings and discussion of the results from the performance -testing of the dryer were presented in chapter four of this report. Chapter five presented the challenges faced in carrying out this study, the conclusions as well as recommendations. This report also contains lists of references and appendices