Design And Manufacturing of Solar Dehydrator
A solar food dehydrator is used to dry foods, like fruits and vegetables, so that they can be stored for long periods of time. Running on solar power makes these food dryers efficient and inexpensive. Solar food dehydrators can be used in almost any climate. While people have been drying their surpl
2025-06-28 16:31:53 - Adil Khan
Design And Manufacturing of Solar Dehydrator
Project Area of Specialization Electrical/Electronic EngineeringProject SummaryA solar food dehydrator is used to dry foods, like fruits and vegetables, so that they can be stored for long periods of time. Running on solar power makes these food dryers efficient and inexpensive. Solar food dehydrators can be used in almost any climate. While people have been drying their surpluses of fruits and vegetables for centuries by hanging them out in the sun, modern solar food dryers combine these techniques with modern technology to make the most out of the sun's heat and energy. Why dehydrating foods so it is due to the reason that Taking advantage of freshly grown fruits and veggies by storing extras for use later in the year. Creating healthy snacks from fresh produce. Making fruit or vegetable leather, which is a chewy and tasty treat made from dried food. Saving money by drying and storing your own produce rather than purchasing it out of season. The working principle of the dehydrator is that Food is prepared by slicing or chopping and then placed on trays or layers of cheesecloth which are then placed inside the dehydrator. Instead of using electricity to direct warm air around the food to dry it out, a solar food dehydrator uses free, renewable energy from the sun. Depending on the design and size of your solar food dehydrator, the food inside is generally ready within two days the fruits which are appropriate for drying are apples, bananas, mangoes, strawberries, tomatoes, onions, garlic, beans, peas carrots, broccoli, pumpkin or squash, celery. The proposed project is focused on the design, construction, and performance of solar dehydrator for fruit preservation purposes. The solar dehydrator will be capable to measure humidity and inner and outer temperature. It will also be equipped with Arduino and related modules to send information to an android application, which will show all the necessary information on the user’s mobile screen. It will also be able to maintain a constant temperature inside the solar dehydrator with the help of automated doors. Battery and solar panel will include in the design to run the solar dehydrator to power up the circuit.
Project ObjectivesFollowing are major objectives
- The objective of this study is to develop a solar dryer in which the grains are dried simultaneously by the heated air from the solar collector.
- This work will be based on the importance of a solar dryer which is reliable and economically design and construct a solar dryer using locally available materials and to evaluate the performance of this solar dryer
- Fabrication of solar dehydrator.
- To incorrupt smart features.
- Test.
The Project implementation method is discussed below
- Recognition of need
- Problem Definition
- Conceptual Design
- Geometric Model
- Engineering Analysis
- Manufacturing
- Experimentation and testing
- It creates employment opportunities and sustainable profits.
- Dried products improve family nutrition because fruit and vegetables contain high quantities of vitamins, minerals and fibre.
- For diabetics dried fruit prepared without adding sugar is a healthy choice instead of desserts.
- Dried fruit can be used in stews, soups and casseroles or enjoyed as snacks. It can also be added to cereals for breakfast or used in making ice cream and baked products.
- It improves the bargaining position of farmers. Sometimes farmers sell at very low prices during the harvest season because they cannot store or preserve their surplus products.
- People are encouraged to establish their own gardens.
The final deliverable of the Solar Dehydrator is that to get the 3-D design for full scale prototype and the properly working prototype of Solar Dehydrator
Technical Details
| Particulars | Specification |
| Thickness of insulation to drying box | 13 mm cork-sheet |
| Number of drying trays | 1 |
| Size of the drying tray | 1.10 X 1.4 feet |
| Overall size of the storage box | 5 x 1.6 x 4.6 cubic feet |
| Type of the fan | 12V, DC. Size: 13x13 sqaure feet , 30 CFM |
| Top cover of the box | Glass covers of 4 mm thick |
| Thickness of the PVC-Sheet | 5 mm |
| Inclination of the solar glass with respect horizontal | 20° |
Particulars
Thickness of insulation to drying box
Number of drying trays
Size of the drying tray
Overall size of the storage box
Type of the fan
Top cover of the box
Thickness of the PVC-Sheet
Inclination of the solar glass with respect horizontal
Final Deliverable of the Project Hardware SystemCore Industry FoodOther Industries Manufacturing Core Technology RoboticsOther Technologies OthersSustainable Development Goals Good Health and Well-Being for People, Industry, Innovation and InfrastructureRequired Resources| Elapsed time in (days or weeks or month or quarter) since start of the project | Milestone | Deliverable |
|---|---|---|
| Month 1 | literature Review | In Order to get Familiarize with Solar Dehydrator and know about various parameters which would affect its efficiency so the purpose of the Literature Review is that optimize those parameter. |
| Month 2 | Conceptual Design and 3D-Modeling , Literature Review | To get the virtual model of each component of Solar Dehydrator |
| Month 3 | Assembly of Component and Literature Review | Assemble it and get the complete prototype 3D virtual Model |
| Month 4 | Engineering Analysis | To Properly Designed the Prototype and maximize its Efficiency. |
| Month 5 | Manufacturing of Solar Dehydrator | To get the physical model of prototype |
| Month 6 | Experimentation and Result | To Validate the prototype |