Drying Conditions in a Solar Dryer System and its Influence in the Moisture Content of Dried Banana

Abstract

This work presents the dynamics of solar radiation, temperature, and relative humidity within a five-day period inside and outside a solar dryer. Solar irradiation within the observation period followed a cyclic pattern, peaking at midday and fluctuating in the late afternoon. Similar cyclic trend was noticed for the temperature inside the dryer. Meanwhile, significantly lower temperatures with less defined increase and fluctuations were measured outside the dryer. Moreover, relative humidity measurements inside the solar dryer revealed more defined fluctuations where drastic decrease in the relative humidity occurred as time approached midday and eventual increase was noted towards the evening. Finally, the dynamics of moisture content removal in the banana were observed to be related to the mentioned parameters. Inside the solar dyer, moisture content removal tends to drastically occur at midday when the solar radiation and temperature are at its peak, and the relative humidity is at its lowest. More efficient moisture content removal was observed inside the solar dryer as compared to the ambient environment. Interestingly, daily increment in the reduction of moisture content varies, showing the third day with the most drastic moisture content reduction.