Experimental Investigation Of The Performance Of Solar Dryer For Miten Shiro Ingredients Drying

Abstract

Miten Shiro Which Is A Product Of A Mixture Of Various Ingredients Is Used To Make Ethiopian Daily Dishes. Miten Shiro Flour Producers Mix Ingredients Like Beans, Peas, And Chickpeas With Onion, Garlic, And Ginger. It Is First Washed And Spread On The Ground In A Thin Layer As It To Be Dried. However, This Process Requires A Large Area, Open Space, And Long Drying Times. Additionally, Due To Urbanization, People Are Now Living Together In Apartments. This Makes Producing Miten Shiro In The Home More Difficult In Urban Areas Since There Is No Drying Space In Apartments. These Factors Oblige The Consumers To Buy The Product From Shops And Of-Course This Is An Opportunity For The Sellers To Produce In Large Quantities. Therefore, Drying These Grains Hygienically In Large Quantities And Within A Short Period Of Time Is A Requirement For The Seller And This Can Be Achieved By Using Solar Dryers. In This Study, A Solar Dryer With Spoon-Shaped Obstacles Mounted On The Absorber Plate Is Used For Drying Miten Shiro Ingredients And Its Performance Has Been Investigated Experimentally. The Experimental Results Indicated That The Average Useful Heat Gain Value Of 438.7 W And 231.1 W Were Obtained By The Modified And Conventional Sahs, Respectively. The Average Thermal Efficiency Has Ranged From 10.27% To 42.6% And From 20.6% To 62% For Conventional And Modified Sah Respectively. Conventional And Modified Sahs Attained Average Maximum Exergy Efficiencies Of 2.12% And 3.44% Respectively. An Average Drying Chamber Useful Heat Gain Value Of 170.9 W And 140 W Were Found With And Without Enhanced Solar Collectors. Thermal Efficiency Value Of 28.49% And 23.34% Were Obtained When It Was Integrated With The Modified And Conventional Solar Air Heaters. An Average Maximum Drying Chamber Energy Efficiency Value Of 1.22% And 0.73% Were Found With And Without Enhanced Solar Collectors. The Moisture Content Of The Product Samples Was Reduced From Their Initial Value To The Final Value In 18 Hours In The Drying Chamber Integrated With Enhanced Sah And In 24 Hours (Three Days) In The Drying Chamber Integrated With Conventional Sah. The Final Moisture Content Value Of The Multi-Grain Products Was Achieved After 34 Hours (4 Days And 2 Hours) By Open-Sun Drying. The Overall Efficiency Of The Drying System Integrated With The Enhanced Collector Was Found To Be 6.23%.