Performance Evaluation of Natural Convection Small Scale Greenhouse Solar Dryer for Drying Grapes

Abstract

– A small-scale greenhouse solar dryer (GHSD) has been used to dry grapes in order to produce cost effective resins. The effectiveness of a small, uneven shaped greenhouse solar drier was studied in this paper. Grapes with an initial moisture content of 85% (w.b.) were dried to a final moisture content of 10.0% to 20% (w.b.) in only 6 days (129.5 hours) utilising an uneven shaped greenhouse solar drier. The GHSD temperature was found in the range 500 C to 700C while relative humidity inside was observed varying 5% to 28% .The weight of 500gm in each tray was found 110gm, 124gm and 121gm. The average weight reduced in all 3 trays was 76%. The grapes took 129.5 hrs to get dried. GHSD helps to dry grapes during adverse weather conditions.