DEVELOPMENT OF A MOBILE NATURAL CONVECTION DRYER FOR NATURAL FIBERS

Abstract

A study was conducted to develop a mobile natural convection dryer for natural fibers with the following design considerations: low-cost compared to existing designs of dryers, indirect convection type, could be fueled by coconut husk with shell, coconut shell and fuel wood, replicable design, and simplicity in terms of operation. Tests were conducted to determine the suitable interval and feeding rate of each biomass fuel, determine whether significant differences existed between the different drying trays in the dryer, and evaluate the performance of the developed dryer in terms of the drying time, capacity and cost of utilization. Results revealed a significant difference in the average drying temperature of the drying trays. Succeeding tests were conducted by switching the load between the drying trays every two hours in order to obtain uniform moisture content of the leaves inside the drying bin. Cost analysis revealed that coco husk with shell gave the least cost for every hour of drying. The features that make the dryer promising and attractive to use is its mobility, less energy requirement, low investment cost, less space requirement, versatility in terms of fuel to use and adaptability to the rural setting.