Design and Experiment of Integrative Fruit-vegetable Solar-air Drier

Abstract:

A solar-air drier which was applied to dry many kinds of agro-products was studied in order to take advantage of ample solar energy in Xinjiang and improve productivity of solar drying equipment and improve quality of dried fruits and vegetables. Solar energy was the main energy sources and electricity was auxiliary. Azimuth angle and elevation of solar collector could be adjusted manually when sun light changed. The experiment result showed that solar collector could provide 11964kJ/h heat energy which was sufficient for the drier, but there was 1.5~4.0℃ difference in fore and back parts of the drier. The time of drying entire apricot was 79h which was 52％ shorter than convention, the percentage of first-class dried apricot was 85％. 