Evaluation of Drying Model and Quality Analysis of Turmeric Using Solar Thermal System
Masnaji R. Nukulwar, Vinod B. Tungikar
Abstract
This study is aimed to find the quality and appropriate thin layer mathematical model suitable for drying kinetics of turmeric which has the least impact of weather conditions. A user-friendly indirect natural convection solar dryer (INCSD) working on compound parabolic concentrator (CPC) was developed and fabricated for this purpose. It is observed that there is a dominant impact of the environmental conditions on the efficiency of solar drying. Adverse weather conditions hinder the collection of solar radiation. It was observed that the moisture content reduces from 77 to 18% in the solar dryer in 24 h as compared to open sun-drying, which requires 40 h. Six thin layer mathematical models reported in the literature have been tried for INCSD and open sun-drying. Thin layer mathematical modeling at different temperatures is presented with quality analysis. Maximum curcumin percentage 3.73% in the turmeric is found at 55°C drying air temperature. Minimum ash content is found to be 6.5% at 60°C. Experimental results reveal that the page model fits best for INCSD as well as for open sun-drying (OSD).