Assessing the Performance of a Blackbody Solar Dryer

Abstract

About 33.3% of global food production is lost to spoilage every year. At current rates, that amount is adequate for feeding an average of 300 million people around the world. This huge loss can be decimated to 13.17% if food spoilage is avoided or managed better. One technique for minimizing food waste is solar drying. West Africa and locations around the equatorial plane are described by average daily insolation of about 4-6 kWhm−2. In effect, this energy source could be applied to curb the problem of food spoilage and wastage. Another side attraction of drying with solar is that, it offers year-round availability of food crops. In this study, solar drying is investigated with the principle of blackbody radiation using an electronic data logger coupled with the Arduino Uno, SD Card Module, DHT22 Temperature and Humidity Sensor, SD Card, and Connecting wires to record temperature and humidity data. The output was 56.3°C and 46.8°C for the upper and lower limit of temperature respectively, yielding an average difference of about 10°C. The interaction of sensible blackbody radiation within a four-tier rock bed was crafted into a novel solar dryer design. With this relatively high-temperature gradient between the upper and lower, a blackbody solar dryer constructed was suitable to preserve the both quality and shelf life of agricultural produce.