TITLE:
Experimental Study of a Modified Icaro Solar Dryer: The Case of Coffee Drying
AUTHORS:
Auguste Oscar Mackpayen, Aloys Martial Ekoe A. Akata, Vinci De Dieu Bokoyo Barandja, Kossi Napo
KEYWORDS:
Solar Dryer, Icaro, Experimental Validation, Moisture Content, Coffee, Tem-perature
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Power and Energy Engineering,
Vol.11 No.7,
July
28,
2023
ABSTRACT: Food losses in the developing country are thought to be 50% of the fruits and
vegetables grown and 25% of harvested food grain. Food preservation can reduce
wastage of a harvest surplus, allow storage for food shortages, and in some
cases facilitate export to high-value markets. Drying is one of the oldest methods
of food preservation. Drying makes produce lighter, smaller, and less likely to
spoil and helps to minimize the moisture content in coffee beans as high
moisture content during storage is certain to ruin the taste and appearance of
coffee. This work presents the results of an experimental study of forced
convection drying of coffee cherries in a modified Icaro solar dryer. The study
aims to validate the numerical models developed for further research. The
experimental tests envisaged also aim to determine the mass loss curves of the
product by fixing or calculating its initial mass (1 kg), its initial water
content (70%), the ambient temperature, the drying airflow (0.02 m3.s-1 to 0.09 m3.s-1) and the exchange coefficients. The
influence of these aerothermal parameters on the drying time of a most
commercialized coffee variety (Robusta) was studied. Finally, the results
revealed an increase in the efficiency of the heat transfer air and a reduction
in the water content of the coffee cherry from 70% to 9.87%, after 30.2 hours.