PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENT OF A HYBRID DRYER WITH A REFLECTOR

The present work aims to study the performance of hybrid solar dryer integrated with reflector systems for drying cashew. The effect of glass reflector on the thermal performance and drying time of the cashew nut has been studied. Drying time for reducing the moisture content of 9.5% to 3 % (wb) was found to be within seven hrs in the hybrid dryer equipped with reflectors heating system, whereas it took 15 h in the open sun drying. The system efficiency of the hybrid dryer with reflector system was found to be 17%. The dryer was found suitable for domestic use and drying of cashew nut products.