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Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Determination of Maximum Number of Layers of Solar Collector for Fish Solar Dryer
Oni Taiwo Oluwasesan

Abstract: This study presents experimental determination of maximum number of layers of solar collector for fish solar dryer. To investigate into this, four geometrically similar boxes each with an internal volume of 0.07 m3 (i.e., 0.6�0.4�0.2 m) were constructed and named Dryer 1, 2, 3 and 4. Dryer 1, 2, 3 and 4 has one layer of solar collector, two layers of solar collector, three layers of solar collectors and four layers of solar collector, respectively. Each of the solar collectors has a thickness of 0.5 mm. Each of the dryers was loaded with 0.4 kg of fish with temperature between 27 and 31�C, the ambient temperature being between 20 and 25�C. The experiments were conducted between 1000 and 1700 h for 2 days. The results of the experiments revealed that the fish temperature in Dryer 1, 2, 3 and 4 rose to 47, 52, 46 and 44�C, respectively. The percent moisture loss of the fish in Dryers 1, 2, 3 and 4 were 33.0, 38.0, 36.5 and 32.5%, respectively. The Dryers 1, 2, 3 and 4 gave a drying rate of 0.014, 0.02 , 0.017 and 0.013 kg h-1, respectively. Thus, the arrangement of the fish solar dryer in descending order of performance is Dryer 2, 3, 1 and 4. This indicates that a maximum of two layers of solar collector is required for a fish solar dryer to enhance its performance.

How to cite this article
Oni Taiwo Oluwasesan , 2008. Determination of Maximum Number of Layers of Solar Collector for Fish Solar Dryer. Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 3: 553-559.

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