Drying of apricots in a rotary column cylindrical dryer (RCCD) supported with solar energy

Rapid deterioration of fruits and vegetables necessitates their consumption in a limited area. The solutions to this problem may be provided by techno logical precautions, which not only increase economic efficiency but also m otivates agricultural developments. Among the technological operations appl ied to increase the market life of the foods, drying operation is of prime importance which is applicable to almost all the agricultural products, In this work, drying of apricots in a newly developed rotary column cylindrica l dryer (RCCD) equipped with a specially designed air solar collector (ASC) was investigated to find optimum drying air rate and rotation speed of dry er, to maintain uniform and hygienic drying conditions and to reduce drying times. For this purpose, the changes in the moisture contents of the Sugar piece (Sekerpare) foods were studied. Drying is an operation of prime impor tance used for almost all the agricultural products. Type apricots dried in the present dryer were compared to those of the same type apricots dried o pen on the ground. It was shown that co-operation of RCCD and ASC increased drying rate, reduced drying times and rotation of drying chamber provided gains in both time and labour. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights re served.