DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF FURNACE TYPE DRYER

The study was conducted to design and fabricate a furnace-type dryer and was evaluated from April 1 to April 3, 2017, using Ginger (Zingiber female) as a commodity. It was conducted in the open field of the Agricultural Engineering Complex, College of Agriculture, Mindanao State University - GSC. The objectives were to determine the drying temperatures, drying time, drying rate, biomass heater combustion efficiency, drying chamber efficiency, and system efficiency and perform a simple cost-benefit analysis of the dryer. Data were gathered by taking DB and RH reading from the drying chamber, inlet, exhaust in pipes, exhaust in drying chamber, and ambient, and by weighing the 5 ginger samples in each tray every 30 minutes. The highest temperature achieved was 59°C in the drying chamber. The temperature is dependent on the amount of wood charcoal food in the furnace. The average fuel consumed was 15 kg of charcoal. The dryer was able to reduce the moisture content of ginger from initial moisture content of 82% to average moisture content of 7.45% for 4.3 hours. The calculated biomass heater combustion efficiency was 11.83%, drying chamber efficiency was 88.26% and system efficiency was 3.51%. The total cost of the fabrication of the dryer was P24,181. Further study is needed to improve the design of the furnace dryer as well as its biomass heater combustion efficiency. It is recommended to add an exhaust fan in the drying chamber to force out the moisture in the products.