USING SOLAR ENERGY TO DRY EGYPTIAN CLOVER | ||
| Misr Journal of Agricultural Engineering | ||
| Article 15, Volume 27, Issue 4, October 2010, Pages 1228-1242 PDF (614 K) | ||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/mjae.2010.104818 | ||
| Authors | ||
| A. F Abd El-Mottaleb; M.T. Ebaid; B. E. Hemeda | ||
| Senior Res. Agr. Eng. Res. Inst., Agric. Res. Center, Dokki, Giza, Egypt. | ||
| Abstract | ||
| A solar dryer has been developed and tested for drying high moisture of clover crop (Trifolium alexandrinum) at the Food Technology Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center. The dryer used solar heated air passing by forced convection through a beds of green forage. Three beds were employed to investigate the effect of solar drying of clover on the final quality of hay in comparison with the natural drying method. The obtained results showed that:: - Clover moisture content decreased from an initial level of 85.67 % (w.b.) to final level of about 12.86 % in 26 and 94 h. for the solar drying and natural sun drying method respectively. This means that solar drying method could reduce the required time for drying clover hay by about 72 % in comparison with sun drying method. - The thermal efficiency of the dryer approached about 26 %. - The chlorophyll A and B and carotenoid content of the solar dried clover were slightly higher for solar dried samples in comparison with sun dried samples. Meanwhile the percentage of crude protein, fiber content and ash content increased by 10.18, 3.22 and 4.8 % respectively. | ||
| References | ||
|
Abd El-baki, S. M., Nowar, M. S., Soliman, I., Hassona, E. M. and Fouad, H. (1998). Effect of feeding red top kandy as a summer green forage on milk production of Friesian cows. Zagazig J. Agric. Res., 15(2).
Abd El-latif S. M., A. M. Matouk and K. N. Abdalla (1993). Solar heat drying of dtes. 1. Dryer set up. J. Agric. Sci., Mansoura Univ., 1(8) :2365-2374.
Abd El-latif S. M., and M. A. Helmy (1993). Solar dryers utilization in clover drying for providing forage materials in critical feed periods. J. Agric. Sci., Mansoura Univ., 18(8) :2375-2383.
Abd El-latif, S. M. (1989). Some design parameters affecting solar panel thermal performance. Misr J. of Agric. Eng. 6(1): 45-56.
AOAC, (1970). Official Methods of Analysis, 4th ed. Assoc. of Official Agric. Chemists, Wash. D.C., U.S.A. 1006.
Awady, M. N., S. A. Mohamed, A. S. El-Sayed and A. A. Hassanain (1993). Utilization of solar energy for drying processes of agricultural products. Misr J. of Agric. Eng. 10(4):794-804.
Ayensu a. (1997). Dehydration of food crops using a solar dryer with convection heat flow. Solar en., (4-6)121-126.
El-Kholy, M. M. (2003). Development and evaluation of natural convection solar dryer. J. Agric. Sci. Mansoura Univ., 28(5): 3967-3982.
El-Shiatry A. M., J. Muller and W. Muhlbauer (1991). Drying fruits and vegetables with solar energy in Egypt. Agric. Mec. in Asia., 22(4): 61-64.
Jindal, V K. and V. G.Reyes, (1987). Conduction heating of rough rice for accelerated drying. Paper No. 87-6043, (ASAE) summer Mtg, Baltimore.
Kamel O. M. (1999). Utilization of solar energy in agricultural crop drying. Unpublished M.Sc. Th., Mech. Eng. Dept., Fac. Eng. El-Azher Univ:1-3.
Kassem, A. M., I. E. El-Batawi and Mahassen M. S. (2006). Effect of solar energy and other drying methods on quality of some medicinal plants. The 14th An. Conf. Misr Soci. of Ag. Eng., 22 Nov. :766:782.
Tayel S. A. and M. F. Wahby (1989). Drying behavior of a natural convection solar drying system., Misr J. of Agric. Eng. 6(1): 27-37. | ||
|
Statistics Article View: 168 PDF Download: 370 |
||
