Designing and Manufacturing Solar Dryers for Increased Marketability of Agricultural Products

Designing and Manufacturing Solar Dryers for Increased Marketability of Agricultural Products

Presenter(s)

Daniel O'Connor

Comments

3:00-4:15, Kennedy Union Ballroom

Description

In the rural pueblo of Huyro, Peru, many community members have agriculture productsgrowing on their land, but are unable to profit from them due to the large labor requirement anda local surplus of raw product. With the addition of a solar dryer, these community members caneasily increase the marketability and profit of their products. The solar dryer uses the heat of thesun to dehydrate fruits and dry coffee. Dehydrating the fruit allows the farmers to sell theirproduct to city bars and restaurants that use the dehydrated fruit as ornaments on their food andcocktails. From an engineering perspective, we were responsible for mapping out a circuit diagramthat would allow both the inlet and outlet fans to be powered from the same solar panel. Fromthere, we wired the control box and the power systems in the dryer accordingly and installed thesystem. The creation of joint pieces for Fidel’s dryer required us to fix and test two 3D printers.Lastly, the dryer needed a door. This presented the challenge of putting a rectangular door on atriangular dome. Through much engineering trial and error, we were able to create a functionaldoor that was continuous with the exterior of the dome to ensure proper functionality.

Publication Date

4-23-2025

Project Designation

Independent Research

Primary Advisor

Molly Katherine Savage, Scott J. Schneider

Primary Advisor's Department

Engineering Management, Systems, and Technology

Keywords

Stander Symposium, School of Engineering

Designing and Manufacturing Solar Dryers for Increased Marketability of Agricultural Products

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