Conceptual design of smart multi-farm produce dehydrator using a low-cost programmable logic controller and raspberry pi

Victoria Oguntosin,Sunkanmi Oluwaleye,Francis Idachaba

doi:10.12688/f1000research.54463.2

Abstract

Background: Acceptable food processing techniques require the removal of water contents from the crop or food sample without destroying the nutritional qualities of the food sample. This poses a strict requirement on the dehydrator or oven that will be used in the dehydrating techniques to have the ability to control both temperature and humidity of its drying chamber. Methods: This work centres on how an autonomous multi-farm produce dehydrator that can also serve as an oven can be designed with a raspberry pi and a low-cost programmable logic controller (PLC). The dehydrator gives the users the flexibility to control both the drying chamber’s temperature and humidity from its web interface via a mobile device or the dehydrator’s HMI. Heat energy from the Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) is used so that the dehydrator can be readily available for commercial or industrial use. The small electricity required to power the electronics devices is obtained from the hybrid power solution with an electric energy source from either the mains electricity supply or solar.. The design was tested by creating an operation profile from the proposed web application for the dehydrator. The operation trend was analysed from the web application’s Trendlines page. Results: The report showed that both the temperature and humidity of the dehydrator could be controlled, and access to historical operation data will give insight to the user on how to create a better operation profile. Conclusion: The setup described in this work, when implemented was able to produce a dehydrator/oven whose temperature and humidity can be perfectly controlled and its generated heat is evenly distributed in its drying chamber to ensure efficient and effective drying techniques use in crop preservation and food processing.

Highlights

Over the years, the need for postharvest food preservation has been on the high increase, especially in Africa, where farmers depend on the natural climate for the cultivation of their crops
Design This paper focuses on a conceptual design of a dehydrator for drying multi-farm produce, the product has not been physically fabricated and tested
The target temperature was set to 50°C; the target humidity was set to 35%; the maximum and minimum fan speed was set to 2000rpm and 600rmp respective

Summary

Introduction

The need for postharvest food preservation has been on the high increase, especially in Africa, where farmers depend on the natural climate for the cultivation of their crops. O Lamidi,[6] where the harvested heat energy was distributed into the drying chamber with the help of an air blower This approach was extended to the design of a hybrid dehydrator where liquid petroleum gas (LPG) was used to generate the required heat energy when solar energy was not available. Acceptable food processing techniques require the removal of water contents from the crop or food sample without destroying the nutritional qualities of the food sample This poses a strict requirement on the dehydrator or oven that will be used in the dehydrating techniques to have the ability to control both temperature and humidity of its drying chamber. Conclusion: The setup described in this work, when implemented was able to produce a dehydrator/oven whose temperature and humidity can be perfectly controlled and its generated heat is evenly distributed in its drying chamber to ensure efficient and effective drying techniques use in crop preservation and food processing

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Conclusion