Low-cost solar dryer dehydrates silver banana with a prediction of diffusion approximation model

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Solar dryers made from recycled materials offer a cost-effective solution for promoting the widespread adoption of this technology and reducing food production costs. In this study, a low-cost solar dryer was constructed using repurposed materials, employing indirect exposure, and its performance was evaluated through a kinetic study on banana slice drying (Musa spp.). Drying was carried out until equilibrium moisture, reaching constant mass. The drying air's temperature and relative humidity (RH, %) were monitored. Fourteen empirical models were used to fit the experimental data. The banana slices took approximately 300 min to dry, with final moisture of 1.8%. The mean operational conditions during natural drying were 59.08±9.16 °C and RH = 39±4%. The diffusion Approximation model fitted the drying curve better, as it presented the lowest reduced Chi-square (χ2 = 2.9×10-5) and a high coefficient of determination (R2 = 0.9998). The effective diffusion coefficient (Def = 5.4×10-9 m2/s, R2 = 0.9935) was determined. Thus, the solar dryer demonstrated efficient performance in the banana drying process, requiring minimal design effort. Furthermore, despite the limitations in controlling the drying conditions, most of the mathematical models successfully predicted the drying process due to the dryer's ability to maintain the continuity of the drying curve, suggesting potential viability for this low-cost dryer.