Abstract
In this work, an indirect solar dryer for drying cassava root chips was modelled and experimentally validated using the environmental conditions of Yaoundé in Cameroon and Yamoussoukro in Ivory Coast. The dryers were operational in natural convection mode. Resolution of the equations was achieved by finite differences and the 4th order of Runge–Kutta methods. A model was proposed for performing heat and mass transfer using thermophysical properties of cassava roots, and the obtained results were satisfactory for all conditions, with moisture content difference of less than 0.2 kg/kg between the experimental and theoretical results. The model showed that the core of the product takes more time to dry, which always prolongs the drying duration. The heat and mass transfer coefficients vary during the entire process of solar drying. The drying kinetics vary during the drying with values lower than 1.2 × 10−4 kg/(kg.s). The great gradients of humidity were observed in the thickness of the sample with a regular distribution of the temperature each drying time in the thickness of the sample.
Highlights
The challenges facing most developing countries, especially in Africa, is not what to produce but primarily how to process and preserve what is produced [1]
The objective of this research is to develop a numerical simulation model for solar drying of cassava roots in a convective mode based on heat and mass transfer, thermophysical properties, and the sorption isotherm of cassava roots
The dryers were operational in Sub-Saharan Africa in natural convection mode with Yaoundé and Yamoussoukro chosen as the towns for validation
Summary
The challenges facing most developing countries, especially in Africa, is not what to produce but primarily how to process and preserve what is produced [1]. In 2009, Africa alone lost 25% of food produced, which constitute about 4.5 million metric tonnes of food produced in 2009 [2], and the trend continued unabated until this day. This volume of food losses is very huge, considering that most homes in Africa live on less than one dollar a day. This massive loss of food production occurs mostly during the crop season when there is always a glut in the market, and producers or farmers struggle to sell their product. Cassava root is among the agricultural products that are losses sustained by farmers because cassava (Manihot utilisima Kunz.)
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