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PRINT ISSN : 2319-7692
Online ISSN : 2319-7706 Issues : 12 per year Publisher : Excellent Publishers Email : editorijcmas@gmail.com / submit@ijcmas.com Editor-in-chief: Dr.M.Prakash Index Copernicus ICV 2018: 95.39 NAAS RATING 2020: 5.38 |
A solar tunnel dryer installed at Ramakrishna Agro. Vegetables & Food Product Kodoli, was evaluated. Its performance for Basil leaves drying and also its techno-economic analysis was carried by different indicators such as Net Present Worth (NPW), Benefit-Cost ratio (B:C) and Payback Period. The maximum temperature of 61ºC was recorded at 13:30 h in solar tunnel dryer during the drying process which was 40.49% (36.3ºC) higher than the maximum ambient temperature at the same time. On an average, a total drying time of 12.5 hours were required for solar tunnel dryer to reduce the moisture content of Basil leaves from initial value of 1011.11 percenton dry basis (d.b) to a final moisture content of 33.33 per cent (d.b) while the open sun drying required on an average 15.5 drying hours to obtain same level of moisture content. The Net Present Worth, Cost-benefit Ratio and Payback period for solar tunnel dryer were Rs. 62,894/-, 1.11 and 7 Month 2 Days, respectively.