Design, fabrication, and evaluation of a low-cost portable solar dryer for shrimp feeds

Feed cost is the largest component in shrimp farming which accounts for more than 50% of the operational cost. The moisture content of the feed should be less than 12% to prevent spoilage and to extend the shelf life of the feed. Though there are many dryers for drying agriculture products, a low-cost indigenous design is not available for drying shrimp feeds. Hence, a portable drying unit for shrimp feed has been designed, fabricated, and evaluated for its drying efficacy for the usage of small-scale shrimp farmers. The solar dryer is based on the principle of flat plate solar collector and greenhouse effect. The dryer unit was fabricated with 3 decks of metal mesh with trays. The whole structure is enclosed in a polycarbonate housing with glass material as a thermal collector to concentrate solar energy thus combining greenhouse heating and concentrated thermal collection for drying. Evaluation trials were conducted to monitor the temperature profile, loss on drying, and moisture removal rate of the shrimp feeds as per the standard methodology. Moreover, the drying performance was evaluated by comparing it with oven and the traditional sun drying. Properties of the feeds dried with different drying methods were compared. The developed portable solar dryer was evaluated to be efficient for shrimp feed drying.