Extending the drying capability utilising nature airflow booster for convective solar dryer

The implementation stages of a portable solar-based dryer, which is to be used for the drying of the pepper-berries in rural or sub-rural farms or plantations, are presented. A long chimney will contribute to positive result in extending the drying capability and stability for a solar tunnel dryer even it is working under a mixed weather condition. The long chimney can help to control the climate inside the drying compartment by channeling more moist air from the drying compartment, thus, encouraging evaporation to occur at the surface of the pepper berries. A solar tunnel dryer that is fixed with a long chimney will work during the night time as well as obtaining great drying result during rainy days. This would then highlight the possibility of a 24-hr, all-weather natural convective dryer. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the 7th European Congress of Chemical Engineering-7 and 19th International Congress of Chemical and Process Engineering CHISA (Prague, Czech Republic 8/28/2010-9/1/2010).