Design and Performance Evaluation of a Thermostat Controlled Electric Dehydrating Machine
  • Author(s): Efosa Obaseki ; Nworie Norbert Nwadinobi ; Chiabuotu Celine C ; Uchendu Emmanuel Eberechukwu ; Njoku Paschal Ifeanyi; Ewurum Tennison I
  • Paper ID: 1705250
  • Page: 16-21
  • Published Date: 04-12-2023
  • Published In: Iconic Research And Engineering Journals
  • Publisher: IRE Journals
  • e-ISSN: 2456-8880
  • Volume/Issue: Volume 7 Issue 6 December-2023
Abstract

The study, design and performance evaluation of a thermostat controlled electric dehydrating machine was successfully investigated. CAD design approach for the thermostat controlled electric dehydrating machine was adopted and Autodesk Fusion 360 was used to create the solid model. The dehydrator retained a maximum dimension of 700mm×575mm× 1339mm, with four rectangular heating trays of 50cm× 30cm and 2mm thickness each which gave a heating surface area of 0.15m^2. In addition, heating coil was designed to retain the shape of swirl ring OP302 model with maximum heat output of 180kW within 60 minutes. HMI (Delta B03S212) and PLC (Delta-DVP20EX3) were used to control the thermostat set maximum temperature and time to 80? and 0.000011sec to retain the quality of Banana, Carrot and Plantain after drying. Banana was found to have the highest percentage wet moisture of 35.42% followed by Plantain 25.27% among the three chosen fruits with the least being that of the Carrot 11.72%, when dehydrated from 0 to 60 minutes. Furthermore, the highest mass loss was found in Banana, 109.1 grams followed by Plantain, 101.6 grams when each was heated for 20minutes. Also, machine efficiency and moisture removal rate of the machine were found to be 37.16% and 2.827g of moisture/sec respectively. These results suggested a considerable increase in machine output and performance. The paper evaluated the rate of product dehydration under steady state heat transfer condition with internal heat generation, electric thermostat was used to avoid overheating and under heating of products.

Keywords

Thermostat, Dehydrating machine, Design, Performance, Efficiency, Product

Citations

IRE Journals:
Efosa Obaseki , Nworie Norbert Nwadinobi , Chiabuotu Celine C , Uchendu Emmanuel Eberechukwu , Njoku Paschal Ifeanyi; Ewurum Tennison I "Design and Performance Evaluation of a Thermostat Controlled Electric Dehydrating Machine" Iconic Research And Engineering Journals Volume 7 Issue 6 2023 Page 16-21

IEEE:
Efosa Obaseki , Nworie Norbert Nwadinobi , Chiabuotu Celine C , Uchendu Emmanuel Eberechukwu , Njoku Paschal Ifeanyi; Ewurum Tennison I "Design and Performance Evaluation of a Thermostat Controlled Electric Dehydrating Machine" Iconic Research And Engineering Journals, 7(6)