Solar dryer/dehydrator construction - South Sudan

A simple solar dryer was constructed and tested at the Dr. John Garang Memorial University in Bor/South Sudan. Aim of the project is to introduce methods of hygienic preservation of food and food products. The presently applied methods like sun drying and smoke preservation of fish are characterized by high post-harvest losses particularly during the rainy season.
Air humidity during the rainy season and lack of fire wood for smoking in the remotre fishing camps of the river Nile are the main obstacles of hygienic processing. A data logger allowed to record temperature and humidity insisde the dryer over a period of 12 hours during the end of the rainy season in September with the daily surrounding humidity in the area averaging 72% rH.
It was shown that solar drying during the rainy season is possible.
The small-scale experiment should provide information for larger installations, then using local available materials (e.g. bamboo) for the framework.
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