EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF CASSAVA SUN DRYING

ABSTRACT

Experiments were carried out in Davis, California, USA to compare sun drying of a bed of cassava chips placed in wire mesh trays with those placed in trays made of sheet metal. The wire mesh permitted wind to blow easily through the bed of chips, while the sheet metal constrained the wind to flow across the top of the bed, Drying was faster in the wire mesh trays; the chips reached a moisture content for safe storage after 27 hours of drying, while those in the sheet metal trays took 35 hours. The uniformity of drying was also markedly better in the wire mesh trays. Higher temperatures were attained in the chips contained in the sheet metal trays due to contact heat transfer between the trays and the chips. However the restricted air flow around the chips in the sheet metal trays led them to dry slower than those in the wire mesh trays.