EVALUATION OF FUFU ROASTER USING BASIC DRYING PARAMETERS

Abstract

A cassava mash dryer, was evaluated. The dryer consist of the heating, drying, feeding , control and the driving units. The heating unit is made up the housing and two heating elements of 4 kW capacity . The drying unit consists of the auger mounted on two bearings and conveys the mash during drying. The feeding unit consists of the hopper, while the control unit consists of the temperature and heater switches, and couples sensors. Also, the driving unit consists of the gear motor pulleys and belts. The materials used for the fabrication were obtained locally and estimated cost of production of the dryer was over 200,000.00 naira. One hundred samples of cassava mash were prepared, labeled and divided into four groups of twenty five samples based on the five speeds which are 8.4, 10.0, 11.5, 12.8 and 14.0 rpm respectively, peratures are 80oC, 100oC, 120oC, 140oC and 160oC respectively, the moisture contents are 28%, 30%, 33%, 35% and 37% wet basis respectively and feed rates of 0.12, 0.14,0.18, 0.21 and 0.24 kg/s the dryer was determined for evaluation From the evaluation of the dryer, it was discovered that a combination of 33% moisture content, temperature of 100oC and speed of 12 rev/mins gave a good drying result. At this combination, mass of produce was reduced from 3.0 kg to 2.149 kg and moisture content reduced from 33% to 10.2%. thermal efficiency of the dryer was 71% and the drying efficiency of the dryer was 72%.