TY  - BOOK
AU  - Nair N R
AU  - Mathew N M
AU  - Thomas K T
AU  - Varghese L
TI  - Solar-cum-smoke drier for raw sheet rubber
PY  - 1988///
PB  - Indian Journal of Natural Rubber Research
KW  - Drying efficiency
KW  - Firewood back-up
KW  - Solar drying
KW  - Solar intensity
KW  - Sun drying
N2  - A solar-cum-smoke drier for drying raw rubber sheets has been designed and fabricated combining the facilities of solar drying and smoke drying.  The main source of energy used in the system is sunlight, harnessing the energy using flat plate solar collectors.  Hot smoke obtained by burning firewood provided the subsidiary source of energy.  Evaluationa of the drier showed that, without subsidiary heating, the drying period was 8-12 days as against 4-5 days in conventional smoke dryinga.  However, with the subsidiary heating using firewood, the drying time could be brought down to 5 days. As compared with conventional smoke drying, the saving in firewood while using solar-cum-smoke drier is found to be around 70 per cent.  The rate of drying of sheet rubber in the drier and the overall efficiency of the solar drying system have been determined and discussed
ER  -