Coconut Dryer
Coconut Dryer
Coconut Dryer
A Research Proposal
Presented to the
Faculty of the College Of Engineering and Technology
Romblon State University
Odiongan, Romblon
By:
Gerlan M. Mingo
Patrick John Fetalver
Mark Leo Garcia
February 2018
Chapter 1
Introduction
Copra is the most common source of income in our county. One of the
process in producing copra drying. In manual drying of coconut they use sunlight
and biomass. It takes time to dry a coconut in manual process such as in sunlight
and in biomass. In some instances the coconut is not totally dry or sometimes
over dry. So that we find solution to that problem by designing and developing of
coconut dryer. It is very helpful to our coconut farmer because it can dry a
coconut in a small period of time. So that we study the parameters that we can
use in designing and developing coconut dyer. Such as the heat required to dry a
coconut, the time of drying of coconut in the machine and etc. Nowadays our oil
producers build their own facility in drying a coconut. It dry's the coconut in
different stages. In stage one, the coconut are arranged in the conveyor with the
speed of 100 rpm. In stage two, the coconut arrange in supine, it dries the
fastest and good quality. First, determine the old of the coconut, second design
the machine and third, the capacity of the machine to produce copra in hours. In
copra. Finally the survey to our coconut farmer. With this information the
researcher desire to conduct study regarding about the fastest and efficiency
making of copra.
This study is focus in design of coconut dryer. This are the following
The main focus of this study is to design and develop a coconut dryer.
These product uses only one thousand pieces of coconut to determine the
To the researcher, the output of this study will not only be a simple
accomplishment in earning a grade but will also be a great help to the concern
person or group.
To the future researches, this study will give them an idea or references
This study is limited in the effectiveness and the time of producing copra
of the machine. The coconut limited to one thousand pieces only to determine
This chapter presents the theories and studies that are relevant to the
study. Presented also this chapter are the conceptual framework and operational
definition of terms.
Related Literature
The every part of a coconut tree has its own use or applications. It is
indica, the Indian nut, during the same period it was also referred as
Nargil tree, “the tree of life”. Western literature mentioned the Malayalam
Name “Tenga” for the coconut palm which related to Tamil ‘Tennai’ and
The dried kernel or copra is the richest source of edible oil and a
for livestock feed. The fresh coconut is converted to copra through various
processes like husk removal, breaking into two, shell removal and drying. Drying
achieved by means of supplying energy i.e., by passing hot air through the
surface of the products thereby the product gets heated up and releases the
moisture to attain the desired moisture content. Coconut has an initial moisture
content of 55 per cent (w.b), which is to be reduced to 6 per cent (w.b) for
obtaining good quality copra. In order to get good quality copra for export or oil
the low ambient temperature and the high relative humidity and often leads to
There are two conventional methods widely used for drying copra.
The first method is kiln drying, which has the problem of smoke deposits that
may form polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the copra. The coconut is
dehusked, split in to half and kept in a kiln, where the coconut husk or any other
fuel combusted to produce the heat required for drying coconut. This is the most
common method involves the use of a kiln with direct heat and smoke generated
from the combustion of fuel such as husks, shells and firewood. The second
method is open sun drying, which has the major problem of slow and intermittent
products. The coconut is split in to half by drained of water and the halved nuts
left with the meat facing the sky for drying. After two days the meat can be
removed from the shell easily and again kept for drying process, which is
completed after five to seven days [4, 5]. Solar energy is one of the most
sun drying, the solar dryer was first developed by Everitt and Stanley in 1976 [6].
Drying using solar dryers is the method of controlled sun drying to enhance the
quality of dried products. But solar dryers too takes more time as the solar
energy availability is seasonal. Therefore, solar dryers alone is not a solution for
the above problems in copra production. Solar dryers combined with biomass hot
air generation system for drying during off sunshine hours reduces the drying
The conceptual model of the study is shown in the form of the paradigm in
The input of the study consisted of the alternative ideas from related
cutting machine.
THROUGHPUT
Alternative Designed
Designing
ideas from and
related fabricated of
Fabrication coconut
literature.
Supply and dyer.
materials.
Tools and Construction
equipment.
INPUT OUTPUT
FEEDBACK
Figure 1. Conceptual Framework
Definition of Terms
For better understanding of this study the following terms were defined
operationally:
Coconut- the large, oval, brown seed of a tropical palm, consisting of a hard
shell lined with edible white flesh and containing a clear liquid.
place to place.
Solar Dryer- are devices that use solar energy to dry substances.