Heating Solar and AC 220 V Electricity Based Hybrid Dryer System for Drying Shrimp Crackers by Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)

Abstract

Most of MSMEs are engaged in food processing, one of them is the production of shrimp crackers. The production of shrimp crackers requires heat energy for drying process which majority of MSMEs still use the conventional method by drying the crackers in an open space under sunlight directly. Conventional method is very dependent on the weather and affects the unhygienic of the products. This research aims to develop a solar hybrid dryer as an alternative dryer to dry shrimp crackers without depending on the weather. This research uses experimental methods with quantitative data analysis techniques to observe the relationship between time and water content of shrimp crackers that are dried using a solar hybrid dryer. Based on the data analysis, the results for the first until the third experiments show the correlation between time and water content of shrimp crackers that are dried using this machine is shown to be a logarithmic graph. The first equation Y1 = -26.18 Ln (X1) + 41.028, R1 = 0.85 for drying crackers weight 1000 grams, and the 2nd equation Y2 = -31.81 Ln (x) + 46.927, R2 = 0.93 for drying crackers weight 3000 grams, and the 3rd equation Y3 = -26.88 Ln (X3) + 41.707, R3 = 0.81 for drying crackers weight 5000 grams. Therefore it can be concluded the more mass of the shrimp crackers that are dried, the more water content evaporates. In about 2 days of drying, the water content in the shrimp crackers has reached according to Indonesian National Standard which is around 12%. The hybrid dryer has a capacity of up to 5000 grams with an average drying temperature is 37.5°C.