Use of design thinking in the proposal of a multi-compound solar dryer applied to processes of traditional P'urhépecha Medicine

Abstract

The development of small-scale solar thermal technologies is useful to address specific energy needs; however, there is a gap between the technology that is developed and the one that is accepted and achieves its use in a sustained long-term manner. In this sense, the development of a double-inclination solar dryer for the dehydration of medicinal plants used in traditional P'urhépecha medicine is presented. From a participatory and consensual perspective of technological co-creation with the user that allows promoting its long-term use, the solar dryer was generated from the Design Thinking methodology and the conventional technological development process. The stages of the proposed process considered the identification of the energy need, the design, sizing and simulation, the prototyping, and the characterization and implementation of the technology in a group of traditional doctors for the drying of local medicinal plants. The result is a solar dryer with thermal efficiency of 23% and exergy efficiency of 3%, which achieves the dehydration of medicinal plants in 1 day with 4.7 kWh of average solar irradiance, and removes more than 80% of the humidity from a maximum load of 5 kilograms. The temperature of the drying chamber exceeds 50°C, and the energy distribution is homogeneous, being a natural convection device, easy to build and with affordable materials. This technology has been implemented in the home of a traditional doctor and it is expected that it can be replicated to satisfy the demand for drying products in indigenous community families in Mexico.