Experimental Analysis of Solar Cabinet Dryer for Fish Processing in Gresik, Indonesia

Most fishermen in Gresik, East Java, Indonesia used open air bamboo wicker as a conventional solar fish dryer. However, the dryer has weakness such as need long time to dry and cleanliness issue. The condition raises the idea of designing and manufacturing solar cabinet dryer to improve efficiency and overcome the weaknesses in a conventional fish dryer. The solar cabinet dryer contains 3 kg fish and designed in 3 shelf collectors which are equipped with mirror to maximize solar radiation. The fish dried to below 40% of moisture content based on Indonesian National Standard. Dryer performance is measured from drying rate and efficiency. It found that the drying rate per hour was 18.93%, 20.81%, 20.92% mass/hour for 30°, 45° and 60° mirror angle respectively. Highest efficiency performance of solar cabinet dryer was 34.94%. In cleanliness issue showed a decrease of 25.1 × 10⁶ bacteria colonies/gr on conventional drying to 19.5×10⁶ bacteria colonies/gr on designed solar fish dryer.