31/03/2023
Information.
At Vigyan Ashram, there’s a dry machine. Mahesh Sir and Prasad Sir assigned me the task of maintaining the dryer so that it can be used regularly. They asked me to inspect the dryer to find out what was wrong with it, and we went to examine the dryer.
The dryer is needed for the Food lab.
The objective of the survey.
- We see that Due to so many seasons, the dryer is not protected by rain. And the paint of that structure is gone.
- the rivets were broken at some Point.
- The colour of the Absorb plate is gone.
- The bass plywood of the dryer is cracked at some point.
Survey Conclusion:
- The trays need to be cleaned using sandpaper because they get rusty during the rainy season. (The trays are not protected from rain or water, which causes the Dryer gate to rust).
- The dome needs to be repainted.
- To reattach the rivets, we create a hole in the sheet, insert a rivet, and use a rivet gun to secure the joint.
- We plan to repaint it with Black Japanese colour, which is excellent for absorbing heat. This will be a suitable paint for the dryer.
- Cracked plywood sections should be patched up using sheet metal.
01/04/2023
The main topic of the conversation is how to properly attach the collar.
There is a collar on the top of the dome meant to hold the fan. Our goal is to secure this collar in place.
I talked to Mahesh Sir and Prasad Sir about the collar. I asked them for guidance on how to fit or attach the collar.
conclusion of the discussion
The Mahesh sir told that with the help of a rivet gun, you can attach the collar.
Next, we addressed another issue related to plywood.
There are cracks in the plywood’s base in certain areas. To fix these cracks, we used a piece of sheet metal that matches the shape of the crack. We secured it in place by using self-locking screws to patch the cracks.
After dealing with the plywood issue, I moved on to the next challenge.
The primary problem we encountered was related to painting. When we painted, the colour did not dry properly. The paint material didn’t dry as it should have. This posed a significant issue during the painting process. To address this, we introduced a hardener to help the paint dry properly. By adding this hardener, we managed to resolve the problem, and the colour dried as expected.
04/04/2023
To prevent corrosion and ensure resistance, we applied a primer colour to the trays first.
Following that, we applied food-grade paint. This is essential if we intend to place any food items on the trays. Other colours could be harmful and might mix with the food. Food-grade paint is safe for food and doesn’t contain any toxins.
The main purpose of the dome is to raise the temperature inside the chamber by absorbing heat from sunlight and increasing the chamber’s temperature.
06/04/2023
Once we finished painting all the structures and the dome, we proceeded to assemble the working structure in the workshop.
07/04/2023
After fixing all problems I Handover the dryer to Reshma Madam (The in charge of the food lab)
the requirement of that drear is Reshma madam that’s why we Handover to Reshma madam.
Finally, we conducted tests on the dryer to check if it was functioning correctly, based on the readings.
I placed different items in the dryer and dried them, consistently obtaining the same reading.
During these readings, we recorded the temperature, weight, and efficiency. For the first trial, we put five kilograms of onions in the dryer and obtained 814 grams of dried onion, resulting in an efficiency of 18%.
For the second trial, we placed 5 kilograms of beets and 1.147 kilograms of chiku in the dryer. While noting the temperature, weight, and efficiency, we got 464 grams of dried beets and 571 grams of dried chiku. The efficiency for this trial was 16%.
Based on these readings, we concluded that the trial efficiency falls within the range of 16% to 20%. Additionally, we determined that the drying process using this dryer requires approximately one to two days. With this, the project comes to a close.
