International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2007, 42, 125–132 125

Original article
Comparison of drying behaviour, quality and yield of copra
processed in either a solar hybrid dryer on in an improved copra kiln

Thiruchelvam Thanaraj,1* Nimal D. A. Dharmasena2 & Upali Samarajeewa3

1 Faculty of Agriculture, Eastern University, Sri Lanka, Chenkalady 30350, Sri Lanka
2 Department of Agricultural Engineering, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
3 Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
(Received 28 August 2004; Accepted in revised form 4 May 2005)

Summary Drying copra in a solar hybrid dryer reduces the moisture content from around 50% to 7% after 71 h of
continuous drying. The copra was graded as 73% white copra, 21% Milling Ordinary Grade II (M.O.GII)
and the remaining 6% M.O.GIII (dusty copra). Thermal efficiency was about 10%. In the Coconut Research
Institute copra kiln, the moisture content of copra was reduced from around 52% to 8% in 62 h of
intermittent dying. The copra was graded as about 82% M.O.GI and the remaining 18% M.O.GIII (burnt
copra). Thermal efficiency was about 15.5%. High quality white copra could be processed in solar hybrid
drying. However, no white copra could be processed in kiln drying.
Keywords Drying chamber, heat exchanger, milling ordinary, moisture content, solar collector, thermal efficiency.

hydrocarbon (PAH) and aflatoxins. Production of good

Introduction
Copra is one of the major products processed from
coconuts. Traditionally, drying is done either by using a
kiln or under direct sun. An improved Standard Ceylon
Copra Kiln was designed by the Coconut Research
Institute (CRI), Sri Lanka, about 50 years ago. As sun
drying of coconut affects quality of copra, the CRI
drying kiln was considered as one of the most effective
kilns, especially when used to process good quality
copra. It is also economically feasible because it utilizes
locally available materials such as unfired mud bricks,
round timber, coconut trunk, wooden slats, cadjan roof,
etc. (Anon., 1965).
In most cases, processed copra is of inferior quality;
the oil extracted from it is also of poor quality and needs
additional refining to meet international standards. Poor
quality copra is subjected to an automatic price deduc-
tion of 10–15% in the world market or even total
rejection, thus resulting in annual loss of more than
US$40 million (Dippon & Rose, 1996). As long as no
quality-based pricing system is introduced and applied,
local farmers will continue to produce poor quality
copra.
Poor quality copra not only reduces the price in the
world market but also increases health hazards such as
contamination of coconut oil with polycyclic aromatic
*Correspondent: Fax: 0094 65 2240740;
e-mail: tthanaraj@hotmail.com
quality copra affects the income of the farmers as copra
is valued according to weight, and clean well-processed
copra is lighter than contaminated material (Dippon &
Rose, 1996).
The essential principle involved in copra processing is
the reduction of moisture content of the coconut kernel
from about 50% (wet basis) to 6% (wet basis) as quickly
as possible after splitting the coconuts to prevent
microbiological deterioration, concentrate the oil and
to retain the composition, quality and quantity of oil
(Patterson & Perez, 1981).
As smoke will be in direct contact with the drying
coconut, white copra is not processed in kiln drying and
the smoke may also form PAH in copra. Therefore,
there was a necessity to design and test an alternative
technique to use indirect heat to produce high quality
white copra at the lowest cost possible.
The main objective of this study was to compare the
quality and yield of copra processed in a solar hybrid
dryer with that processed in the CRI improved copra
kiln and to make recommendations to farmers so that
they can adopt the most reliable technique for process-
ing copra at the lowest cost possible but highest quality.
Materials and methods
The experiment was conducted at the Meewathura
Farm, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, during the
period of June 2002 to April 2003.

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2621.2006.01087.x
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126 Comparative study on copra drying techniques T. Thanaraj et al.

Testing and evaluation of the solar hybrid dryer

A solar collector, a drying chamber, a heat exchanger
and a furnace are the main components of the solar
hybrid dryer (Figs 1 and 2). Dryers were tested and
evaluated for their performances in three replicate trials.
The drum-shaped heat exchanger was placed inside the
cylindrical shape drying chamber with a clearance of
5 cm between the outer surface of the heat exchanger
and the inner surface of the drying chamber. The heat
exchanger was 30 cm in diameter and fabricated from
metal sheeting of thickness 22 gauge. The drying
chamber was fabricated from 2.5 · 2.5 cm square gal-
vanized iron mesh which was supported by flat iron, the
inner and outer diameters of the drying chamber being
40 and 90 cm, respectively.
The frame of the solar collector was fabricated using
1 cm diameter iron rods and clear polyethylene was
spread tightly on the frame, which functioned as a solar
collector. The diameter of the solar collector was 100 cm. Figure 2 Solar hybrid dryer.
Five different temperature sensors (Cambell Scientific
Ltd, Lougborough, UK) were placed in the drying exchanger and drying chamber using furnace heat, the
chamber at different positions to record the temperature solar collector was completely covered by a flexible roof.
variation evenly. The average temperature variation in Then the flexible roof was removed and the solar collector
the drying chamber was recorded during the evaluation of was tested and evaluated, the evaluation again being for
the solar collector and drying chamber. Three different 7 h continuously (daytime) and repeated three times.
temperature sensors were placed in the inlet, centre and Once the evaluation of the different components of the
outlet of the heat exchanger to record the temperature solar hybrid dryer had been completed, three trials were
variation of the burnt gases and smoke. The surface held to compare its drying behaviour, quality and yield
temperature of the heat exchanger was also recorded with that for the CRI improved copra kiln.
using sensors. Solar insolation was continuously recorded Fully matured coconuts were harvested and then stored
as the total solar energy received per square metre in a for up to 6 weeks in order for ‘seasoning’ to occur. This
second (W m)2). A Delta-T ESR model solar sensor hardens the kernel and improves its resistance to deteri-
(Cambell Scientific Ltd) was placed near to the solar oration by bacterial action. The nuts were split early in the
hybrid dryer at the experimental site. The heat exchanger morning, at around 6.00 a.m., and dried under the sun
and the drying chamber were tested and evaluated at the during the daytime. This facilitated the maximum
furnace feeding rate of 10 kg h)1 paddy husk, the removal of free moisture at the commencement of drying,
evaluated for 7 h continuously (daytime) and repeated thus minimizing deterioration and drying time.
three times. The average temperature was recorded in At the end of sun drying, coconut cups were loaded
different places of the heat exchanger and drying cham- into the drying chamber for continuous drying. Samples
ber. During the testing and evaluation of the heat were taken for the determination of moisture content

Figure 1 Simplified schematic diagram of the

solar hybrid dryer and its components.

International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2007, 42, 125–132  2006 Institute of Food Science and Technology Trust Fund

immediately after splitting the nuts (initial moisture
content) and continued every 6 h up to the end of the
drying process. Solar insolation, air velocity, the ambi-
ent dry and wet bulb temperatures, and drying chamber
temperatures were recorded by sensors connected to a
CR10 data logger (Cambell Scientific Ltd). Wet bulb
and dry bulb temperatures were recorded using sensors
and relative humidity (RH) calculated using the data.
Air velocity was measured continuously using a vane
anemometer. All sensors were connected to the data
logger and the data logger was programmed to collect
data every 5 s and this was then averaged over 5 min.
Once the coconut cups were loaded into the drying
chamber, the furnace operation was started. Fire was set
at the lower bottom end of the steps and paddy husk
was fed into the hopper at a feeding rate of 10 kg h)1.
The temperature in the drying chamber was maintained
at around 60 C throughout the drying period. Ash was
removed periodically. As solar radiation was available
during the daytime, a flexible roof was removed and the
solar collector was exposed to the solar radiation. This
solar energy alone was not enough to maintain the
drying temperature and so furnace heat was also
incorporated at a fuel (paddy husk) feeding rate of
3 kg h)1. At the end of the second night of continuous
drying, all the cups were down loaded and the shells
removed manually from the copra, which was then filled
again into the drying chamber for a further 24 h of
drying. Dried cups were then graded according to the
SLS 612:1983 standards (Table 1).
Estimation of drying efficiency
The drying efficiency of the solar hybrid dryer was
estimated using eqn 1, as derived by Patil (1982):
ukðM0  Mf Þ
Thermal efficiency ðgt Þ ¼  100; ð1Þ
WCð100  M0 Þ
where M0 is the initial moisture content of coconut (%,
wet basis), Mf is the final moisture content of coconut
Table 1 Requirements for Milling Ordinary (M.O.) copra (SLS 612, 1983)
Serial no. Characteristics
1 Moisture present by mass, maximum
2 Oil content (moisture free basis), percentage by mass, minimum
3 Free fatty acids (as lauric acids), percentage by mass, maximum
4 Impurities, presentage by mass, max.
5 Broken cups or chips, percentage by number, max.
(passing through a 9.5-mm sieve)
6 Mouldy cups*, percentage by count, max.
7 Lovibond colour, in a 25-mm cell, expressed as Y+5R, max.
N/S, not specified; Y, yellow; R, red.
*The presence of pink coloured mould (Aspergillus cinnamomeus) was not counted.
Source: Tillekeratne (1991).
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Comparative study on copra drying techniques T. Thanaraj et al. 127
(%, wet basis), u is the quantity of the final dried
product at Mf moisture content (kg), k is the latent heat
of vaporization of water (kJ kg)1), W is the quantity of
fuel used (kg), and C is the calorific value of the fuel
used (kJ kg)1).
Testing and evaluation of the CRI-improved copra kiln
Three trials were carried out by using the CRI copra
kiln to compare the drying behaviour, quality and yield
of copra with that produced by the solar hybrid dryer.
The same procedure to that which had been used
previously at CRI, Sri Lanka, was followed for the
processing of copra in the kiln, except that the capacity
of the dying platform was scaled down to 700 nuts per
batch, all the nuts being split into two halves in the
early morning and dried under direct sun to remove
free moisture. At the end of sun dying, all the cups
were collected and spread on the drying platform in a
30-cm thick bed. The bottom layer of cups faced up
and all other layers were arranged facing down to
utilize the heat effectively. Samples were taken imme-
diately after splitting the coconuts to determine the
initial moisture content. The moisture content was then
determined before and at the end of each firing.
Coconut shells were used as fuel in this trial, the fire
being set on the shells from the rear end of the kiln.
Shells were arranged in two double rows along the
length of the fire pit. The mass of coconut shells used for
firing was weighed. Five temperature sensors were fixed
along the diagonal of the drying bed (Fig. 3) for effective
temperature recording and connected to the CR 10 data
logger. The first fire lasted for 6 h. A 4-h rest period was
given without fire after each fire in order to migrate the
internal moisture to the surface. Two double rows of
coconut shells were arranged for the second firing also
and the fire lasted for 5.5 h. At the end of the rest period
cups were mixed thoroughly in order to get uniform
drying.
Requirements
M.O. grade I M.O. grade II M.O. grade III M.O. grade IV
10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0
68.0 68.0 68.0 68.0
N/S N/S N/S N/S
N/S N/S N/S N/S
N/S N/S N/S N/S
20.0 50.0 80.0 100.0
N/S N/S N/S N/S
International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2007, 42, 125–132
128 Comparative study on copra drying techniques T. Thanaraj et al.
Figure 3 Arrangement of temperature sensors at the drying bed of the
Coconut Research Institute kiln.
For the third fire, two single rows of fuel shells were
arranged and the fire lasted for 4.5 h. Then the shells
were removed from the cups manually and the drying
coconut kernels were spread on the drying platform
again for further drying. For the fourth and fifth fires, a
double row of shells were arranged at the centre of the
fire along its length and each fire lasted for 5 h. Samples
were taken for moisture determination at the beginning
and end of each fire. At the end of the fifth fire it was
found that the copra had been dried to the required
moisture content, based on observation. Then the copra
was graded based on the standards (SLS 612:1983).
Determination of moisture content
Seven samples were randomly selected for moisture
determination at predetermined intervals.
Grading of copra based on quality standards
(SLS 612:1983)
The processed copra was graded into different types of
copra, such as white, coloured, burnt, mouldy, etc.
based on the specific quality characters of each grade. At
the end of each drying process, about 100 cups were
taken randomly and graded according to the standards
(SLS 612:1983). As the final moisture content of copra
was just above 6% in both drying techniques, SLS
standards for Milling Ordinary (M.O.) copra were used
International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2007, 42, 125–132
(Table 1). As there were no standards for white copra, it
was graded separately. Different grades were given in
percentages.
Comparison of drying behaviour, quality and yield of copra
The drying efficiency, temperature variation and RH
variation during the drying processes were compared.
The copra was graded according to the SLS standard in
each drying method and then the quality was compared.
The final copra yields were calculated and compared.
Results
Solar hybrid dryer
The solar collector (convective type) was evaluated at an
average solar insolation of about 708 W m)2. The
average temperature recorded in the collector was
51 C. The collector efficiency varied between 3% and
5%, with an average of about 4%. As there was a need
to increase the temperature up to 60 C and maintain it
throughout the drying period, supplementary furnace
heat was provided by burning paddy husk at a feeding
rate of 3 kg h)1 during the daytime. The average
(±standard deviation) furnace efficiency was 70.2%
(±3.9%) at a feeding rate of 10 kg h)1. The heat
exchanger was evaluated at a feeding rate of 10 kg h)1,
and the average energy loss at the heat exchanger was
found to be 5 kW. The average efficiency of the heat
exchanger was 39.1% (±1.4%).
The variation in ambient temperature could alter the
drying temperature but compensation was achieved by
manually varying the feeding rate of paddy husk to
maintain the drying temperature around 60 C (Fig. 4).
The average dry and wet bulb ambient temperatures
were 25 and 22 C throughout the drying period. The
average ambient RH throughout the drying period was
Figure 4 Variation of ambient and drying chamber temperatures with
time during solar hybrid drying.
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 Comparative study on copra drying techniques T. Thanaraj et al. 129

84% (Fig. 5). In the drying chamber, a high RH of Copra grades

around 90% was recorded at the initial stage of drying
and it gradually reduced to about 30% at the end of
drying. The air velocity was recorded as 0.6 m s)1.
Figure 6 shows the variation of solar insolation
during the daytime. An average daytime solar insolation
of 668 W m)2 was recorded during the drying period. It
was found that solar insolation contributed a consider-
able amount of energy to the drying system and reduced
the feeding rate of paddy husk from 10 to 3 kg h)1. The
average initial moisture content of coconut was around
50% and it was reduced to 7% at the end of drying. The
total drying period was 71 h.
Thermal efficiency of the solar hybrid dryer
About 147 kg of copra was processed in each trial from
700 nuts and about 116 kg of moisture was removed
from each batch. The thermal efficiency was calculated
as being 10.2% (±0.4%) using eqn 1. The efficiency
was relatively low, but it could be further improved by
regulating the air flow rate and reducing the losses at the
furnace and heat exchanger. The energy consumption
was about 25 MJ to evaporate 1 kg of water.
Table 2 shows the details of the different grades of copra
produced in solar hybrid drying. On average about 73%
of white copra was produced. The remainder of the
copra was graded as 21% of brown coloured copra and
6% of dusty copra. Even though the drying efficiency
was relatively low, a fairly large percentage of high
quality white copra was produced.
CRI kiln drying
An average drying temperature of about 75 C was
recorded in the improved CRI kiln drying, which is a
little higher than the optimum. The instantaneous
temperature at different places in the drying bed varied
with the advance of the fire in the fire pit. Figure 7
illustrates the advances of temperature recorded by the
sensors placed along the diagonal of the drying bed
(Fig. 3) during the first firing. Sensor 1 was fixed at the
rear end of the drying bed and therefore it recorded the
highest temperature of about 117 C at the beginning
and then it reduced. Likewise each sensor recorded the
highest temperature as the fire advanced through those
points.
Figure 8 indicates a high RH of about 80% was
recorded in the drying bed at the beginning of drying
and then it declined with time to around 37%. The

Table 2 Different grades of copra produced using the solar hybrid

dryer

Trial 1 Trail 2 Trial 3 Average

Grade of copra (%) (%) (%) (%)

1. White copra 65.0 71.2 82.4 72.9

2. M.O. grade II (brown copra) 25.6 22.7 14.0 20.8
3. M.O. grade III (dusty cups) 9.4 6.1 3.7 6.4

Figure 5 Variation of ambient and drying chamber relative humidity

(RH) during solar hybrid drying.

Figure 6 Variation of solar insolation and moisture content during Figure 7 Variation of temperature at the drying bed during the first fire
solar hybrid drying. D indicates daytime and N indicates night-time. of kiln drying.

 2006 Institute of Food Science and Technology Trust Fund International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2007, 42, 125–132
130 Comparative study on copra drying techniques T. Thanaraj et al.
Figure 8 Variation of drying bed relative humidity (RH) and drying
temperature in the drying bed during kiln drying.
variation may be because of the different rates of
moisture removal from the cups and the higher initial
moisture content of the coconut cups.
Figure 9 shows the drying curve for CRI kiln drying.
The moisture content of coconut was reduced from 52%
to 8% during a total drying time of about 62 h. The
moisture loss was higher during first and second firing
and then the rate reduced in further firings. The
moisture loss was very low or negligible during the rest
period of the later firings. However a significant
reduction of moisture was observed even in the rest
period of the first two firings.
Thermal efficiency of the CRI kiln
About 145 kg of copra was processed per batch of 700
coconuts in the CRI kiln drying, which consumed about
90 kg of shells (910 half shells). Therefore, about 65% of
the shells were utilized for fuel in the drying process,
giving a shell recovery of about 35%. According to CRI
reports about 67% of the shells are typically used in the
drying process. The specific fuel consumption rate was
calculated to be 0.62 kg of shells per kg of copra
Figure 9 Drying curve of coconuts during Coconut Research Institute
kiln drying.
International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2007, 42, 125–132
Table 3 Different grades of copra produced in Coconut Research
Institute kiln drying trials
Trial 1 Trail 2 Trial 3 Average
Grade of copra (%) (%) (%) (%)
1. M.O. grade I 80 86 80 82
2. M.O. grade II (copra with 20 14 20 18
burnt patches)
produced. The thermal efficiency of the drying was
calculated to be 15.5% (±0.75%) using eqn 1.
Grade of copra
An average of about 82% of Milling Ordinary Grade I
(M.O.GI) and 18% of M.O.GII copra were processed in
CRI kiln drying (Table 3). The M.O.GI copra was light
brown in colour and free of mould, dust and burnt
patches, while the other grades of copra had a few burnt
patches. However, kiln drying did not produce any
white copra because of the direct contact of smoke.
Unfortunately, the copra was not graded in the Milling
Superior grades because of its higher final moisture
content (>6%). According to CRI reports, about 70–
80% of M.O.GI copra is typically processed in kiln
drying. It is generally accepted that the frequent mixing
up of drying coconut cups and the reduction of fuel rate
might reduce the burnt patches.
Discussion
A comparatively very low efficiency of about 4% was
calculated for the convective type solar collector fabri-
cated on the solar hybrid dryer. This is about 10 to 15
times lower than that for flat plate solar collectors. It
was therefore suspected that the design configuration of
the collector might be the cause of the lower efficiency.
As solar energy alone was not enough to maintain a
drying temperature of around 60 C, furnace heat was
also incorporated throughout the drying process. The
feeding rate of fuel (paddy husk) was varied according
to the climatic conditions and diurnal changes. During
bright sunny days the furnace heat was incorporated at
a feeding rate of 3 kg h)1; however, during the night and
on cloudy days the furnace heat was incorporated at a
feeding rate of around 10 kg h)1. Therefore, the tem-
perature was totally controlled manually by altering the
feeding rate of fuel, as also found by Anon. (1981).
The furnace operation at the feeding rate of 10 kg h)1
was always preferred because at this feeding rate the
maximum efficiency of 70.2% (±3.9%) was obtained.
Once the feeding rate was reduced, the efficiency also
reduced drastically, the efficiency of the furnace being
about 48% at a feeding rate of 5 kg h)1 and about 43%
at a feeding rate of 3 kg h)1. A feeding rate above
10 kg h)1 also reduced the efficiency of the furnace and
 2006 Institute of Food Science and Technology Trust Fund

also caused some practical problems to the furnace
operation. The average efficiency of the heat exchanger
was at a satisfactory level (39.1 ± 1.4%).
Maintaining the optimum drying temperature in the
drying chamber is very important because high temper-
atures may cause case hardening and burnt patches
while low temperatures may cause mould growth and
extended drying time. A drying temperature of about
60 C was maintained in the solar hybrid dryer, but an
average drying temperature of about 75 C was recor-
ded in CRI kiln drying, which is a little higher than the
optimum level. It was difficult to maintain the drying
temperature at the optimum level in CRI kiln drying at
the feeding rate that was used. If the drying temperature
was reduced to an optimum level the copra quality
might be enhanced, however the drying time might be
extended. Supratomo et al. (1990) reported that the
higher the temperature the shorter the drying time for a
partially solar heated dryer used for copra production.
At 60 C, it took 55 h to dry copra to a final moisture
content of around 6%. If the temperature was increased
by 10 C, the drying time reduced to 43 h. This
phenomenon is because of the increase in the drying
power of the air, which has a great influence on the
drying rate, especially for higher moisture content levels.
The high moisture removal rate and the low air
velocity may be the reasons for an RH of around 80–
90% in the drying chamber at the initial stage of drying
in both the solar hybrid dyer and the CRI kiln (Figs 5
and 8). A higher initial RH of about 81% was reduced
to about 36% in the drying bed during CRI kiln drying,
while the average ambient RH was about 84% (Fig. 8).
Supratomo et al. (1990) reported a mean RH of 35% in
a conventional dryer for an air speed of 0.9 m s)1 and,
in solar hybrid dryers, a lowest mean RH of 26% was
obtained for an air velocity of 0.9 m s)1. In the latter
system, the additional air entering the dryer was hotter
than the ambient air used in a conventional system.
In the drying curves for both dying techniques (Figs 6
and 9), the moisture removal rate from the coconut was
higher during the initial stage of the drying because of
the high moisture migration rate from the surface layers.
The moisture removal rate reduced with time because of
the lower moisture migration rate from the deeper
layers. A relatively smooth drying curve was obtained
for the continuous dying in the solar hybrid dryer
(Fig. 6), however a wavy drying curve was obtained in
CRI kiln drying because of its intermittent operation
(Fig. 9). Nathanael (1966) reported that, during hot air
curing with intermittent cooling, a moisture gradient
was established within the kernel, where moisture
gradually migrates from deeper layers to the surface,
resulting in a process of uniform dehydration of the
kernel.
The thermal efficiency of the solar hybrid dryer was
lower than that for the CRI-improved copra kiln, but it
 2006 Institute of Food Science and Technology Trust Fund
Comparative study on copra drying techniques T. Thanaraj et al. 131
could be further improved by regulating the air flow rate
and reducing the losses at the furnace and heat
exchanger. The solar hybrid dryer consumed about
25 MJ of fuel energy to evaporate 1 kg of water;
however, the CRI kiln dryer consumed only about
16 MJ of fuel energy per kg of water evaporated. The
lower energy consumption in CRI kiln drying was
because of its more direct form of drying (smoke)
compared with the solar hybrid dryer. Bischoff (1996)
mentioned that the thermal efficiencies of modified
Kukum copra dryers (indirect dryers) was about 13% at
a specific energy consumption of <19 MJ per kg of
evaporated water. Therefore, according to the reports
on a similar system, the drying efficiency of the solar
hybrid dryer is relatively low, which may be because of
the configuration of the furnace and heat exchanger.
However, the dryer had the facility to improve the
uniform temperature distribution by rotating the drying
chamber. Therefore, the final quality of copra should
also be considered.
Lozada (1991) reported that the heat utilization
efficiencies in two tests conducted in a direct kiln
dryer were comparable at 39% and 34%. Bischoff
(1996) reported that for a firing time of 20 h in a
‘Tapahan dryer’ (direct dryer) the thermal efficiency
was 12–13% at a specific energy consumption of
19 MJ per kg of water evaporated. Thus these
literature reports are indicating two different levels
of drying thermal efficiencies for two different dryers.
The thermal efficiency of CRI kiln drying was about
half of the values reported by Lozada (1991), while a
little higher than the value obtained by Bischoff
(1996). However, further improvement of the efficiency
of the CRI kiln is desirable.
Based on the grading of copra, there was no possi-
bility of processing white copra in CRI kiln drying
(Table 3) because the burnt gases and smokes were in
direct contact with drying coconut (direct drying). A
high percentage of white copra (73%) was processed in
the solar hybrid dryer (Table 2) because there was no
contact of smoke and burnt gases with drying coconuts.
The drying period for a batch of coconut was almost the
same in both drying techniques, however the drying time
was, relatively, much lower in CRI kiln drying (38 h) as
solar hybrid drying took about 71 h. This was because
of the solar hybrid drying being continuous and indirect
whereas CRI kiln drying is intermittent and direct. Even
though the solar hybrid drying consumed relatively
more energy and time and had a lower drying efficiency,
the compensation was that high quality white copra was
produced. Escalante et al. (1977) reported that the
quality of copra produced from an indirect type of
dryer was superior to that produced from other types of
dryer, and the colour ranged from light to dark brown.
However, the dryer had low thermal efficiency and high
cost.
International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2007, 42, 125–132
132 Comparative study on copra drying techniques T. Thanaraj et al.
Conclusions
It could be concluded from this comparative study
that high quality white copra can be processed by
solar hybrid drying with the expenditure of a little bit
more energy and time than for CRI kiln drying.
Comparatively poor quality M.O. copra was produced
in CRI kiln drying because of the direct contact of
smoke and burnt gases with drying coconut, which
may induce the formation of carcinogenic substance
like PAH in copra. Therefore, as far as the quality
and yield of the copra processed in both techniques
are concerned, the solar hybrid dryer is superior to
that of the CRI kiln.
Acknowledgments
We express our sincere acknowledgement to SEEDS
(Pvt) Ltd, Sarvodaya for granting the major part of the
financial aids needed for this study. The PGIA and CRI,
Sri Lanka are also greatly acknowledged for providing
test material, partial funding and other assistance for the
study.
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