Abstract A floating-type solar dryer was designed and fabricated in order to answer the need for a faster and more efficient drying of seaweeds. Based on the results of the several field tests conducted, the developed seaweed dryer was capable of producing good quality dried seaweed products at a shorter drying time as compared to the traditional solar drying methods employed by seaweed farmers. The developed seaweed dryer was likewise proven to be highly adaptable to varying weather conditions. However, like most solar-type dryers, the performance of the fabricated seaweed dryer is greatly affected by weather variations. On a good sunny day, short drying time is expected unlike in cloudy or rainy weather conditions and even during nighttime where air drying can be done, the longer drying period is anticipated. Due to the different drying environments, the optimal dryer settings both for the daytime and cloudy or nighttime conditions must be determined. The optimization study conducted focused on the effects of varying the air inlet of the dryer by opening the foldable sidings to different height levels and the timely operation of exhaust fans in maximizing the combined effect of solar and air drying. An eight-hour drying test was conducted to determine the amount of moisture removed from the seaweed samples which was measured at 30 min interval. The analysis revealed that fully-opened sidings without running exhaust fans setting resulted in the highest moisture reduction in nighttime conditions. On the other hand, the sidings which were opened one-fourth from the bottom without running exhaust fans and sidings half-opened with running exhaust fans settings yielded the highest moisture reduction in daytime condition. In addition, no significant interaction was found between the level of sidings height openings and the operation of the exhaust fans during the nighttime condition. Conversely, there was a significant interaction between the level of sidings height openings and the operation of exhaust fans during the daytime condition.

中文翻译：

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漂浮式海藻烘干机的优化

摘要 为了满足更快、更有效地干燥海藻的需求，设计并制造了一种漂浮式太阳能干燥机。根据进行的几次现场测试的结果，与海藻养殖者采用的传统太阳能干燥方法相比，开发的海藻干燥机能够在更短的干燥时间内生产出优质的干海藻产品。开发的海藻烘干机同样被证明对不同的天气条件具有高度的适应性。然而，像大多数太阳能式干燥机一样，装配式海藻干燥机的性能受天气变化的影响很大。在晴朗的日子里，与阴天或雨天不同，预计干燥时间较短，即使在可以进行风干的夜间，预计干燥时间也会更长。由于干燥环境不同，必须确定适用于白天和阴天或夜间条件的最佳干燥器设置。进行的优化研究侧重于通过将可折叠壁板打开到不同高度来改变烘干机进气口的影响，以及及时运行排气扇以最大限度地发挥太阳能和空气干燥的综合效果。进行八小时干燥测试以确定从海藻样品中去除的水分量，该量以 30 分钟间隔测量。分析表明，在没有运行排气扇设置的情况下完全打开的壁板导致夜间条件下的水分减少最高。另一方面，在没有运行排气扇的情况下从底部打开四分之一的壁板和在运行排气扇的情况下半开的壁板在白天条件下产生了最高的水分减少。此外，在夜间条件下，侧板高度开口的水平与排气扇的运行之间没有发现显着的相互作用。相反，在白天条件下，侧板高度开口的水平与排气扇的运行之间存在显着的相互作用。