Enhancing Efficiency of Solar Food Dryers

Project Overview

Project Description

Raheja Solar Food Processing Pvt. Ltd. (RSFP) is working to reduce post-harvest loss by means of solar dryers. RSFP wants to enhance the efficiency of its solar dryers, enabling them to dry the agricultural produce more efficiently without losing nutrients. Shorter drying times increase the number of drying batches in a month and therefore help to reduce further post-harvest losses.

This project focuses on enhancing the design efficiency, structural performance, and technology integration of RSFP’s dryers.

Impact

The impact projections are grounded in Raheja Solar Food Processing’s on-ground experience of deploying solar dryers across multiple regions and commodities. Over the years, farmers and farmer producer organizations using the company’s dryers have consistently reported:

• Reduction of 30–40% post-harvest losses
• Increase of 20–50% in net income from processed products
• Monthly CO₂ emission savings from replacing fuel-based dryers
• Strong adoption among women’s groups due to ease of operation

Eligibility Criteria

Skills / Experience:

• Required:
  • CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics)
  • Machine Design
  • Design for Manufacturing (DFM)
  • CAD Modeling
• Desired:
  • Industrial Design background
  • Background in food technology, solar (renewable energy), solar drying technologies, and biomass handling

Software needs:

• Required: Proficiency in conducting CFD analysis for heat transfer, and in CAD software such as Fusion 360 or similar for 3d modelling of machines

Discipline:

• Mechanical engineering

Preferred fellow local experience (All projects can be completed remotely):

• Local experience in India may be beneficial

Preferred timezone (when the Fellow should be available for meetings):

• Compatibility with IST (UTC+5:30)