Keywords
Pneumatic kiln; Charcoal; Drying; Effectiveness; Cat fish
Abstract
An efficient pneumatic charcoal kiln powered with solar panel by fan that blows out heat via a chamber into f ish chamber was developed. The kiln was constructed of local wrought iron materials for cost effectiveness and ease of reproducibility by local farmers. It was evaluated using catfish. The kiln was able to attain drying conditions of 89 0C for 2 hours. The heat distributions within the drying chamber trays were fairly uniform which led to uniform drying of the fish. The kiln was able to reduce a total weight of fresh catfish of 5.0 kg to 4.05 kg after 2 hours with an operating charcoal cost of N 1000. The provision of the pneumatic pump also powered via same solar power and the recirculation of heated air within the fish chamber of the pneumatic kiln helps to eliminate smoke, charcoal dust, Soot fish and burns usually experienced during kiln operations. The temperature distribution within the fish chamber trays, drying kinetics on smoke-dried catfish was conducted and the results proved the effectiveness of the pneumatic charcoal kiln for use among fish handlers and processors in rural settings due to low cost of operating materials and good nutritional quality envisaged.
Citation
Idi-ogede AM, Ogori AF and Omoniyi SA. Effectiveness of Cat Fish Drying using Pneumatic Charcoal Kiln. SM J Nutr Metab. 2018; 4(1): 1024.