The Dell Social Innovation Challenge was initiated to identify youngsters who can devise transformative ideas, across the globe. Among this year’s finalists was Vaibhav Tidke, a PhD student in sustainable technology from Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai. Along with his teammate Shital Somani, he has designed the Solar Conduction Dryer (SCD). They were awarded a grand prize of $60,000 (approx over Rs 35 lakh).
This SCD is based on a novel solar drying technology that aims to solve the loss of food/crops for farmers. Explains Vaibhav, “India produces about 50 million tons of fruits and 85 million tons of vegetables per year, but just about two per cent of this goes for processing. Over 20-30 per cent is spoiled due to improper handling and storage. We came across dehydration as possible option.” SCD uses conduction, convection and radiation as modules for heat transfer in drying. This makes SCD free of electricity. The existing equipment are high of cost and need electricity. Thus this solution comes across as a plausible one.
The dryer can work on all products and Vaibhav is now working on creating marketing linkages for farmers to see the dehydrated products. Says Vaibhav, “SCD costs five times cheaper than conventionally available solar cabinet dryer, which also needs electricity. Efficiency is generally defined as how much part of solar energy is used for drying. Our SCD reported 25-40 per cent efficiency while most other dryer work at about 15 per cent.
The duo are planning to expand their focus beyond Maharashtra and go global within a year. The money that they won will go into improving production facility and enhancing marketing efforts.
— kaviya@newindianexpress.com