Innovative technologies are needed to make the life easy. The innovations are best used using renewable source of energy. Greenhouse solar dryer is a device used for drying purpose. Computational fluid dynamics analysis simulation is performed on greenhouse solar dryer when exposed to an ambient temperature on a hot sunny day for free convection and forced convection processes. The mass flow rate and the thickness of polycarbonate roof sheet material vary. The average temperature of the dryer is analysed using simulation. The maximum temperature obtained by forced convection is 71°C for 0.025 kg/s mass flow rate, which is 41% more than that obtained by natural convection.

Synthetic fiber-reinforced composites are difficult to be disposed of after their intended use due to their non-biodegradable nature. Natural plant fibers, which are renewable and fully biodegradable, are, therefore, ideal alternatives that can replace synthetic fibers. In this research paper, the application of biodegradable Coccinia grandis fiber-reinforced epoxy bio composite is investigated. The randomly oriented Coccinia grandis fiber-reinforced bio composites were prepared by compression molding with 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50% fiber weight. Tensile, flexural, and impact tests were used to determine the composite’s mechanical properties, and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) was used to understand the interfacial bonding. The obtained results revealed that 40% fiber weight could produce Coccinia grandis fiber-reinforced bio composite with the highest tensile strength, impact strength, and interfacial adhesion among all the prepared composites, whereas 50% fiber weight could make the bio composite with the highest flexural strength. The results show that the Coccinia grandis fiber-reinforced bio composites seem to have potential applications in automobile, construction, interiors, etc.

Particleboard wood composites are immensely used for many general and manufacturing applications. In this study, an analysis of various machining conditions has been performed to obtain good surface quality in the hole making of particleboard by varying the input parameters. The surface roughness (R_a) values obtained are ranging from 6.03 to 28.32 µm, and the minimum value is achieved at a higher speed, lower feed, and smaller point angle combinations. From ANOVA analysis, it has been observed that the model developed is adequate, and the influence on surface roughness is strong for feed (56.68%) followed by a point angle (28.42%) and then speed (9.37%). Mathematical models have been developed using two different criteria such as response surface methodology (RSM), adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) and compared for their effectiveness. The coefficient of determination (R²(R-Sq)) values of 98.5% (RSM) and 99.9% (ANFIS) indicates that the models are useful to predict R_a of particleboard. The average checking error percentage (0.20098) has been obtained for the ANFIS model trained using ‘gaussmf’ membership function with 100 epochs.

Drying is a dehydration process to preserve agricultural products for long period usage. The most common and cheapest method is open sun drying in which the products are simply laid on ground, road, mats, roof, etc. But the open sun drying has some disadvantages like dependent on good weather, contamination by dust, birds and animals consume a considerable quantity, slow drying rate and damages due to strong winds and rain. To overcome these difficulties solar dryers are developed with closed environment for drying agricultural products effectively. To obtain good quality food with reduced energy consumption, selection of appropriate drying process and proper input parameters is essential. In recent years several researchers across the world have developed new drying systems for improving the product quality, increasing the drying rate, decreasing the energy consumption, etc. Some of the new systems are fluidized bed, vibrated fluidized bed, desiccant, microwave, vacuum, freeze, infrared, intermittent, electro hydrodynamic and hybrid dryers. In this review the most recent progress in the field of drying of agricultural food products such as new methods, new products and modeling and optimization techniques has been presented. Challenges and future directions are also highlighted. The review will be useful for new researchers entering into this ever needed and ever growing field of engineering.