The deoiled rice bran, industrial waste (paddy husk, potato peels and banana peels) and plasticizers were added to develop pellets after extrusion for their further use in preparing molds (pots) for horticultural use. Pellets were prepared by extrusion technology using glycerol and cashew nut shell liquid as plasticizers and were dried in a chamber with constant air circulation (1.5 m/sec). Dry...

While polymer microneedles may easily be fabricated by casting a solution in a mold, either centrifugation or vacuumizing is needed to pull the viscous polymer solution into the microholes of the mold. We report a novel process to fabricate polymer microneedles with a one-sided vacuum using a ceramic mold that is breathable but water impermeable. A polymer solution containing polyvinyl alcohol ...

An evacuated tube solar collector drier is designed and developed to study analytically and experimentally drying kinetics of Thompson seedless grapes in Pune, India. Drying experiments are carried out in the month of April- June for continuous three years from 2013-2015. During the experimentation, temperatures of hot and cold air at various places, ambient relative humidity and humidity varia...

Dill (Anethum graveolens L.) and parsley (Petroselinum crispum Mill.) were dried by using sun and oven (50oC) drying methods. Oven drying decreased the drying time approximately 50% when compared to the sun drying method for both herbs. K, Ca, P, Mg and Na were the most abundant elements in dill and parsley samples. Oven-dried samples had higher mineral values than that of the su...