Shinijet Agri Dryer
"Shini Unicorns Solar Technologies Pvt. Ltd. deploys a hybrid drying system that integrates a jet impingement–based solar air heater with a heat pump to enable fast, energy-efficient, and quality-preserving drying of moringa leaves and other agricultural produce. Freshly harvested moringa leaves (200 kg per batch) are loaded into the greenhouse dryer, where high-velocity impinging air jets from the solar air heater enhance convective heat and mass transfer, rapidly removing surface moisture. The integrated heat pump stabilizes air temperature and humidity during low-solar or high-moisture conditions, ensuring uniform drying within 6–7 hours per shift while retaining chlorophyll, color, and nutrients. The same system is used for drying small onions, garlic, turmeric slices, chilies, fruits, and herbs. Adjustable airflow rates, temperature control (40–70 °C), and humidity regulation allow product-specific drying protocols. This reduces post-harvest losses, cuts fossil-fuel energy consumption by 40–70%, and delivers export-grade dried products with consistent quality, enabling farmers and processors to achieve higher market value and year-round production reliability."
Website : https://shiniunicorns.com/
Current Status: Early revenues
Business Model: B2C
Product Description
Shini Unicorns Solar Technologies Pvt. Ltd. has developed a Solar–Heat Pump Hybrid Dryer that integrates a jet impingement–based solar air heater with a controlled heat pump system to achieve fast, energy-efficient, and quality-preserving drying of moringa leaves and other agricultural produce. The system consists of a modular greenhouse-type drying chamber of about 150 m² (≈15 m × 10 m) fitted with multi-tier tray racks for uniform airflow, a jet impingement solar air heater with an effective collector area of 25–30 m² using an optimized nozzle plate (Dj/Dh ≈ 0.065, X/Dh and Y/Dh ≈ 0.865) to enhance the Nusselt number and convective heat transfer, and an air-to-air heat pump unit of 7 kW thermal capacity for supplementary heating and dehumidification. A 3 HP centrifugal blower delivers an adjustable airflow rate of 350–450 CFM (0.165–0.21 m³/s) through insulated ducting, maintaining tray-level air velocities of 1.5–3.0 m/s, while PID-based controls regulate the drying temperature within 40–70 °C and chamber relative humidity between 15–40%. The dryer handles 200 kg of moringa leaves per batch with a drying time of 6–7 hours to a final moisture content of 5–7% (wb), and 150–250 kg of products such as small onions, garlic, turmeric slices, chilies, fruits, and herbs in 8–14 hours, depending on bulk density and slice thickness. Technically, the jet impingement mechanism intensifies turbulence and thins the thermal boundary layer on the absorber plate, yielding higher outlet air temperatures and faster drying kinetics than conventional duct-type solar heaters, while the heat pump stabilizes temperature and humidity during low-solar periods and recovers latent heat from moisture condensation. The hybrid configuration reduces conventional energy consumption by 40–70%, enables uniform and continuous drying independent of weather, minimizes case hardening and nutrient loss by operating at moderate temperatures, and consistently delivers export-grade dried products with improved color, bioactive retention, and shelf life, making it a scalable, low-carbon solution for on-farm and small-to-medium agro-processing applications.
