Development of drying machine to improve palm sugar quality

One variant of palm sugar products is sugar in the form of powder or often called brown sugar, which is of good quality is bright yellow sugar, with a strong special aroma and a uniform and dry crystal size according to (Indonesian nation standardized) SNI 01-3743-1995 maximum allowable water content is 3%. An artificial drying machine is needed to speed up the process of separating the water content in sugar. This machine is designed with a tiered rack with a heating source. The temperature regulation uses thermostat, the way it works is by electrically charged elements to heating air, and directing hot air into the drying chamber by using fan (fan blower) and (exhaust fan) for air circulation. The quality to be achieved in the experiment is sugar with a maximum water content of 3%. Experiments were carried out several times with brown sugar that has been matched in grain size. Drying time is very important, because this time is related to production capacity and energy consumption. The remaining water content is less than 3% according to the needs of the planning, the tool is functioning properly.


Introduction
Palm sugar is one of the commodity products in Lebak-Banten district whose production has penetrated national and international markets, with export volumes reaching 30 tons per month. And according to data from the district's industry and trade service, the number of palm sugar makers is 5,815 units.
Good quality palm sugar, which has a bright yellow color, has a strong characteristic aroma and a uniform and dry crystal size according to the SNI 01-3743-1995 quality standard. The maximum permissible water content is 3% [1]. Based laboratory test on palm sugar contains water ranges from 4.29% by weight of sugar.
There are two ways that can be used, the first by drying in the sun the advantages of this method is cheap from the cost of unnecessary expensive support, and the drawback is the amount of heat obtained is not fixed so long drying time is difficult to predict, ant sugar can be contaminated with wind-borne dust, and also requires a large area.
The second method with an artificial dryer (oven) excess temperature can be controlled, cleanliness is maintained and the heat obtained remains unaffected by weather conditions so that the drying time This research aims to produce a product that can reduce the water content of palm sugar so that it can meet the requirements of SNI standards, and export standards.

Research Methodology
When the drying process takes place evaporation of water from the sugar granules, the water moves to the surface. The mechanism of movement of water affects drying during periods of constant drying rate and when the drying rate decreases [2]. There are three forms that explain the rate of drying figure 1: To determine the moisture content of the material determined based on dry weight (dry basis) and wet weight (wet basis). Calculation of water content (wet basis) can be formulated as follows: Where: M_wb = water content (%) W1 = Wet Sugar Weight W2 = Dry sugar weight To find out the dry basis water content, formula is used:

Heat for drying
When the heat energy is received or released by a substance, then the object will experience two things, namely changes in temperature and form. An increase in temperature on an object can be determined using an equation that relates to the specific heat or heat capacity. Drying load of sugar is calculated by the equation below: To measure the amount of heat needed for evaporation of water in ant sugar, the following equation is used: determine the amount of heat given by the heating air to the dried material used in the equation: To determine the drying efficiency used equation: while the equation to find out the amount of heat needed during drying is: To find out the drying mass rate, a formula is used: while the formula for calculating total energy is used Heat for drying can come from heating elements that use electricity or use heat from other sources such as renewable energy [3].

Drier design and testing
The dryer must be designed to fulfill the function so that the work process runs smoothly and in line with expectations. There are 4 systems that must be designed, namely the frame, heater, drying chamber and air circulation unit. The frame design is made as shown below: In designing the product specification target is the capacity of drying is ± 100 kg / hour, the available electric power is limited to 900 watts, and is able to reduce water content up to 3% for 60 minutes per batch. And to reduce heat losses due to leakage, every corner of the connection, air gap as much as possible to be closed with silicon glue.

Result
The design of a palm sugar dryer has succeeded in reducing the water content from 4.3% to 2.95% in 60 minutes. There are some things that still need further development. Durability testing of the device also needs to be done to determine it's resilient. Utilization of renewable energy can be done in the heating system as it is done in the liquid sugar evaporation process [4].