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Generally, solar dryer cabinets are made up of sheet metals that are heavy, costly, tend to rust over time, and possess the high heat rate to the outer atmosphere. In order to overcome these drawbacks, this research urges to develop a natural fiber reinforced polymer-based cabinet dryer, specially designed and fabricated for the purpose of solar drying. Nylon is used as the matrix material and Prosopis juliflora in particulate form is used as the natural fiber reinforcement. The dryer cabinet was designed at industrial scale to dry 5 kg of ginger at a single setting. This work also studies the efficiency of the polymer composite cabinet integrated with a flat plate solar collector system that is coated with copper and black chrome attached to corrugated fins in between the absorber plate and storage medium. The FRP chamber was compartmented in its interior with aluminium perforated sheets and experimentation was performed to determine the efficiency of the composite cabinet based on reduction of heat loss from the system. The performance of the coating, storage medium materials, and overall storage efficiency were also studied. The FRP cabinet resulted in a moisture level less than 8.5% within 4–7 days. Exergy studies showed 75% efficiency and energy studies gave 25.5 kJ/kg peak readings of drying efficiency for a period ranging between 11 and 12 hours. This was a 75% increment in energy efficiency. Thermal degradation of the FRP material was found to be stable up to 300°C. The overall weight of the constructed polymer cabinet was 25% lesser than the conventional systems.

The increasing demand for eco-friendly materials and technology has made the industry focus on bio-compatible composites. This made the researchers explore the potential of eco-friendly, bio-degradable, and inexpensive banana fibre for automotive applications. This work reports the preparation and testing of banana fibre natural hybrid composite fibres randomly oriented with and without adding silica filler (5–15 wt.%) through a hand lay-up process. The mechanical properties such as tensile modulus, flexural modulus, hardness, impact strength, and water absorption capacity were measured. Composite specimens having a fibre length of 30 mm (15 wt.% of silica) exhibited better mechanical properties. The hardness, tensile, flexural, and impact strength measured were 46.74 HV, 54.71 MPa, 127.94 MPa, and 15.19 kJ/m2. The results showed significant improvement in mechanical properties in silica-reinforced hybrid composite compared to composites without silica filler. The wt.% of banana fibre increases, and the number of free hydroxyls (-OH) groups increases in cellulose, increasing moisture absorption. The pattern in which the composite absorbs the moisture at room temperature is called “Fickian behaviour.” Furthermore, scanning electron microscope (SEM) characterisation studied the interaction between fibre matrix and the distribution of silica reinforcement. This research concludes that bio-composites that exhibit improved mechanical properties are eco-friendly and are found to be suitable for automotive applications that meet present-day requirements.

Productivity and cost-effectiveness are essential components of any long-term manufacturing system. While quantity and quality are linked to productivity, the economy focuses on energy-efficient processes that produce a high output-to-input ratio. Hard-to-cut materials have always been difficult to machine because of more significant tool wear and power losses. Inconel 625 is a hard material used in aerospace and underwater applications and is milled using biolubricants with nanoparticles. Palm oil is considered a biolubricant, and titanium dioxide (TiO2) and copper oxide (CuO) are selected as nanoparticles. When the combination of biolubricants and nanoparticles is added to the workpiece’s surface, it enhanced some properties while machining. Experiments involving four factors with four levels were carried out using the Taguchi design of experiments (DoE). The feed, depth of cut, speed, and coolant with nanoparticle additives were all factors. The responses were surface roughness, spindle vibration along X, Y, and Z axes, and material removal rate. Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) was used to alter the multiresponse optimization problem to a single-response optimization problem. The S/N of TOPSIS closeness coefficients was calculated, and the optimal machining conditions were determined. Surface roughness, material removal rate, and spindle vibration were reduced by 3.10%, 6.14%, 7.54% (Vx), and 6.78% (Vz), respectively, due to the TOPSIS optimization.