Application of low cost air drying model in traditimol shipbuilding

Abstract

Studies have revealed that delay in production process and delivery is one of the major issues in traditional ship building activities in Indonesia. Some other studies have also established unpredictability of the traditional air drying time as the major culprit responsible for the increase in the length of production time, increase in overall project cost and distasteful client/shipbuilder relationship. In the attempt to address the situation, this study proposes a low cost air drying model as an alternative to the traditional air drying method and adopted Indonesia as the study area. Meteorological data for Indonesia were accessed via the internet. A controlled experiment was performed. Two sets of lumber samples named A and C were dried over a period of seven (7) days. Set A was laid in the model ( an improvised green house) set up at an open roof terrace at Block P 23, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. Set C was equally set up next to Set A but exposed and unprotected from the elements of weather. Lumber weight, relative humidity, temperature and time were taking at intervals for the two sets A and C simultaneously. The data collected were analyzed using Microsoft Excel. Graphs were plotted and interpreted. Lumber drying schedule for both traditional method and the proposed Low Cost Model were developed using meteorological data for a particular area in Indonesia noted for traditional ship building. A comparative analysis of the two schedules was done and the advantages of the Low cost Model over the traditional method were established.