5: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONThe main experiments were carried out during 1 September 2002 to 12 November 2002 at Rice Mechanization Center, Meet El-Dyba, Kafer El-Shiekh Governorate, to develop a simple device for drying some agricultural products (mint and onion) by solar-wind energy. The device was constricted at Rice Mechanization Center.The developed device consists mainly of three main partsSolar collector, drying chamber, and chimney and fan combination unitsThe objectives of the present investigation are to1: Develop of a simple device for utilizing solar-windenergy2: Determent of the optimum performance conditions forthe developed device during drying of mint and onionproducts.3: Compare the drying test developed device and direct sundrying methods( by trays )The treatments were conducted include the following parameters:1- Fan combination unit.Three fan combination units were selected to be investigate for onion and mint product as follows :Fan with 8 blade (diameter 12.5 cm ) (F1),Fan with 6 blade (diameter 12.5 cm ) (F2), and No fan (F0)2- Area of air inlet gateThree different area of the air inlet gate were tested for both onion and mint product as follows: a1 = 0. 480 m2 (1.2 x 0.04m),a2 = 0.960 m2 (1.2 x 0.08m) , and a3 = 1.440 m2 (1.2 x 0.12 m)3- Product massThe investigated product mass were 4333 and 8666 g for onion product . While they were 588, 1176, and 1764 g for mint productThe performance of the developed dryer :Four main indicators mainly:-1: The rate of water removal.2: Moisture content.3: Drying coefficient.4: Cost of during.The main results obtained from the experiment are summarized under the following main points.1: Effect of some parameters on rate of water removal.The rate of water removal by solar-wind drying using the developed device depends on several factors such as:- Fan combination units, mass products and air inlet gate. Each of these factors will be summarized as fellow:1.1: Effect of fan and mass product on rate of waterremoval.Results show that, the maximum rate of water removal was obtained at using fan (F1) with mass m3 (1764g) for mint, and the maximum rate of water removal was obtained at using fan (F1) with mass m1 (4333g) for onion.1.2: Effect of fan and air inlet gate on rate of waterremoval.Results show that, the maximum rate of water removal was obtained at using the fan (F1) with the air inlet gate a2 (0.960m2) for mint and onion .1.3: Effect of mass product and air inlet gate on rate ofwater removal.Results show that, the maximum rate of water removal was obtained at using the product mass m3 (1764g) with air inlet gate a2 (0.960m2) for mint, and the maximum rate of water removal was obtained at using the product mass m1 (4333g) with the air inlet gate a2 (0.960m2) for onion .2:The best performance operation of dryer comparingwith direct sun drying .For mint The results showed that, the best performance operation of dryer was obtained at using fan (F1) with air inlet gate a2 (0.960m2) with the mass product m3 (1764g). and for onion The best performance operation of dryer was obtained at using fan (F1) with the air inlet gate a2 (0.960m2) with the product mass m1 (4333g).2.1-The effect of developed solar-wind dryer onmoisture content comparing with direct sundrying.Result showed that the reduction of moisture content is greatly affected by developed dryer comparing with direct sun drying.For the mint after ten drying hours, moisture content decreased by 94.15%, and 75.16% under solar-wind dryer and direct sun drying respectively at the same product mass. And for onion product, after fifteen drying hours, moisture content decreased by 92.09% and 74.43% under solar-wind dryer and direct sun drying respectively at the same product mass.2.2- The effect of developed solar-wind dryer on drying coefficient comparing with direct sun drying.Results showed that the reduction of drying coefficient is realty affected by the developed dryer comparing with direct sun drying.For the mint after ten drying hours, drying coefficient were 0.563 (h-1) and 0.154 (h-1) under solar-wind dryer and direct sun drying respectively at the same product mass.And for onion, after fifteen drying hours, drying coefficient were 0.303 (h-1) and 0.107 (h-1) under solar-wind dryer and direct sun drying respectively at the same product mass.Effect of vitamin A : Average live body weight of rabbits receveid vitamin A by 2000 IU/head was highly significant (PEffect of sex : male rabbits was insignificant increased in live body weight than female.Effect of vitamin A and sex interaction : male rabbits received vitamin A by 2000 IU/head recorded the insignificant high live body weight.2- Average body weight gain:Effect of vitamin A: Rabbits received vitamin A by 2000 IU increased in body weight gain from the bigining of the experiment but the increase become significant (PEffect of sex : There were no effects of sex on average body weight gain.Effect of vitamin A and sex interaction : Male rabbits received vitamin A by 2000 IU / head / day gained more than females .3-Daily body weight gain :Effect of vitamin A : Daily body weight gain was significantly (PEffect of sex : Male rabbits recorded slight increase in daily body gain in comparison to females but there were no effect of sex on daily body weight gain.Effect of vitamin A and sex interaction : Male rabbits received vitamin A by 2000 IU / head / day recorded daily body weight gain higher than other groups but there were no effect due to vitamin A x sex interaction on body weight gain.4- Average feed intake :Effect of vitamin A : A significant (PEffect of sex : Male rabbits ate more than females but there were no differences due to sex on average feed intake .Effect of vitamin A and sex interaction : Males received vitamin A by 1000 IU/ head/ day ate more (4567.17gm) than the other groups but there were no significant (P5-Average daily feed intake:Effect of vitamin A : Average daily feed intake was significantly (PEffect of sex : Male rabbits recorded higher daily feed intake than females with out significant differences .Effect of vitamin A and sex interaction : Male rabbits received 1000 IU recorded higher average daily feed intake as compared with the other groups but there were no significant (P6-Feed conversion:Effect of vitamin A : Highly significant (PEffect of sex : Average feed conversion of male rabbits was significantly (PEffect of vitamin A and sex interaction : The best significant (P7-Carcass traits:Effect of vitamin A : The higher carcass weight was recorded for rabbits group treated with 1000 IU vitamin A. while, the higher liver weight was recorded with the group treated with 2000 IU vitamin A.Effect of sex : There were no effects due to sex on carcass and liver weight.Effect of vitamin A and sex interaction: These were no interaction effect on carcass or liver weight due to interaction between vitamin A supplementation levels and sex.