Energy efficiency of a solar drying system

Abstract

SUMMARYA solar collector, part of a drying system using solar energy as a heat source, was developed and reported previously and used in product-drying applications. In this study, energy efficiency analyses of the drying system in terms of the collector efficiency were investigated. The results obtained show that the present collector used in this solar drying system is an efficient and effective unit for practical drying applications.

Single layer drying behaviour of grenade peel in a forced convective solar dryer

“…However, the auxiliary heater was used for controlling the drying air temperature. The amounts of solar radiation were measured with Kipp-Zonen solar meter [6,13]. Temperature measurements and recordings at different points in the solar dryer were performed by Cr-Alumel thermocouples (0.2 mm diameter) connected to a data-logger enabling ± 0.1 °C accuracy and the outlet temperatures were measured with digital thermometer.…”

“…The correlation coefficient ( 2 r ) was one of the primary criteria for selecting the best equation to describe the solar drying curves of grenade peel. In addition to ( 2 r ), the various statistical parameters such as, reduced chi-square (χ 2 ) and mean bias error (MBE) were used to determine the quality of the fit [10,6]. These statistical parameters {Eq.…”

“…The most important feature of solar dryers is that product doesn't include any kind of preservatives or other added chemical stuffs, which allows its use for people suffering from various allergic reactions from chemical conservators and other added stuffs. Further more, products aren't exposed to any kind of harmful electromagnetic radiation or electromagnetic poles [3][4][5][6].…”

“…There have been many researches on the mathematical modelling and experimental studies of the solar drying process of various vegetables, fruits and medicinal plants, such as Chenopodium ambrosioides [8,9], grapes [10], apricots [11,12], green pepper [13], Citrus aurantium [3], Eucalyptus [14], mint, verbena, and sage [15], pistachio [5,6], prickly pear fruit, peel and cladode [17][18][19], red pepper [4] and garlic slices [20]. There is no literature specific to the drying behaviour of grenade peel.…”

Effect of Duration and Drying Temperature on Characteristics of Dried Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.) Cochoro Variety

“…Nonetheless, the quality of products can be seriously tainted and occasionally rendered inedible in open sun drying because of the potential risk from environmental problems (rain, storm, windborne dirt, dust) and biological hazards (infestation by insects, rodents and other animals). Thus the resulting products may become inferior in their quality and bring adverse economic effects both in domestic and international markets (Lahsasni et al, 2004;Tiris et al, 1996). The sun drying technique has the advantages of minimalism and reduced principal investments, but it requires lengthy drying times (Andritsos et al, 2003).…”