Green Drying of Tomato Slices by Modified Indirect Air Solar Heater

Abstract

This work aims to utilize the enormous solar energy potential in Jordan in drying agricultural products (Tomato). This study presents a proposed model of the indirect solar dryer with an innovative design by adding mirrors, a nozzle, and a fan to improve the tomato slices' drying process. The effect of these modifications has been investigated. Interestingly, the solar system design reduced the moisture content in these agricultural products to increase shelf life and improve its quality. Moreover, it can be concluded that the addition of nozzles and mirrors improves the solar dryer performance such that higher heat power absorption up to 6.5 kW, higher effectiveness up to 92%, higher drying ratio up to 90%, and reduction in the required drying time by three hours.