DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION AND PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT OF A HYBRID SOLAR DRYER USING FORCED CONVECTION PRINCIPLE

DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION AND PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT OF A HYBRID SOLAR DRYER USING FORCED CONVECTION PRINCIPLE

In developing countries like Nigeria, local farmers are always facing challenges on drying and preservation of the agricultural products after harvesting due to losses in quality and quantity of the products by using local drying method, to address the problem, solar drying system is used. This study presented design, construction and performance assessment of a hybrid solar dryer using forced convection principle for drying of tomato slices. The system consists of solar collector, drying chamber with four drying trays, solar photovoltaic for powering fans and adding more heating in the evening and/or cloudy hours and chimney. The result revealed that for all the testing days, the air temperatures at the drying chamber were greater than that at ambient, solar collector and chimney outlet. It was also found that the solar dryer has a drying rate of 0.274kg/hr while the dryer efficiency and collector’s efficiency were 50.2% and 43.03% respectively. It was recommended that the solar drying system should be used to dry and preserve the agricultural products without losses in quality and quantity of the products.

___

  • Harringshaw, D., All About Food Drying, The Ohio State University Extension Facts Sheets hygiene, pp. 5347- 5397, 1997. Available at www.ag.ohio-state.edu/
  • Diamante, L. M., Munro, P. A., Mathematical Modelling of Thin Layer Solar Drying of Sweet Potatos, Solar Energy, 51, (2004), pp. 176 – 271
  • Whitefield, D. E., Solar Dryer Systems and Internet, Important Resources to Improve Food Preparation, Proceedings, 2000 International Conference on Solar Cooking, Kimberly, South Africa, 2000
  • Garg, H. P., Prakash, J., Solar energy fundamentals and applications, Tata McGraw Hill, New Delhi, India, 1997
  • Bolaji, B.O., Performance Evaluation of a Simple Solar Dryer, 6th Annual Engineering Conference Proceedings, Federal University of Technology Minna, 2005 pp. 8-13
  • Togrul, I. T., Pehlivan, D., Modelling of Thin Layer Drying Kinetics of some Fruits Under Open Air Sun Drying Process, Journal of Food Engineering. 65, (2004), pp. 413- 425
  • Bassey, M. W., Development and Use of Solar Drying Technologies. Nigerian Journal of Solar Energy. 89 (1989), pp. 133- 164
  • Bukola, O. B., Ayoola, P. O., Performance Evaluation of a Mixed-mode Solar Dryer. Technical Report, AU J.T, 11 (2008), 4, pp. 225-231
  • Akinola, O. A., Akinyemi, A. A., Bolaji, B. O., Evaluation of traditional and solar fish drying systems towards enhancing fish storage and preservation in Nigeria, J. Fish. Int. Pakistan,1 (2006 ), 3, pp. 44-49
  • Akinola, A. O., Fapetu, O. P., Exergetic Analysis of a Mixed-Mode Solar Dryer, J. Eng. Appl. Sci.,1 (2006), pp. 205-210
  • Akinola, A. O., Development and Performance Evaluation of a Mixed-Mode Solar Food Dryer, M. Eng. Thesis, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria. 1999
  • Simpson, W. T., Tehernitz, J. L., Design and Performance of a Solar Lumber for Tropical Latitudes, Proceeding on Wood Drying Party, IUFO Division “V” Conference, Oxford, UK, 1980, pp. 59-70
  • Poonia, S., Singh, A. K., Santra, P., Jain, D., Performance evaluation and cost economics of a low-cost solar dryer for ber (Zizyphus mauritiana) fruit, Agricultural Engineering Today, 41 (2017), 1, pp. 25–30
  • Mustayen, A. G. M. B., Mekhilef, S., Saidur, R., Performance study of different solar dryers: A review, Renew. Sustain. Energy Review, 34 (2014), pp. 463–470
  • Sharma, A., Chen, C. R., Vu Lan, N., Solar-energy drying systems: A review, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 13 (2009), pp. 1185–1210
  • Purohit, P., Kumar, A., Kandpal, T. C., Solar drying vs. open sun drying: A framework for financial evaluation, Solar Energy, 80 (2006), pp. 1568–1579
  • Hossain, M. A., Woods, J. L., Bala, B. K., Optimisation of solar tunnel drier for drying of chilli without color loss, Renewable Energy, 30 (2005), pp. 729–742
  • Pangavhane, D. R., Design, Development and performance testing of a new natural convection solar dryer, Energy, 27 (2003), 6, pp. 579-590
  • Ekechukwu, O. V., Norton, B., Review of solar energy drying systems II: An overview of solar drying technology, Energy Conversion and Management, 40 (1999), pp. 615–655
  • Sodha, M. S., Chandra, R., Solar drying systems and their testing procedures: A review, Energy Conversion and Management, 35 (1994), pp. 219–267
  • Kumar, M., Sansaniwal, S. K., Khatak, P., Progress in solar dryers for drying various commodities, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Review, 55 (2016), pp. 346–360
  • Visavale, G. L., Solar Drying: Fundamentals, Applications and Innovations, TPR Group, Singapore, 2012
  • Ahmed, A. G., Design, Construction ad Performance Evaluation of Solar Maize Dryer, Journal of Agricultural Biotechnology and Sustainable Development, 2 (2010), 3, pp. 039-046
  • Fudholi, A., Sopian, K., Ruslan, M. H., Alghoul, M. A., Sulaiman, M. Y., Review of solar dryers for agricultural and marine products, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 14 (2010), 1, pp. 1–30
  • Leon, M. A., Kumar, S., Bhattacharya, S. C., A comprehensive procedure for performance evaluation of solar food dryers, Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews, 6 (2002), 4, pp. 367– 393
  • Akuffo, F. O., Forson, F. K., Nazha, M. A. A., Rajakaruna, H., Design of mixed-mode natural convection solar crop dryers, Renewable Energy, 32 (2007), pp. 2306-2319
  • Lawrence, D., Folayan, C. O., Pam, G. Y., Design, Construction and Performance Evaluation of a Mixed-Mode Solar Dryer, The International Journal of Engineering and Science, 2 (2013), 8, pp. 08-16
  • Weefer, K. H., Design, Construction and Performance Evaluation of a Solar Drying System for Crops, Master thesis at African University of Science and Technology, Abuja, Nigeria, 2017
  • Sevik, S., Design, experimental investigation and analysis of a solar drying system, Energy Conversion and Management, 68 (2014), pp. 227-234. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2013.01.013
  • Alta, D., Bilgili, E., Ertekin, C., Yaldiz, O., Experimental investigation of three different solar air heaters: Energy and exergy analyses, Applied Energy, 87 (2010), pp. 2953-2973. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2010.04.016
  • Kamble, A. K., Pardeshi, I. L., Singh, P. L., Ade, G. S., Drying of Chilli using Solar Cabinet Dryer Coupled with Gravel Bed Heat Storage System, Journal of Food research and technology, 1 (2013), 2, pp. 87-94
  • Karlekar, B. V., Desmond, R. M., Engineering heat transfer, West Publishing Company, U.S.A., 1982
  • Sreekumar, A., Development of solar air heaters and thermal energy storage system for drying applications in food processing industries, Ph.D Thesis at Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kochi-22, India, 2007
  • Waziri, N. H., Usman, A. M., Enaburekhan, J. S., Optimum Temperature and Solar Radiation Periods for Kano using Flat Plate Collector, Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, 13 (2015), 4, pp. 570-578
  • Ceankoplis, C. J., Transport Process and Unit Operations, 3rd Edition, Prentice-Hall Internat, Englewood, UK, 1993
  • Mohanraj, M., Chandrasekar, P., Performance of Forced Convection Solar Drier Integrated with Gravel as Heat Storage material for Chilli Drying, Journal of Engineering Science and technology, 4 (2009), 3, pp. 305-314
  • Drew, F. S., Development and Evaluation of a Natural Convection Solar Dryer for Mango in Rural Haitian Communities, M.Sc. Thesis, University of Florida, USA, 2011
  • Ezekoye, B. A, Enebe, O. M., Development and Performance Evaluation of Modified Integrated Passive Solar Grain Dryer, Pacific Journal of Science and Technology, 7 (2006), 2, pp. 185- 190
  • Kapadiya, S., Desai M. A., Solar Drying of Natural and Food Products: A Review, International Journal of Agriculture and Food Science Technology, 5 (2014), 6, pp. 565-573
  • Onigbogi, I. O., Sobowale, S. S., Ezekowa, O. S., Design, construction and evaluation of a small-scale solar dryer, Journal of Engineering and Applied Science, 4 (2012), pp. 8-21
  • Struckmann, F., Analysis of a Flat-plate Solar Collector. Report No. 2008 MVK 160, Lund University, Lund, Sweden, 1993