ABSTRACT
A mixed mode forced convection (FC) ultraviolet (UV) tent house solar dryer was developed for drying potato slices. The solar dryer had a flat plate solar collector, an exhaust fan, and three trays of the same size in which the 4 kg of potato slices were equally distributed to dry, under clear weather. For the evaluation of various parameters, the local atmospheric conditions such as relative humidity, atmospheric temperatures, solar intensity, and wind velocity have been recorded for two different mass flow rates (0.093 kg/s and 0.053 kg/s). The average solar intensity was measured 671.74 W/m2. The experimental results showed that the initial moisture content was 82.20% (wb) and reached 17.8% in 14 hours for 0.093 kg/s and for 0.053 kg/s the initial and final moisture content was 85.25% (wb) and 17.5% in 8 hours, respectively. The maximum dryer and overall efficiencies were obtained as 19.07% and 14.7% for 0.053 kg/s, respectively. All the drying parameters were superior for 0.053 kg/s mass flow rate.
Abbreviations
AC | = | alternative current |
AT | = | ambient temperature |
DC | = | direct current |
ETC | = | evacuated tube collector |
FC | = | forced convection |
FPC | = | flat plate collector |
GHE | = | greenhouse effect |
MFR | = | mass flow rate |
MMTHSD | = | mixed- mode tent house solar dryer |
NC | = | natural convection |
OSD | = | open sun drying |
PV | = | photovoltaic |
RE | = | renewable energy |
RH | = | relative humidity |
SAC | = | solar air collector |
SAH | = | solar air heater |
SD | = | solar dryer |
SI | = | solar intensity |
UV | = | ultra violet |
WS | = | wind speed |
Greek letters | = | |
ηcollector | = | collector efficiency (%) |
ηdryer | = | dryer efficiency (%) |
ηoverall | = | overall dryer efficiency (%) |
Nomenclature | = | |
Acollector | = | collector area, (m2) |
Adryer | = | dryer area, (m2) |
Cp | = | specific heat of air, (kJ/(kg-K)) |
DR | = | drying rate (kg/h) |
Einput collector | = | energy input on the collector, (W) |
Einput dryer | = | energy input on the dryer, (W) |
hfg | = | latent heat of vaporization, (kJ/kg) |
I | = | solar intensity, (W/m2) |
m | = | mass of the drying sample, (g or kg) |
mc | = | moisture content, (%) |
ma | = | mass flow rate, (kg/s) |
mr | = | moisture removed from the sample, (kg) |
MR | = | moisture ratio |
Qcollector | = | useful heat gain by collector or Output of collector, (W) |
Qeva | = | output of dryer, (J) |
T | = | temperature, (ºC) |
Subscripts | = | |
db | = | dry basis |
eq | = | equilibrium |
f | = | final |
i | = | initial |
in | = | inlet |
out | = | outlet |
t | = | time |
wb | = | wet basis |
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Neelam Dewangan
Neelam Dewangan received her Bachelor of Engineering (Honors) From Government Engineering College (GEC) Jagdalpur (2019), Master of Technology (Honors) in Energy and Environmental Engineering department of University Teaching Department (UTD) from Chhattisgarh Swami Vivekanand Technical University (2022), Bhilai, Chhattisgarh, India. She has published one research article in SCI journal. Her research interest are Renewable energy and Solar Drying Technology.
Geetanjali Verma
Geetanjali Verma received her Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) from Sun Engineering College (SEC) Chandkhuri, Durg (2015), Master of Technology in Energy and Environmental Engineering Department of University Teaching Department (UTD) from Chhattisgarh Swami Vivekanand Technical University (2022), Bhilai, Chhattisgarh, India. She has published one research article in the SCI journal. Her area of interest is Solar Drying technology.
Harish Kumar Ghritlahre
Harish Kumar Ghritlahre received his Bachelor of Engineering (BE) from GEC Jagdalpur CG (2007), M. Tech from NIT Raipur CG (2012), and PhD from NIT Jamshedpur JH (2019). He is an Assistant Professor in Energy & Environmental Engineering Department in Chhattisgarh Swami Vivekanand Technical University (CSVTU), Bhilai, Chhattisgarh, India. His research interests are renewable energy, solar thermal applications, power plants, and artificial neural networks. He has published 45 articles in peer-reviewed journals of international reputation.
Manoj Verma
Manoj Verma is an Assistant Professor in Dept. of Energy & Environmental engineering, at the University Teaching Department in CSVTU – Bhilai, India. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy PhD focused in Wind Energy from NIT Bhopal (MP) and Master in Energy Technology with Gold Medal and Mechanical Engineer by graduation. He has published more than 40 research paper in reputed International/ National journals.
Satish Kumar
Satish Kumar is presently pursuing his Ph.D. through the AICTE Doctoral Fellowship from Chhattisgarh Swami Vivekanand Technical University, Bhilai, Chhattisgarh, India. He received his Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in 2014, Master of Technology (Honours) in 2019. He has published 5 articles in peer-reviewed journals and attended 3 international conferences. His area of interest is solar thermal technologies, solar drying, and solar water heating.
Yogesh Kumar
Yogesh Kumar pursuing his Ph.D. from Chhattisgarh Swami Vivekanand Technical University, Bhilai, Chhattisgarh, India. He received his Bachelor of Engineering in 2011, and Master of Technology in 2014 from Chhattisgarh Swami Vivekanand Technical University, Bhilai, Chhattisgarh, India. He has published 6 articles in peer-reviewed journals and attended 3 international conferences. His area of interest is solar thermal technologies, solar water heating, and solar drying.
Sanjay Agrawal
Sanjay Agrawal is Pro Vice-Chancellor of Chhattisgarh Swami Vivekanand Technical University (CSVTU) Bhilai, and a Professor in Electrical Engineering at, School of Engineering and Technology, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), New Delhi. He is the recipient of the prestigious Bhaskara Solar Energy Fellowship from the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST), India. This led him to his Post Doctoral Fellowship from Smart Grid Energy Research Centre, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), USA. Prof. Agrawal received his Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. He has 20 years of rich teaching and research experience with a specialization in Electrical Engineering. He has published more than 80 papers in international journals and authored three books. According to Google Scholar, his total citation is over 1700 with an i-10 index 29 and h-index 23. He has presented papers in Sweden, Spain and the USA and has given more than 50 invited talks in reputed organizations. He has also published a patent, titled ‘Improved Hybrid Solar Collector. His areas of interest include grid-connected photovoltaic systems, micro-grids, solar PV water pumping systems, power electronics, electrical machines, circuit theory, power systems and hybrid solar thermal. His industrial experience includes working with MNCs like Johnson Control (I) PVT Ltd. He has worked on Projects like ‘Automatic power factor correction’ funded by Applied Electro-Magnetic (P) Ltd, ‘Improved hybrid solar cooker’ and ‘green house dryer’ funded by TEQIP through CSVTU, Bhilai. He has guided 08 Ph.D. scholars so far and is a member of the editorial board and panel of reviewers of reputed international journals.