https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4197-9986
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ABSTRACT
Typical fuel-driven commercial dryers have excellent efficiency with homogeneous high-quality output, but they are beyond the access of farmers with limited agro land and financial resources. In this study, drying trials with potato slices were carried out utilizing a laboratory scale built drier coupled with an unique solar air heater. Assuming the set-up as mixed mode type solar dryer, performance of the dryer during the drying of potato slices was studied and the results were compared with that of open sun drying (OSD). The novel two pass solar air heater used in this project has aluminum turbulators arranged in staggered fashion. The absorber plate with aluminium turbulators present inside the double pass solar air heater reached a maximum temperature of 68°C. The average efficiency of the novel solar heater was about 72%. The moisture content of potato was reduced to 18.23% in 8 hours from 82.15%. The maximum thermal efficiency of the dryer was determined as 34%.The average specific energy requirement was estimated as 1.61 kWhkg−1 and the shrinkage ratio was found to be 0.2 at the end of 7 hours.
Acknowledgement
The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the Department of Science and Technology Fund for Improvement of Science and Technology Infrastructure in University and Higher Education Institution for providing necessary facility to carry out the project. (Ref. No: SR/FST/College-096/2017).
Declaration of Competing Interest
The equipment supported by Department of Science and Technology Fund is used in this research and it is acknowledged. The authors declare that they have no other known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Nomenclature
| A | = | Aperture area in m2 |
| cp | = | Specific heat of air in J/kg K |
| Ein | = | Input energy in kWh |
| hfg | = | Enthalpy of vaporization in J/kg |
| I | = | Incident solar radiation in W/m2 |
| m | = | Mass of potato slices in kg |
| ma | = | mass flow rate of air in kg/s |
| mf | = | Final mass of the product in kg |
| mi | = | Initial mass of the product in kg |
| mw | = | mass of water in kg |
| Pblower | = | Power consumed by blower in W |
| Qair | = | Heat gain by air in W |
| t | = | Thickness of tray material in m |
| Ti | = | Inlet temperature of air in °C |
| To | = | Outlet temperature of air in °C |
| W0 | = | Weight of the product at time = 0 in N |
| WT | = | Weight of the product at any time in N |
| ε | = | Porosity of potato |
| ηdryer | = | Efficiency of dryer in % |
| ηSAH | = | Efficiency of solar air heater in % |
| ρ | = | Density of potato kg/m3 |
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Selvakumar Pandiaraj
Selvakumar Pandiaraj completed the Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering in the year 2002. He received the Master of Technology degree in Energy Systems Engineering from VIT University, Vellore. He was awarded with Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering from Anna University, Chennai, in the year 2015. He is currently working as an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Kongu Engineering College, an Autonomous institution located in Erode district of Tamil Nadu. He has received research and development grants from Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Department of Science and Technology, All India Council for Technical Education and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. He has published 20 research papers in Scopus and WoS indexed journals. He has executed more than 40 consultancy projects in the field of Energy Audit and Management. He is an active member of Society of Automotive Engineers India and Institution of Engineers India.
Tamilvanan Ayyasamy
Tamilvanan Ayyasamy had his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Institute of Road and Transport Technology in the year 2009 and Master’s degree in Thermal Engineering from Government College of Engineering, Salem, in 2012. He was awarded with Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering from Anna University, Chennai, in the year 2020. He is currently working as an Assistant Professor (Senior Grade) in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Kongu Engineering College, an Autonomous institution located in Erode district of Tamil Nadu. He has published 22 research papers and 6 book chapters in Scopus and WoS indexed journals and books. He has executed 30 testing and consultancy projects in the field of biofuel testing for Internal Combustion Engines. He is an active member in Society of Automotive Engineers India and Indian Society for Technical Education.
Md Hasanuzzaman
Md. Hasanuzaman is currently working as Associate Professor at the UM Power Energy Dedicated Advanced Centre, Higher Institution Centre of Excellence (HICoE), University of Malaya, Malaysia. Dr. Hasan served as the Programme Coordinator Master of Renewable Energy, Double Degree Programme with Master of Energy Science, Kyoto University, Japan, from April 2012 to September 2020. He earned his PhD and an M. Eng. Sc. from the University of Malaya (UM), Malaysia, and a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Bangladesh. He was listed among the World’s Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University & Elsevier for the years 2020 & 2021. He is a recipient of UM Excellence Award 2012 for his outstanding achievement in his PhD; merit Scholarship from Bangladesh Scholarship Council and Nippon Foundation, Japan in 2003-2004. Dr. Hasan’s research interests include Thermal Engineering, Renewable Energy, Solar Thermal, Energy and Buildings, Energy Policy, Energy and Environment, Transportation and Electric Vehicles. He is an Associate Editor of the Alexandria Engineering Journal, Elsevier; Guest Editor of Renewable Energy. His books: Technologies for Solar Thermal Energy, 2022 and Energy for Sustainable Development, 2020 published by Elsevier.
Ganesh Angappan
Ganesh Angappan completed the Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering in the year 2013 from Tamilnadu College of Engineering. He acquired his Master’s degree in Thermal Sciences and Energy Systems from Amrita School of Engineering, Bangalore, in the year 2015. Currently, he is working towards the Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering at Anna University, Chennai in the area of solar energy. He worked as Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Tamilnadu College of Engineering, Coimbatore, from 2015 to 2019 for a period of 4 years. He has been working as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Kongu Engineering College, an Autonomous institution located in Erode district of Tamilnadu since 2020. He has published two research papers, one in SCI and another one in Scopus indexed journals. He is an active member in ISHRAE.
Suresh Muthusamy
Suresh Muthusamy received his bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering and the master’s degree in Power Electronics and Drives during the year 2009 and 2011 from Anna University, Chennai, and Anna University, Coimbatore, respectively. Currently, he is working towards the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering at Anna University, Chennai, in the area of Hybrid Renewable Energy Systems. He worked as Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering at Kongu Engineering College (Autonomous), Perundurai, Erode, during the period June 2011 to January 2020. From January 2020 onwards, he has been working as Assistant Professor Senior Grade in the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering at Kongu Engineering College (Autonomous), Perundurai, Erode. He published more than 85 research articles in well-reputed and refereed international journals from Elsevier, Springer, Taylor & Francis, SAGE, ASME, ASTM International, MDPI, CRC Press, etc. and indexed in SCI, SCIE, ESCI, Scopus and Web of Science with good impact factors. He also presented several research articles in national and international conferences and also serving as the reviewer, editor for about 60 international journals including IET Renewable Power Generation, IET Journal of Engineering, etc. To his credit, he has filed and published 28 Indian patents in IPR website, governed by Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India. His areas of interests include hybrid renewable energy systems, power electronic converters, hybrid electric vehicles, and battery management systems.
Hitesh Panchal
Hitesh Panchal received the bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Government Engineering College, Modasa, Gujarat during the year 2004 and the master’s degree in Internal Combustion Engines and Automobile from L.D. College of Engineering, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, during the year 2006. He then received the PhD degree in Mechanical Engineering in the area of Solar Thermal Engineering from K.S.V. University, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, in 2015. Dr. Panchal has published more than 150 research articles in reputed National and International Journal publications like Taylor and Francis, Springer, Elsevier, ASME, SAGE, etc. and also received 6000+ Google Scholar citations with h-index of 50 and i-10 index of 134. Dr.Panchal received many prestigious awards like Best Ph.D Thesis Award, Bharat Excellence Award, Young Scientist Award, Bright Researchers Award and many more from various organizations. Dr.Panchal has completed 2 Research projects from GUJCOST, DST of 15 lakhs and currently working on one Research project from DTE. Dr.Panchal has filed 24 full patents & 10 Industrial designs and among them 2 patents & 7 industrial designs has been granted. Dr.Panchal has been selected in “Top 2% Indian Scientist under the energy category” published by Stanford University for the year 2020 and 2021.
Ravita Lamba
Ravita Lamba is presently working as Assistant Professor in Department of Electrical Engineering, Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur. She completed her Ph.D and M.Tech. from Centre for Energy Studies, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. She was a visiting researcher at the University of South Florida, FL, USA, through BHAVAN internship provided by Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India and Indo US Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF) to work on radioactive cooling systems for building space conditioning. Prior to MNIT, she worked as Assistant Professor in Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department at National Institute of Technology Delhi and as Project Engineer in Solar Water Pumping Division at National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE), Gurugram, an autonomous institute of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India. She is actively involved in the research fields including Solar Photovoltaic Systems, Solar Thermal Systems, Solar Thermoelectric Systems, and their various Hybrid Combinations for Power Generation and Space Conditioning, Modeling& Optimization of Energy Systems, Building Integrated Photovoltaic & Thermoelectric Systems and Radiative Cooling Systems. She has published more than 45 research papers in peer reviewed journals including 5 book chapters. She has international exposure of California and Florida, USA and Croatia for presenting her research work in international conferences and symposiums. She has also presented her research work in national and international conferences in India as well. She is the member of IEEE society and The Institution of Electronics & Telecommunication Engineers (IETE), The Institution of Engineers India (IEI) and life member of Soft Computing Research Society and Solar Energy Society of India (SESI) and Advisory Board Member of Renewable Energy Society of India (RESI). She is also the reviewer of peer reviewed journals in Elsevier, Springer, Wiley, Taylor & Francis, IET Inderscience, IOP Publishing and MDPI. She is also the member of editorial board in the Journal of Modern Mechanical Engineering and Technology, Zeal Press and Review Editor (Solar Energy) in the Frontiers in Energy Research journal.
Chidozie Ezekwem
Chidozie Ezekwem is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Ibadan in 2018. His area of interest lies in heat transfer, thermodynamics and energy systems. His current interests include nanofluid research with applications to heat exchangers and renewable energy deployment in Nigeria (energy decentralization, diversification and economics).
Mamoona Munir
Mamoona Munir has been working as Assistant Professor and Head in the Department of Botany at Rawalpindi Women University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan. She previously worked as a Doctoral student at the Department of Plant Science, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan. Mamoona does research in Systematics (Taxonomy) and biodiesel synthesis. She published around 25 research articles in various reputed national/international journals like Elsevier, Taylor & Francis, etc., and indexed in SCIE, SCI, Scopus with good impact factor. Her current research interest includes biodiesel, catalysis, non-edible oil seeds, catalysis, etc.
Suma Christal Mary Sundararajan
Suma Christal Mary Sundararajan received the bachelor’s degree in Information Technology from Narayanaguru College of Engineering, Kanyakumari, in 2006, master’s degree in Computer Science and Engineering from Francis Xavier Engineering College, Tirunelveli, in 2008 and then completed her Ph.D. degree in Computer Science and Engineering from Kalasalingam University, Srivilliputhur, in 2016. She worked as Assistant Professor in the department of Information Technology in PSN College of Engineering and Technology, Tirunelveli for about 5 years 5 months. She joined as Assistant Professor in Department of Information technology in Panimalar Institute of Technology, Chennai in 2012. She is currently working as Professor in the Department of Information Technology at Panimalar Engineering College, Poonamallee, Chennai. She has published more than 30 research articles in Scopus, SCI, SCIE indexed journals and presented 40 papers in national and international conferences. She has received Young Scientist award from Computer Society of India and received Best Project award from Dr.Kalam Educational Trust, Best Teacher Award from IEAE. Her areas of interest include Network Security, Neural Networks, IoT, Virtual reality and Soft Computing, etc.