Thermo-kinetic behavior of closed-loop heat pump dryer with different drying chambers for holy basil leaves drying application: an experiment approach

ABSTRACT

A closed-loop heat pump drier was designed and constructed with three different drying chambers (tray, fluidized bed, and integrated) to investigate the drying kinetics (drying rate and specific moisture evaporation rate) of holy basil leaves in this research work. The significance of drying temperature, air velocity, and mass of leaves on the performance of the dryer chambers was explored and compared through an experimental investigation. In addition, the present research focuses on analyzing the significance of drying air temperature (45, 50, and 55°C), air velocity (1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 m/s), and mass of holy basil leaves (5, 6, and 7 kg) on the performance of the dryer chambers. In tested combinations, the specific moisture evaporation rate and drying rate are higher in the integrated drying chamber. Notably, the effective moisture diffusivity coefficient exhibited a range of values from 2.68166 × 10⁻¹⁰ to 6.10243 × 10⁻¹⁰ m²/s. The design of the experiment approach is applied to optimize the number of experiments, and an analysis of variance was conducted to identify the most influential parameter. The results showed that temperature had a greater effect, accounting for 32% of the variation in the moisture evaporation rate.

KEYWORDS:

• Drying
• Energy
• heat pump system
• integrated drier
• Taguchi

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/15567036.2024.2383853.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India under the scheme of State Science and Technology Programme (SSTP) - F.No.: DST/SSTP/2018/161(C)].

Notes on contributors

Ashok Kumar M

Ashok Kumar M is an Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering at Ramco Institute of Technology, Rajapalayam, Tamil Nadu, India. He has completed a master degree in thermal engineering at Government College of Technology, Coimbatore, and pursuing a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Anna University, Chennai. He is doing research on heat and mass transfer studies in drying technology.

Kumaresan Govindasamy

Kumaresan Govindasamy received the Ph.D degree from National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India in 2014. He is currently a Professor and Head of Mechanical Engineering, Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Sathyamangalam, Erode, Tamil Nadu, India. His research interests are electronics cooling using micro heat pipes, phase change heat transfer. He has published more than 70 research articles in International Journals including International Journal of heat transfer, International Journal of multiphase flow, Experimental thermal and fluid sciences. He served as a guest editor in many special issues of reputed journals.

Sureshkumar P

P Sureshkumar is an Associate Professor in Mechanical Engineering at Ramco Institute of Technology, Rajapalayam, Tamil Nadu, India. He obtained his Ph.D in Mechanical Engineering from Anna University, Chennai in 2019. His research area of include Optimization Technique, Severe Plastic deformation Tribology, Materials Engineering, Composite Materials.

Subramaniyan Chinnasamy

Subramaniyan Chinnasamy received his Ph.D. from Anna University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, in 2023. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Sathyamangalam, Erode, Tamil Nadu, India. His research interests include renewable energy, thermal management systems, heat pumps, and phase change heat transfer. He has published over 40 research articles in international journals, including Renewable Energy, Journal of Cleaner Production, Applied Thermal Engineering, International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer, and Journal of Energy Storage. He also serves as a reviewer for several publishers.