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Solar Drying Technology: Potentials and Developments

B. K. Bala
Department of Farm Power and Machinery, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh 2202, Bangladesh

Nipa Debnath
Department of Physics, Khulna University of Engineering and Technology, Khulna 9203, Bangladesh

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

The paper presented developments and potentials of solar drying technologies for drying of fruits, vegetables, spices, medicinal plants, and fish. Previous efforts on solar drying and recent developments of different types of solar dryers for drying of cereal grains, fruits, vegetables, spices, medicinal plants, and fish in the rural areas of the tropics and subtropics are critically examined in terms of drying performances and product quality, and economics. Experimental performances of different types of solar dryers which have demonstrated their potentialities for drying of fruits, vegetables, spices, medicinal plants, and fish in the tropics and subtropics are addressed. Simulated performances of solar tunnel dryer were assessed for drying fruits, vegetables, spices, medicinal plants, and fish. The agreement between the simulated and experimental results was very good. Energy and exergy analyses of solar drying of jackfruit leather in a solar tunnel dryer are also presented. A multilayer neural network approach to predict the performance of the solar tunnel dryer is presented. The prediction of the performance of the dryer was found to be excellent after it was adequately trained. Finally, prospects of solar dryers for drying of fruits, vegetables, spices, medicinal plants, and fish in the tropics and subtropics are discussed.

Keywords: Solar dryers; Experimental and simulated results; Drying efficiency; Exergy; Neural network

Location: Department of Farm Power and Machinery, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh

Start Date:

End Date:

Program Area: Resource Development and Management

Non-commodity: Performance

Objectives:

The purpose of this paper is to present (i) the developments and potentials of solar drying technologies for drying fruits, vegetables, spices, medicinal plants, and fish, (ii) the experimental performances of the solar dryers for drying of fruits, vegetables, spices, medicinal plants, and fish, (iii) simulated performances of solar tunnel dryer for drying of chilli, (iv) energy and exergy analysis of solar drying of jackfruit leather, and (v) neural network prediction of the performance of the solar tunnel dryer for drying of jackfruit and jackfruit leather.

Methodology:

Solar drying systems - Different types of solar dryers have been designed, developed, and tested in the different regions of the tropics and subtropics. The major two categories of the dryers are natural convection solar dryers and forced convection solar dryers. In the natural convection solar dryers the airflow is established by buoyancy induced airflow while in forced convection solar dryers the airflow is provided by using a fan either operated by electricity/solar module or fossil fuel.

Source of Information: Journal of Fundamentals of Renewable Energy and Applications Vol. 2 (2012), Article ID R120302, 5 pages

Article Link (Online Journal): doi:10.4303/jfrea/R120302

Funding Source:

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

Field-level tests demonstrated that PV ventilated solar dryers are appropriate for production of quality dried fruits, vegetables, spices, and fish. The photovoltaic system has the advantage that the temperature of the drying air is automatically controlled by the solar radiation. The solar dryer can be operated by a photovoltaic module independent of electrical grid. The photovoltaic driven solar dryers must be optimized for efficient operation.

Knowledge Management: Journal