PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF FLAT PLATE SOLAR DRYER

Abstract

Solar energy has great potential for low temperature applications, particularly for drying of agricultural products. In drying and space heating, solar energy is an ideal choice because the warm air can be used directly, eliminating any need for an extra heat exchanger in the thermal system. Solar energy is very large, inexhaustible source of energy and it is one of the widely used renewable energy sources. It will not only save conventional energy resources but also in maintaining environmental pollution. Drying of a material means removal of moisture from the interior of the material to the surface and then removes this moisture from the surface of the drying material. Solar drying equipment would yield clean, dust free and good quality of agriculture product. A dryer would make the drying process much faster as compared to than in open field drying normally adopted by the farmers. Moreover, the damage caused by birds, pests, rats and insects are preventing with the help of solar dryer. In the present work, a natural convection indirect solar dryer is designed as per the requirement of herb Kutki which is to be dried and the weather condition of the installation site. Since this solar dryer has to be installed in a remote area so it should be easy to handle. As per the design a natural circulation solar dryer with its other components is fabricated. An experimental investigation has been carried out to study of the drying process in the designed of solar dryer. Ginger is selected for drying since it has the high moisture content, And the performance of the system is evaluated based on the observation and recorded data. The hourly variation in temperature at different location of solar dryer, the temperature of radiation and wind velocity are observed.