Use of PCM for solar based food drying

MCP401 Mechanical Engineering Laboratory II

1st semester 2017-2018

Report No. 3
Submitted by Team 2-D
Entry no. Name Sections written Remarks

2014ME10675 Rakesh Sharma 5.2.2, 6,7, 8

2014ME10662 Jayesh Bankoti 2,4,5

Chandan Kumar Annexure

2014ME10649
3-B,3-D

2014ME10687 Shreyansh Gattani 2,3,5

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
30 October 2017
 Abstract

The objective of the project is to develop a working model from the setup of PCM
available to us in order to achieve food drying. Apart from that we also plan on improving the
efficiency of the current setup by modifying the structure of PCM pipes, if its possible, but
nevertheless we can adopt some design changes in the positioning of the inlet and outlet
valves so that there is a better heat transfer between the air and the PCM. But before that we
are fabricating a stand for the setup which will make it mobile and the setup after this
improvement can be manually adjusted in order to change the position with respect to the
sun. A screw jack mechanism would be incorporated on the stand to facilitate the manual change
of inclination. Moreover the stand leaves space for a small blower to be attached which
will act as an input of air for the setup and the output, which will be the heated air, can be
directly sent to the food chamber where various food stuff can be dried. Currently we have
completed the stand for the setup and we are ready to test after the instrumentation part is
over. This would include setting up data acquisition systems which are connected to
temperature sensors at the inlet and the outlet. These temperature sensors can be RTDs. So after
the several additions described above our setup would be ready to run.

Keywords: Stand, Screw-Jack Mechanism, instrumentation, positioning of I/O valve

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 Team 2-D. Report 3

Contents
1. Introduction ...........................................................................................2
1.1 Background ......................................................................................... 2
1.2 Motivation ........................................................................................... 2
2. Objective ...............................................................................................2
2.1 Expected outcome ............................................................................... 2
2.2 Objective of the experiment ................................................................ 2
2.3 Intended benefit ................................................................................... 3
3. Experimental set-up ..............................................................................3
3.1 Design concept .................................................................................... 3
3.2 Theoretical basis .................................................................................. 4
3.3 Comparison of concepts ...................................................................... 4
3.4 Detailed engineering design ................................................................ 4
Bill of materials............................................................................................. 5
4. Experimental procedure ........................................................................5
4.1 Apparatus assembly............................................................................. 5
4.2 Detailed Engineering Design .............................................................. 6
4.3 Bill of Material .................................................................................... 8
4.4 Methods for conducting an experiment............................................... 8
5. Results ...................................................................................................9
5.1 Results of qualification experiments ................................................... 9
5.2 Experiments on Temperature parameter ............................................. 9
5.2.1 Precautions for experiment- ............................................................. 9
5.2.2 Result: .............................................................................................. 9
6. Discussion ...........................................................................................11
6.1 Findings of Experiment: .................................................................... 11
6.2 Effect of natural air flow: .................................................................. 11
7. Conclusions .........................................................................................11
7.1 Major conclusions of this work ......................................................... 11
7.2 Recommendations for further work .................................................. 11
8. Acknowledgements .............................................................................12

Page 1 of 16
 Team 2-D. Report 3

1. Introduction

1.1 Background
Open sun drying is the most common method employed in tropical countries for the
drying of agriculture products. It involves laying the agriculture product in the sun on mats,
floor or roof. There are many disadvantages of this like dust contamination, microbial
contamination etc. This method requires large area of land and very time consuming. Recently
people are making efforts to make this process better and efficient. The concept of solar dryer
is an outcome of these. The amount of solar energy depends on the atmospheric situations and
is available only during day time. To make the dryer more efficient we have to store excess
amount of energy so that we can use this at the time when there is no solar energy. So we need
to develop a heat store system which uses Phase Change Material as energy storing device. We
are focused on finding out the feasibility of system and to carry out the experiment find out the
working efficiency of setup.

1.2 Motivation
Food drying technique using PCM is very helpful is reducing the drying time and in
increasing the efficiency of process. Less manpower is required in this and it is much simple
process. This system is very useful for the end user. It will reduce efforts and make the process
very simple and also there eliminates the problems like contamination by dust and insects. It
will be helpful to them financially also as it protects food product from outside conditions.

2. Objective

2.1 Expected outcome

We need to measure outlet temperature of air coming out from dryer. Temperature at
different time.

2.2 Objective of the experiment

The main purpose of the experiment is to somehow make the existed system more
useful and efficient. Designing the setup for maximum use of space and to get maximum heat
transfer from solar collector to air which will be used to dry the fruits. Carrying out the
experiment to find out the efficiency of the setup and to know in which condition the system
works best. How heat transfer changes with different condition and to find out which PCM
material suits best for different conditions in which setup is operated.

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2.3 Intended benefit
. Less manpower is required in this and it is much simple process. This system is very
useful for the end user. It will reduce efforts and make the process very simple and also there
eliminates the problems like contamination by dust and insects. It will be helpful to them
financially also as it protects food product from outside conditions.

3. Experimental set-up

3.1 Design concept

We have a model ready with us which consists of pipes as the phase change material
but we intend to improve the air heating capacity of the setup by using spherical balls for phase
change material storage. This would increase the area exposed to the air and hence facilitate
increased heat modelling. Moreover in the current model there is a lot of vacant space which
does not add to the heating for air. There are two possible methods to deal with the current
situation. One is by shortening the walls which will require modifications in the physical form
of the setup which we are avoiding to do. There is another method in which we can create inlets
and outlets for the airflow at the bottom part of the setup to ensure that the interaction between
the air and phase change material increases to maximize the conduction efficiency.

Figure 1 Proposed Design

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3.2 Theoretical basis
Identify the fundamentals that are the basis of the experiment. Subject-wise list the main
concepts, mathematical formulation and limitations.
Equation should be written as under.
Air flow (Q) measured in m3/min, can be described as a function of air speed (s), where
r is the distance from the center of the fan, l is the length of the maximum coverage radius, and
s is a function of r.

= 2 0 () (2.1)
= = 2 (2.2)
The variable, Q, can be divided by the electric power consumed, P, to derive the
performance measure (units m3/min/W).
Identify important correlations, if any.
Cite references as given after section 8
Discuss the findings of the three methods and the decision for arriving at a chosen
concept.

3.3 Comparison of concepts

The required flow rate for pipe model can be determined by analyzing the heat transfer
between air and the pipe surface. Let us assume that air stays inside the setup for average time
t.
Convection coefficient of air = 10W/m2K (Assuming stagnant air this assumption is
taken because the flow rate can be obtained by finding out the air stagnation point)

Heat Transfer Rate= Convection Coefficient x Area =h *A

Heat transferred to Air = M *s *dT = Heat transferred by pcm = h *A * t
Assumptions and Data
Air initial T = 30 C
Final Temperature requirement of Air = 55 C
Density of Air = 1.225 Kg/m3
The stagnation time obtained is thus 5.73 seconds
The required flow rate is 9.7 e-3 m3/s

By using Spherical balls for phase change materials:

The stagnation time obtained is 5.448 sec
The required flow rate obtained similarly for the spherical ball setup is 2.23e-2 m3/s
3.4 Detailed engineering design
Components
1. Blower
2. Base
3. PCM Rods

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 4. Four Thermocouples
5. DAS(Data Acquisition)

Bill of materials
S.No Item Description Quantity Remarks Availability Vendor Contact no
in lab

1. Thermocouple 4 Made Not

Available
2. PCM rods 6 Available

3. Mild steel Angles 8 Available

4. Mild Steel Plates 2 Available

5. Wheels 4 Available

6. Wooden Frame 1 Fabricated Not

Available

4. Experimental procedure

4.1 Apparatus assembly

Figure 2 sketch of setup

Detail of Parts:

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1. The base for the box is a wooden hollow box made to contain the drying box element. This
wooden shallow box will be completely made of wood.
2. The Screw jack will be a rack and pinion gear responsible for the rotating movements
of the wooden box thereby rotating the drying box.
3. The base plate is made of steel and will be responsible for the stable movement
and support for the tilting of the wooden box.
4. Side angle will provide support for the whole design.

5. The support plate will be made from steel and will help to provide support against any
vibration and jerk.

4.2 Detailed Engineering Design

Figure 3 Isometric view of cad model

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Figure 4 Engineering Drawing of Setup

Figure 5 Exploded View

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4.3 Bill of Material

Sr. no Part Name No of parts Material

1 Wooden Box 1 Wood

2 Angles 8 Mild Steel

3 Steel Plate 2 Mild Steel

4 Wheels 4 Steel

5 PCM Rods 6 N/A

6 Thermocouple 4 N/A

Parts to be processed
Part 1 we have fabricated from wood in workshop, for part 2 we had mild
steel angles but they needed some modification. Mostly work of cutting of angles
is involved in this. Part 6 that is thermocouples, old thermocouples were not
working so we made new one.

Parts to be used directly

Part 3, 4 and 5 we used directly without any modification.

4.4 Methods for conducting an experiment

Step 1: Take the setup outside in sunlight.
Step 2: Fix the setup facing the sun.
Step 3: Connect the thermocouple with Data Acquisition System.
Step 4: Take long wires to connect Data Acquisition System with power supply and convertor
and connect them.
Step 5: Connect convertor to PC with USB and switch on the power supply for Data
Acquisition System.
Step 6: Open the software in PC and start taking readings.

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5. Results

5.1 Results of qualification experiments

Repeatability The experiment had a good amount of repeatability. PCM shows same
trend in increase in temperature in all three experiment. In 2nd experiment when the Phase
Change Material is exposed to sunlight for maximum time 49.7 C temperature is achieved.
The low temperature was due to the low sunlight in the winter season.

5.2 Experiments on Temperature parameter

5.2.1 Precautions for experiment-

The stripped should not be lying outside the ADAM apparatus otherwise a case
of short circuit is likely to happen.
The wire used for transmission should be properly protected from external
damaged and must be kept at some appropriate conditions.
The setup should be installed during the morning time as the sunlight
diminishes quickly during these winter days.

5.2.2 Result:
Our main experiment was 2nd experiment and we have maximum amount of data for
that experiment and the maximum temperature is reached in this experiment itself. During
some part of experiment the computer goes in sleep mode so we dont have data for that period
of experiment from the data we have we can see the trend of temperature change inside the
PCM and the results are given below for regular interval of time
Data:
Sr. No Time Elapsed T1 T2 T3
1 0 30.1 30 29.2
2 10 30.9 30.7 29.8
3 20 32 31.6 30.9
4 30 34.1 33.4 32.3
5 45 36.6 36.2 34.4
6 55 37.6 37.3 35.4
7 65 39.1 38.9 36.9
8 75 40.3 40.2 38.1
9 179 47.7 47.6 46.4
10 189 48.3 48.3 47
11 199 49 48.8 47.4
12 209 49.2 49.1 47.7

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 13 240 49.5 49.2 48.4
14 242 49.6 49.4 48.4
15 242 49.7 49.4 48.5
16 243 49.6 49.3 48.6
17 244 49.4 49.1 48.4
18 245 49.3 49 48.4
19 246 49 48.6 48.2
20 249 49.2 48.9 48.3
21 253 49.4 49.1 48.4
22 255 49.6 49.3 48.6
23 256 49.7 49.3 48.7
24 257 49.5 49.2 48.6
25 267 49.2 48.8 48.4
26 277 49.2 48.6 48.6
27 287 48.5 48 48.4
28 297 48.2 47.5 48.4
29 307 47.8 47.1 48.2
30 324 47.4 46.6 48
31 344 46.4 45.5 47.2
32 364 46 44.9 47
33 384 45.2 44.2 46.3
34 401 44.7 43.5 45.9

Graphical Representation:

Variation of Temperature of PCM with Time

55

50

45
Temperature (C)

40
T1
35 T2

30 T3

25

20
0 31 60 91 121 152 182 213 244 274 305 335 366 397
Time(min.)

Figure 6 Variation of temperature of PCM with time

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6. Discussion

6.1 Findings of Experiment:

We have done 3 experiments with this setup and during the 2nd experiment the setup
was exposed to sunlight for maximum time and the peak temperature is achieved in that
experiment. Melting temperature of PCM is 55 C and to do experiment further we need to
achieve this temperature so that PCM can melt and store maximum energy, but due to low
intensity in this season desirable temperature in not achieved. Followings are the findings of
experiment:
Max. Temperature Achieved = 49.7 C
Time taken to achieve = 260 min (approx.)

6.2 Effect of natural air flow:

During our first experiment the maximum temperature reached was only 42 C which
is very less. This was due to the natural air flow that was started because the temperature of air
inside setup in more as compare to ambient temperature. This difference in Temperature creates
a natural air flow and the flow takes away energy from PCM material and temperature does
not go beyond 42 C.

7. Conclusions

7.1 Major conclusions of this work

Heat storage capacity of PCM material from sunlight is slow.
Max Temperature reached is 49.7 C in around 4hr 20min.
Time of conducting experiment is not appropriate. Experiment should be done
in summers so that PCM would be able to melt from the energy from sunlight.
PCM took around 3hr to decrease its temperature to around 6 C.

7.2 Recommendations for further work

There is a lot of scope for further work. First thing is that in our experiment the material
was not reached to melting temperature. Experiment of drying air is not completed yet because
of low temperature. Other team can do this experiment. Our mechanism to give rotate the base
of material housing is not so efficient and a new design can be proposed.

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 8. Acknowledgements

Apart from the efforts of our team, the success of this project depends largely on
the encouragement and guidelines of many others. We take this opportunity to
express our gratitude to the people who have been instrumental in the successful
completion of this project. We would like to show our greatest appreciation to
Professor S.R.Kale and Professor D Dasgupta. We cant say thank you enough
for their tremendous support and help. We felt motivated and encouraged
throughout the project work. They kept us motivated to push our limits and
always tried to give us the engineering aspect of this project which will be very
helpful for us in future. Without there encouragement and guidance this project
would not have materialized. We would also like to acknowledge the support we
got from the T.As Mr. Rahul Sharma and Mr. Abhishek.K.Singh. They were
very supportive during every phase of project. There seniority and experience
helped us in many way during this project. We would like to say thank you for
their guidance.

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Annexure 3-B

Video of set-up assembly

Our main motive in start of this course is to make the setup moveable. For this we need a bed
for the last setup, a setup which has wheel so that we can move it outside and structure to
support the entire weight of PCM chamber. We made a bed from wood for PCM chamber and
provide support from side by a metal strip. We uses parts of an old Amirah to attach PCM
chambers base to moveable part and hinge this with nuts and bolts. This will provide rotational
motion to the chamber. We fix the angle of inclination by attaching an angle. Parts in the
assembly are connected via these angles only and by using nuts and bolts.

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Annexure 3-D

Video of performing an experiment

Take the setup outside in sunlight. Fix the setup facing the sun. Connect the thermocouple with
Data Acquisition System. Take long wires to connect Data Acquisition System with power
supply and convertor and connect them.
Connect convertor to PC with USB and switch on the power supply for Data Acquisition
System. Open the software in PC and start taking readings.
Put the setup outside in sunlight till the temperature of PCM reaches to appropriate value.

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