UNIVERSITY OF DAR ES SALAAM

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

FACULTY OF MECHANICAL AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
ENERGY ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
EN628 SOLAR THERMAL TECHNOLOGY

TUTORIAL

Design of an Indirect Natural Convection Solar Dryer

Submitted by: Petros Gebray

Registration no. 2008/HD16/11643X

July 2009

Lecturer: Dr. C. Z. M. Kimambo

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 Table of contents
Table of contents .................................................................................................................3
Introduction .....................................................................................................................4
Principles of operation ....................................................................................................4
Design procedure ............................................................................................................5
Design data and assumptions...........................................................................................5
Design calculations..........................................................................................................5

List of figures

Figure 1 Indirect natural convection solar dryer..................................................................4

Figure 2 pressure drop along the solar dryer.......................................................................9

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 DESIGN OF AN INDIRECT NATURAL CONVECTION SOLAR DRYER

Introduction

Drying is the removal of moisture from a material. Drying is done for one or more of the
following reasons; preservation of products, reduce cost of transportation and ease of
handling.

Solar drying is an oldest technology applied in preserving food and other agricultural
products. Many of the food items and agricultural products are seasonal and we don’t
have access all the year long. Food preservation by dehydrating is an alternative method
of preserving food for a long time so that we can use them through out the year. Solar
drying is a competitive method of drying at low cost and maintains the nutritional values.

Principles of operation

Solar dryers come in different categories such as the indirect and direct, forced and
natural convection and mixed mode solar dryers. An indirect natural convection solar
dryer is a system where the drying air is preheated to a designed temperature before it
takes moisture from the drying products. The circulation of air in natural convection solar
dryer does not require fans or any active component. Natural air circulation is caused by
the fact that air with relatively low density moves upward. When air is heated the density
decreases and a pressure gradient is created due to difference in density. Usually a
chimney is added to enhance the flow rate of air circulation.

A typical indirect natural convection solar dryer is shown in figure 1. It consists of a

tilted flat plate collector to collect radiation and preheat the air. A cabinet with air inlet
and outlet with layers of screens is designed to handle the drying food products.

Figure 1 Indirect natural convection solar dryer

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Advantages of indirect solar dryer

Direct exposure of product can reduce their nutritional value and even sometimes can
burn them. Direct solar dryers need continuous attention in mixing

Design procedure

Solar drying system must be designed to meet a certain requirement of products and to
give satisfactory performance. The important design parameters to be investigated are
dimension, temperature, humidity, air flow rate and characteristics of the product. The
size of the dryer is determined as a function of drying area needed per kilogram of
product and the collector as a function of the amount of energy required for drying the
product. The drying temperature is determined as a function of the maximum limit of
temperature that the product can sustain with our burning or losing its nutritional value.

Design data and assumptions

Items Condition or assumption
Location Dar es Salaam
Food product Mango
Mass of the product 20 Kg
Initial moisture content 80 %
Final moisture content 18 %
0
Ambient air temperature 25.8 C
Relative humidity of air 73.3 %
0
Maximum allowable temperature 70 C
Incident solar radiation 17.5 MJ/m2.day
4.84 KW/m2.day
Drying time 1day 8hrs of sunshine
Pre-treatment Cutting

Design calculations
The design calculations of the dryer are based on the conditions and assumptions of a
particular place.

1. Amount of moisture (water) to be removed from the given quantity of product.

mi ( M i − M f )
∆m =
100 − M f
Where
mi is the initial mass of the crop
Mf is the final moisture content of the crop

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 Mi is the initial moisture content of the crop
Both moisture content measurements are taken on wet basis.

mi ( M i − M f ) 20 (80 −18 )
∆m = = = 15 .12 kg
100 − M f 100 −18

2. The amount of energy required to evaporate the water calculated in step 1

E = ∆m * H fg
Where Hfg is heat of vaporization of water
The amount of energy required is a function of the temperature and moisture content
of the product. The latent heat of vaporization is calculated using equation given by
Youcef-Ali et al. (2001) as follows
H fg = 4.186 * 10 3 (597 − 0.56 T pr )
Where Tpr is the temperature of the product and the fruit is assumed to be in
equilibrium with the ambient and slightly below.

H fg = 4.186 *10 3 (597 −0.56 T pr )

= 4.186 *10 3 (597 −0.56 * 25 .8)
= 2.44 MJ / Kg

Then the amount of energy required is given by

E = ∆m * H fg =15 .12 Kg * 2.44 E 6 MJ / Kg
= 36 .9 MJ

3. Mass and volume of air needed to dry the water calculated in step 1

∆m
m air =
w f − wi
∆m is the mass of water to be removed
Wf is final specific humidity of drying air
Wi is initial specific humidity of drying air
Wi is read from a psychrometric chart at ambient temperature of 25.8 0C and
relative humidity of 73.3% which is equal to 0.0196 Kg water vapor/ Kg of dry
air and the air leaving the dryer is assumed to have a relative humidity of 80%
then Wf following a constant enthalpy line along the psychrometric chart is found
to be 0.0296 Kg/Kg of dry air.
∆m 15 .12 Kg
mair = = = 1512 .2 Kg
w f − wi 0.0296 − 0.0196
Volume of air is calculated using the gas law
PV = mair RT
mair RT
V =
P
P atmospheric pressure 101.3 KPa

6
 R universal gas constant 0.291 KPa.m3/Kg.K
T absolute temperature in Kelvin, K
V volume of air m3
mair RT 1512 .2 Kg * 0.291 KPa .m 3 / Kg .K * 298 .8 K
V = =
P 1.01 E 5 Pa
= 1.3E 3m 3

4. Air flow rate

The drying time for the product determines the air flow that must be introduced
per unit time
• V
V = , m3 / s
t
1.3Em 3
= = 0.045 m / s
8 * 3600 s
Mass flow rate of the product is given by
• mair
mair =
t
1512 .2 Kg
= = 0.053 Kg / s
8 * 3600 s
Where t is the drying time
The drying time of the product is taken to be one day of 8 hours sunshine.

5. Collector area

From the total useful energy required to evaporate moisture and the radiation
received by the collector, the solar dryer area can be determined.
AC Iη = mair C∆T = E
E
AC = , m2
Iη
Where
I the total global radiation on a horizontal surface during the drying period
AC collector area
η efficiency of collector 30 – 50 % (sodha et al., 1987)
M total mass of air required to evaporate the given mass of water
C specific heat of air
E
AC = , m2
Iη
36 .9 MJ
= = 4.21m 2
17 .5MJ / m 2

6. Maximum temperature achieved by the drying air as it passes the collector

The maximum temperature of incoming air as it passes the collector area is

determined by the amount of energy collected and the nature of the product.

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 AC Iη = mair C∆T = E
AC Iη
= ∆T
mair C
4.21m 2 *17 .5MJ / m 2 * 0.5
∆T =
1512 .2 Kg *1.01 E 3 J / Kg .K
= 24 .30 C
T f = ∆T +Ti
T f = 24 .3 + 25 .8 = 50 .10 C
This shows that the drying air at Ti (ambient temperature) should be preheated to
temperature of Tf before it enters the drying chamber.

7. Product bed dimension and the height of chimney required

The product bed dimension is determined as a function of the pressure drop along
the dryer and the volume of product to be dried in one batch.
∆P = [ h1 ( ρ − ρ1 ) + h3 ( ρ − ρ3 )] g , Pa
h1 = L cos θ
L is the length of the solar collector area
θ is tilt angle of the collector
P
ρ=
RT
Air density at different positions and temperatures are calculated accordingly. At
the entrance to the solar air heater at ambient temperature, after air has been
preheated and after the air has passed through the dryer box.
P 1.01 E 5Pa
ρ = = = 1.17 Kg / m3
RT a 291 Pa .m 3 / Kg .K * 298 .8 K
P 1.01 E 5 Pa
ρ1 = = = 1.08 Kg / m 3
RT a 291 Pa .m3 / Kg .K * 323 .1K
P 1.01E 5 Pa
ρ2 = = 3
= 1.13 Kg / m3
RT a 291 Pa .m / Kg .K * 307 K

h1 = L cos θ
Putting the entrance to the dryer at a distance where it can be reached by an
average human height, the bottom of the dryer can be put one meter above
ground.
∆
P =[ h1 ( ρ−ρ) +
1 h (ρ−
3ρ)] g , Pa3

=[1 * (1

Volume of product
mp
Vp = = Ah 2
ρp
The pressure drop through the product bed is given by Dracy’s law (stream line
law).
1 1 m
∆P = h2 .v = ( air ) h2
k k ρA

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 h2 kρ∆P
=
A mair
Where
k is the porosity, the property of the particular product to be dried.
Porosity for mango is 9.9
Density of mango 1022Kg/m3
http://books.google.com/books?
id=9r04bC6gm9cC&pg=PT460&lpg=PT460&dq=porosity+mango+handbook+of
+food+science&source=bl&ots=d6F5YlRs50&sig=TKud2psd4N9z0vowG6YLM
XHitlY&hl=en&ei=6Pl2SrOCLMnj-
QbNn6HMBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=&f
=false

Figure 2 pressure drop along the solar dryer