Experimental investigation of forced convection and desiccant integrated solar dryer

V. Shanmugam and E. Natarajan

Renewable Energy, 2006, vol. 31, issue 8, 1239-1251

Abstract: An indirect forced convection and desiccant integrated solar dryer is designed and fabricated to investigate its performance under the hot and humid climatic conditions of Chennai, India. The system consists of a flat plate solar air collector, drying chamber and a desiccant unit. The desiccant unit is designed to hold 75kg of CaCl2-based solid desiccant consisting of 60% bentonite, 10% calcium chloride, 20% vermiculite and 10% cement. Drying experiments have been performed for green peas at different air flow rate. The equilibrium moisture content Me is reached in 14h at an air flow rate of 0.03kg/m2s. The system pickup efficiency, specific moisture extraction rate, dimensionless mass loss, mass shrinkage ratio and drying rate are discussed in this paper.

Keywords: Solar drying; Desiccant; Green peas; Moisture content; Pickup efficiency (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2006
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (24)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:31:y:2006:i:8:p:1239-1251

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2005.05.019

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