A Comprehensive State-of-the-Art Review on the Recent Developments in Greenhouse Drying

Asim Ahmad, Om Prakash, Anil Kumar, Rajeshwari Chatterjee, Shubham Sharma (), Vineet Kumar, Kushagra Kulshreshtha, Changhe Li and Elsayed Mohamed Tag Eldin ()
Additional contact information
Asim Ahmad: Faculty of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Usha Martin University, Ranchi 835103, India
Om Prakash: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi 835215, India
Anil Kumar: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Delhi Technological University, New Delhi 110042, India
Rajeshwari Chatterjee: Department of Hotel Management and Catering Technology, Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi 835215, India
Shubham Sharma: Mechanical Engineering Department, University Center for Research & Development, Chandigarh University, Mohali 140413, India
Vineet Kumar: Department of Automobile Engineering, Chandigarh University, Mohali 140413, India
Kushagra Kulshreshtha: Institute of Business Management, GLA University, Mathura 281406, India
Changhe Li: School of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, Qingdao University of Technology, Qingdao 266520, China
Elsayed Mohamed Tag Eldin: Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Future University in Egypt, New Cairo 11835, Egypt

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 24, 1-42

Abstract: Drying via solar energy is an environmentally friendly and inexpensive process. For controlled and bulk level drying, a greenhouse solar dryer is the most suitable controlled level solar dryer. The efficiency of a solar greenhouse dryer can be increased by using thermal storage. The agricultural products dried in greenhouses are reported to be of a higher quality than those dried in the sun because they are shielded from dust, rain, insects, birds, and animals. The heat storage-based greenhouse was found to be superior for drying of all types of crops in comparison to a normal greenhouse dryer, as it provides constant heat throughout the drying process. Hence, this can be used in rural areas by farmers and small-scale industrialists, and with minor modifications, it can be used anywhere in the world. This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the development of solar greenhouse dryers for drying various agricultural products, including their design, thermal modelling methods, cost, energy, and environmental implications. Furthermore, the choice and application of solar photovoltaic panels and thermal energy storage units in the solar greenhouse dryers are examined in detail, with a view to achieving continuous and grid-independent drying. The energy requirements of various greenhouse dryer configurations/shapes are compared. Thermodynamic and thermal modelling research that reported on the performance prediction of solar greenhouse dryers, and drying kinetics studies on various agricultural products, has been compiled in this study.

Keywords: greenhouse dryer; thermal storage; no-load condition; load condition; embodied energy; thermal modelling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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