A Preliminary Experimental and Numerical Analysis of a Novel Solar Dryer

Pio Francesco Muciaccia, Alessandra Nigro, Alessia Aquilanti, Sebastiano Tomassetti, Matteo Muccioli and Giovanni Di Nicola ()
Additional contact information
Pio Francesco Muciaccia: Department of Industrial Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, Marche Polytechnic University, Via Brecce Bianche 12, 60131 Ancona, Italy
Alessandra Nigro: Department of Industrial Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, Marche Polytechnic University, Via Brecce Bianche 12, 60131 Ancona, Italy
Alessia Aquilanti: Department of Industrial Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, Marche Polytechnic University, Via Brecce Bianche 12, 60131 Ancona, Italy
Sebastiano Tomassetti: Department of Industrial Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, Marche Polytechnic University, Via Brecce Bianche 12, 60131 Ancona, Italy
Matteo Muccioli: Studio MUMA, Via Eugenio Curiel 66 R, 47922 Rimini, Italy
Giovanni Di Nicola: Department of Industrial Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, Marche Polytechnic University, Via Brecce Bianche 12, 60131 Ancona, Italy

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 23, 1-30

Abstract: In this study, a novel solar dryer is presented and analyzed experimentally and numerically. The proposed device is a small, passive, indirect solar dryer that works in an unconventional way. The product is mainly heated by irradiation from the walls of the drying chamber, while its moisture is removed by an airflow caused by natural convection. In addition, it is a low-cost solar dryer made of readily available materials and has a variable geometry that allows it to increase its thermal performance. Two types of experimental tests were conducted to analyze its performance. Thermal tests without load were carried out to assess the suitability of the drying chamber temperatures. Load tests with various masses and types of food were carried out to evaluate its drying performance. The results of the experimental tests demonstrated that the solar dryer achieved temperatures suitable for food drying and was able to dry the tested foods. Finally, a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model was developed to predict the performance of the proposed solar dryer. The validation of the numerical model with experimental data confirms their reliability in accurately predicting the temperatures within the dryer.

Keywords: solar energy; solar-energy drying systems; indirect solar dryer; natural convection solar dryer; CFD; solar load model; S2S radiation model (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: 2024
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/23/6059/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/23/6059/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:23:p:6059-:d:1534985

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().