Performance studies on triple pass solar dryer with sensible heat storage for agricultural products

Abstract

Generally, food production and supply does not meet the demand of the people due to the shortfall of food production and wastage. In the developing countries, the food wastage occurs due to lack of suitable technology, improper cultivation and fertilization, post-harvest losses, marketing and transportation problems. Post-harvest losses of food products newlinealso influence the economic condition of the countries; especially it has a major impact on the developing countries. The worldand#8223;s food shortfall problem can be attempted through the minimization of wastage by adopting suitable food preservation technique. The drying process is one of the oldest methods of food preservation. Generally drying is considered as an energy-intensive process as it consumes a quite large amount of energy to remove moisture from the products. The oldest method of drying is of sun drying, where the products to be dried are spread as a single layer on the floor and exposed to direct solar radiation. The drawback of the open sun drying method has forced the food preservation sector to look for alternate drying methods with artificial hot air drying. Using solar energy for drying agricultural products is an energy-efficient process especially in the developing countries. The solar dryer is used to remove the moisture content in the agricultural products and preserve to increase the life of the products and also save energy consumption and reduce environmental impact. Solar drying is a process of drying through the utilization of solar energy for heating the air and thereby reducing the moisture content to safe level for extending the shelf life. The sunand#8223;s radiation is collected by means of a device in which air is heated and hot air is circulated over the products, to reduce the moisture content. Solar drying is a popular method for drying agricultural products newline newline