EVERGREEN

Joint Journal of Novel Carbon Resource Sciences and Green Asia Strategy

ISSN:2189-0420 (Print until Mar 2020)
ISSN:2432-5953 (Online)

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Comparative Performance Analysis of a PCM-based Solar Dryer under Natural Air Circulation Conditions

Raed A. Jessam1,*, K Mohammed1, Louay Abdulsalam Rasheed1, K Mohammed2
1Department of Electromechanical Engineering, University of Technology, Iraq
2Department of Mechanical Engineering, Engineering Collage, Al- Mustansiriyah University, Iraq
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed:
E-mail: raed.a..jessam.example@university.edu (RAJ)
Evergreen, Vol. 12, Iss. 02, pp. 767–779, 2025
DOI: 10.5109/7363474
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
Received: August 18, 2024 | Revised: February 05, 2025 | Accepted: April 01, 2025 | Published: June 2025
Abstract
The dryer preserves food by using sustainable energy sources like wind and sun. An experimental setup was constructed to evaluate an indirect solar dryer using 50 kg of phase change material (PCM) as a thermal energy storage element. The proposed dryer includes a drying chamber, solar air heater, PCM storage units, a wind turbine ventilator, and a central vertical chimney. This paper aims to compare the performance of a PCM-based dryer under two natural air circulation conditions, one based on the pressure gradient using a chimney (ACP) and the other based on wind ventilation utilizing a wind turbine ventilator (ACW) with an average wind speed of 3m/s. The proposed drying mechanism operates after sunset for 7 to 8 hr under ventilated conditions. The data showed that after using the PCM, the temperature in the chamber is continuously 2 to 7 oC higher than the ambient air. Furthermore, it was observed that the relative humidity of the chamber was 10 to 12.5% lower than that of the ambient air while using the wind-ventilated solar dryer. The PCM-based dryer under the ACW condition has achieved an average drying rate and average collector efficiency exceeding their corresponding values under the ACP condition by about 70.4 % and 24 %, respectively. The proposed dryer is promising due to its lower moisture value and faster drying time.
Keywords
PCM ; solar dryer ; drying chamber ; kiwi slices ; solar air heaters ; wind turbine ventilator
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