Performance Evaluation and Drying Kinetics for Solar Drying of Hygroscopic Crops in Vacuum Tube Assisted Hybrid Dryer

2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaurav Saxena ◽  
M.K. Gaur

Abstract The present experimentation work discloses drying of hygroscopic crops under the new concept of solar-assisted greenhouse type dryer integrated with evacuated tube water heating system to control and maintain the temperature of the greenhouse environment according to the regulated flowrate of heated water in the drying trays. The dryer consists of an evacuated tube solar collector, flow regulating device and drying bed with provision for the flow of heated water. The power supply for forced circulation of solar-heated water inside the copper tube as well as the greenhouse environment air is maintained by solar photovoltaic (PV) modules. The dryer is tested for drying two hygroscopic crops namely coriander and fenugreek. The drying performance of the hybrid system is evaluated in terms of mass reduction and its derived influence on moisture content and drying rate. The derived parameters are compared with the corresponding evaluations under open sun drying. The rise in the greenhouse environment temperature and the crop surface temperature at hourly intervals as compared to the ambient condition were used as parameters for the thermal performance of the dryer. The drying curve for change in mass shows complete drying time for coriander and fenugreek reduced by 3.5 and 2.5 h, respectively, for present sample sizes. The most suitable mathematical model was also regressed using matlab followed by the development of a neural network for more precise prediction of moisture ratio (MR) for present hybrid drying.

2011 ◽  
Vol 71-78 ◽  
pp. 2073-2076
Author(s):  
Fen E Hu ◽  
Zhi Juan Wang

A solar air drying system including solar air collector, drying cabinet and air blower for notoginseng drying has been constructed and tested. Two identical air solar collectors with two air channels, V-groove absorption heat plates and a single glass cover have been employed. The results of test show that the solar air collectors can obtain a good thermal performance in winter season. When the air flow mass rate is fixed at 0.0597kg·s-1, the maximum values of thermal efficiency and outlet air temperature are 76.0% and 62.2°C, respectively. The experimental analysis between two sampling notoginseng drying suggests that the solar drying is very effective, and the drying time has been shorten to about 440 minutes from 990 minutes of the traditional drying by sun. It is also observed that using the solar drying system notoginseng has a higher quality than traditional drying method.


Author(s):  
Andy Walker ◽  
Fariborz Mahjouri ◽  
Robert Stiteler

This paper describes design, simulation, construction and measured initial performance of a solar water heating system (360 Evacuated Heat-Pipe Collector tubes, 54 m2 gross area, 36 m2 net absorber area) installed at the top of the hot water recirculation loop in the Social Security Mid-Atlantic Center in Philadelphia. Water returning to the hot water storage tank is heated by the solar array when solar energy is available. This new approach, as opposed to the more conventional approach of preheating incoming water, is made possible by the thermal diode effect of heat pipes and low heat loss from evacuated tube solar collectors. The simplicity of this approach and its low installation costs makes the deployment of solar energy in existing commercial buildings more attractive, especially where the roof is far removed from the water heating system, which is often in the basement. Initial observed performance of the system is reported. Hourly simulation estimates annual energy delivery of 111 GJ/year of solar heat and that the annual efficiency (based on the 54 m2 gross area) of the solar collectors is 41%, and that of the entire system including parasitic pump power, heat loss due to freeze protection, and heat loss from connecting piping is 34%. Annual average collector efficiency based on a net aperture area of 36 m2 is 61.5% according to the hourly simulation.


2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 1667-1672 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hai-Jun Li ◽  
Guang-Hui Zhou ◽  
An-Gui Li ◽  
Xu-Ge Li ◽  
Ya-Nan Li ◽  
...  

When the ordinary heat pump air conditioning system of a pure electric vehicle runs at ultra-low temperature, the discharge temperature of compressor will be too high and the heating capacity of the system will decay seriously, it will lead to inactivity of the heating system. In order to solve this problem, a modification is put forward, and an experiment is also designed. The experimental results show that in the same conditions, this new heating system increases more than 20% of the heating capacity; when the outside environment temperature is negative 20 degrees, the discharge temperature of compressor is below 60 degrees.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamie Fine

Society’s use of fossil fuels has led to increasingly high levels of CO2 in the atmosphere. These levels have been linked to global average temperature rises, and increases in the severity and frequency of major weather events. To combat these effects, nations around the world have committed to reducing their CO2 emissions, and transition to renewable energy. This thesis focuses on the development of a novel solar heating system, which combines a hybrid solar panel and cascade heat pump. The thesis begins by presenting a high-level literature review of solar and heat pump technologies, followed by the initial design development of the system. Two design iterations are presented, illustrating that the final design was selected because it exhibits improved peak heat output, and reduced sensitivity to panel temperature. Next, a manuscript-based chapter is presented that focuses on utilizing the proposed solar heating system for water distillation. Case studies are presented that compare the performance of the proposed system with a solar still at four different locations. The final conclusion from these studies is that using the proposed system offers area-based performance improvements of 780% compared to a basic solar still. A second manuscript-based study is then presented, which focuses on utilizing the proposed solar heating system for domestic hot water production. Additional case studies are detailed that compare the proposed system to an evacuated tube design, and a single heat pump. The conclusions from these studies are that the proposed system exceeds the performance of the evacuated tube system by up to 64%, and that the proposed system is most beneficial during seasons with higher average dry-bulb temperatures, and increased solar irradiation. A final manuscript-based study is then presented, which focuses on a methodology for improving alternate mode thermal performance estimates for hybrid solar panels. The conclusion from this study is that the proposed methodology can successfully estimate thermal performance within 5% of actual values. Each of these studies contributes to the project goal of developing a novel solar energy heating system, which can be further developed to reduce global CO2 emissions, and reduce the effects of climate change.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamie Fine

Society’s use of fossil fuels has led to increasingly high levels of CO2 in the atmosphere. These levels have been linked to global average temperature rises, and increases in the severity and frequency of major weather events. To combat these effects, nations around the world have committed to reducing their CO2 emissions, and transition to renewable energy. This thesis focuses on the development of a novel solar heating system, which combines a hybrid solar panel and cascade heat pump. The thesis begins by presenting a high-level literature review of solar and heat pump technologies, followed by the initial design development of the system. Two design iterations are presented, illustrating that the final design was selected because it exhibits improved peak heat output, and reduced sensitivity to panel temperature. Next, a manuscript-based chapter is presented that focuses on utilizing the proposed solar heating system for water distillation. Case studies are presented that compare the performance of the proposed system with a solar still at four different locations. The final conclusion from these studies is that using the proposed system offers area-based performance improvements of 780% compared to a basic solar still. A second manuscript-based study is then presented, which focuses on utilizing the proposed solar heating system for domestic hot water production. Additional case studies are detailed that compare the proposed system to an evacuated tube design, and a single heat pump. The conclusions from these studies are that the proposed system exceeds the performance of the evacuated tube system by up to 64%, and that the proposed system is most beneficial during seasons with higher average dry-bulb temperatures, and increased solar irradiation. A final manuscript-based study is then presented, which focuses on a methodology for improving alternate mode thermal performance estimates for hybrid solar panels. The conclusion from this study is that the proposed methodology can successfully estimate thermal performance within 5% of actual values. Each of these studies contributes to the project goal of developing a novel solar energy heating system, which can be further developed to reduce global CO2 emissions, and reduce the effects of climate change.


2016 ◽  
Vol 139 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis A. Ferraz-Albani ◽  
Alberto Baldelli ◽  
Chrissy J. Knapp ◽  
Wolfgang Jäger ◽  
Reinhard Vehring ◽  
...  

Enhancement of water droplet evaporation by added infrared radiation was modeled and studied experimentally in a vertical laminar flow channel. Experiments were conducted on droplets with nominal initial diameters of 50 μm in air with relative humidities ranging from 0% to 90% RH. A 2800 nm laser was used with radiant flux densities as high as 4 × 105 W/m2. Droplet size as a function of time was measured by a shadowgraph technique. The model assumed quasi-steady behavior, a low Biot number liquid phase, and constant gas–vapor phase material properties, while the experimental results were required for model validation and calibration. For radiant flux densities less than 104 W/m2, droplet evaporation rates remained essentially constant over their full evaporation, but at rates up to 10% higher than for the no radiation case. At higher radiant flux density, the surface-area change with time became progressively more nonlinear, indicating that the radiation had diminished effects on evaporation as the size of the droplets decreased. The drying time for a 50 μm water droplet was an order of magnitude faster when comparing the 106 W/m2 case to the no radiation case. The model was used to estimate the droplet temperature. Between 104 and 5 × 105 W/m2, the droplet temperature changed from being below to above the environment temperature. Thus, the direction of conduction between the droplet and the environment also changed. The proposed model was able to predict the changing evaporation rates for droplets exposed to radiation for ambient conditions varying from dry air to 90% relative humidity.


2020 ◽  
Vol 143 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Waseem Amjad ◽  
Muhammad Waseem ◽  
Anjum Munir ◽  
Abdul Ghafoor ◽  
Furqan Asghar ◽  
...  

Abstract Batch type food dryers are common for drying agricultural produce due to simple in design, but they are prone to nonuniform drying and significant heat cost exclusively if they fall in the medium to large size range. The current study illustrates a solar hybrid food dryer using a gas burner and solar collector (evacuated tube collector, ETC) as heating source along with an inline perforation inside the drying chamber to obtain spatial drying homogeneity. Air distribution was assessed through three-dimensional simulation using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis. Performance trials were conducted under three heating options (ETC, gas, and dual) using green chilies at 60 °C. Throughout drying chamber, under all heating modes, the average difference in drying rates ranged from 0.61 to 1.30 kg water/kg dry matter, demonstrating homogeneous drying. Simulated and experimental results of air distribution were found to be in agreement with each other. Using three options for thermal heating (ETC, gas, and dual) and an overall 58% efficiency for evacuated tube collector, the specific energy for moisture evaporation was found to be 4.5–5.7 MJ/kg and specific product energy 19.2–24.9 MJ/kg. In case of dual heating option, the energy supplied by solar and gas sources for a 20 hours period was 50.64% (160.22 MJ) and 49.35% (156.13 MJ), respectively. Compared with dual heating option, energy cost can be reduced by 68% if only solar energy is used as a heating option but with a protracted drying time.


2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 15
Author(s):  
J. D. Naranjo ◽  
C. A. Ancines ◽  
C. F. Dos Santos ◽  
A. Krenzinger

The importance of renewable energy conversion in heat generation systems is increasing. Being a form of clean energy production, solar water heating systems can substitute part of the electricity consumption in Brazilian energy matrix. Beyond the environmental benefits, the use of such systems brings economic benefits to the country and especially those who use them, saving the use of other energy sources for water heating. In Brazil, the solar water heating is carried out mainly by flat solar collectors, a widely known technology produced in the country at low prices. Nowadays another technology is being used: the evacuated solar collectors. These collectors are being worldwide produced on a large scale and they are imported and inserted at competitive prices in the domestic market. Therefore, it is necessary to understand these systems and their operation to avoid errors in their installation and optimize their use. This work accomplishes a comparative analysis of a solar water heating system composed by a water- in-glass evacuated tube solar collector working in forced circulation, varying the flow, with the same system working in thermosyphon circulation. This comparison was performed by determining the annual energy the system can produce for each type of circulation, which was calculated based on the ISO 9459-2 standard and the climatic data of Porto Alegre city, Rio Grande Do Sul State. To perform these measures, a testing bench was mounted with sensors and measuring instruments which were calibrated before use. The results show that the system with thermosyphon circulation produces more annual energy than the forced circulation system where the water temperature stratification in the thermal reservoir was lower.


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