Enhancing the Productivity of Agricultural Supply Chains with Solar Tunnel Dryers

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Mohan Babu University (Erst while Sree Vidyanikethan Engineering College), Tirupati, India.

2 Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Mohan Babu University (Erst while Sree Vidyanikethan Engineering College), Tirupati, India.

10.22059/jser.2023.359435.1308

Abstract

Solar tunnel dryers are innovative technologies that utilize solar energy to efficiently and cost-effectively dry agricultural products. By harnessing renewable energy, these dryers provide a sustainable alternative to conventional drying methods. The aim of this article is to examine a solar tunnel dryer that is employed to dry a variety of agricultural goods in Chandragiri Mandal, Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh), India under local weather circumstances. The dryer has a polycarbonate sheet that is 1 mm thick and 30 feet long by 12 feet broad. This sheet is utilized as a collector for material and for direct absorption on the item to be dried. About 300 kg can be loaded into the dryer with vegetables or agricultural products. Vegetables have been dried in a solar tunnel dryer in 1 hours from initial moisture content of roughly 85% to 45% whereas open-air drying takes 18 hours. The temperature within the dryer is considerably higher between 30 and 40 degrees Celsius than the ambient temperature. It has been determined that the typical thermal efficiency is around 53.1%. Solar tunnel dryers, such as reduced drying time, improved product quality, and decreased post-harvest losses. 

Keywords

[1] Ridoy, A., Khan, N., Kafle, B., Schmidt, S., Clochard, L., Hofmann, M., & Rentsch, J. (2022). Optimizing Emitter Diffusion Process for Atmospheric Pressure Dry Nanotextured Monocrystalline PERC. IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, 12(1), 244–250. DOI: 10.1109/jphotov.2021.3130007.
[2] Sengupta, S., Sengupta, S., & Saha, H. (2020). Comprehensive Modeling of Dust Accumulation on PV Modules Through Dry Deposition Processes. IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, 10(4), 1148–1157. DOI: 10.1109/jphotov.2020.2992352
[3] Zhao, W., Lv, Y., Zhou, Q., & Yan, W. (2021). Investigation on particle deposition criterion and dust accumulation impact on solar PV module performance. Energy, 233, 121240. DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2021.121240.
[4] Aydin, D., Ezenwali, S. E., Alibar, M. Y., & Chen, X. (2019). Novel modular mixed-mode dryer for enhanced solar energy utilization in agricultural crop drying applications. Energy Sources, Part A: Recovery, Utilization, and Environmental Effects, 43(16), 1958–1974. DOI: 10.1080/15567036.2019.1663306.
[5] Arslan, E., & Aktaş, M. (2020). 4E analysis of infrared-convective dryer powered solar photovoltaic thermal collector. Solar Energy, 208, 46–57. DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2020.07.071.
[6] Babar, O. A., Tarafdar, A., Malakar, S., Arora, V. K., & Nema, P. K. (2020). Design and performance evaluation of a passive flat plate collector solar dryer for agricultural products. Journal of Food Process Engineering, 43(10). DOI: 10.1111/jfpe.13484.
[7] Lingayat, A. B., Chandramohan, V., Raju, V., & Meda, V. (2020). A review on indirect type solar dryers for agricultural crops – Dryer setup, its performance, energy storage and important highlights. Applied Energy, 258, 114005. DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.114005.
[8] Hao, W., Liu, S., Mi, B., & Lai, Y. (2020). Mathematical Modeling and Performance Analysis of a New Hybrid Solar Dryer of Lemon Slices for Controlling Drying Temperature. Energies, 13(2), 350. DOI: 10.3390/en13020350.
[9] Sajadipour, F., Kheiralipour, K., Mirzaee- Ghaleh, E., & Rabani, H. (2022). Assessment of Thermal Behavior of a Flat Plate Water Heater Solar Collector at Different Day Times by Computational Fluid Dynamics Method. Journal of Solar Energy Research, 7(4), 1134-1142. DOI: 10.22059/jser.2022.333698.1227.
[10] Rajaee, M., & Jalali, M. (2023). Construction and Analysis of Smart Solar Bench with the Optimal Angle in Four Central Cities of Iran. Journal of Solar Energy Research, 8(1), 1345-1356. DOI: 10.22059/jser.2023.349600.1261.
[11] Patel, H., & Mishra, N. (2019). Modelling and Analysis of Grid Connected Three-Phase Photovoltaic Inverter. SSRN Electronic Journal. DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.3442520.
[12] Rakshamuthu, S., Jegan, S., Joel Benyameen, J., Selvakumar, V., Anandeeswaran, K., & Iyahraja, S. (2021). Experimental analysis of small size solar dryer with phase change materials for food preservation. Journal of Energy Storage, 33, 102095. DOI: 10.1016/j.est.2020.102095.
[13] Mirzakhani, A., & Pishkar, I. (2023). Finding The Best Configuration of an Off-Grid PV-Wind-Fuel Cell System with Battery and Generator Backup: A Remote House in Iran. Journal of Solar Energy Research, 8(2), 1380-1392. DOI: 10.22059/jser.2023.349781.1259.
[14] Mohana, Y., Mohanapriya, R., Anukiruthika, T., Yoha, K., Moses, J., & Anandharamakrishnan, C. (2020). Solar dryers for food applications: Concepts, designs, and recent advances. Solar Energy, 208, 321–344. DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2020.07.098
[15] Battocchio, C., Bruni, F., Di Nicola, G., Gasperi, T., Iucci, G., Tofani, D., . . . Venditti, I. (2021). Solar Cookers and Dryers: Environmental Sustainability and Nutraceutical Content in Food Processing. Foods, 10(10), 2326. DOI: 10.3390/foods10102326.
[16] Swami, V. M., Autee, A. T., & T R, A. (2018). Experimental analysis of solar fish dryer using phase change material. Journal of Energy Storage, 20, 310–315. DOI: 10.1016/j.est.2018.09.016.
[17] Mathew, A. A., & Thangavel, V. (2021). A novel thermal energy storage integrated evacuated tube heat pipe solar dryer for agricultural products: Performance and economic evaluation. Renewable Energy, 179, 1674–1693. DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2021.07.029.
[18] Cetina-Quiñones, A., López López, J., Ricalde-Cab, L., El Mekaoui, A., San-Pedro, L., & Bassam, A. (2021). Experimental evaluation of an indirect type solar dryer for agricultural use in rural communities: Relative humidity comparative study under winter season in tropical climate with sensible heat storage material. Solar Energy, 224, 58–75. DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2021.05.040
[19] Tarigan, E. (2018). Mathematical modeling and simulation of a solar agricultural dryer with back-up biomass burner and thermal storage. Case Studies in Thermal Engineering, 12, 149–165. DOI: 10.1016/j.csite.2018.04.012.
[20] Goud, M., Reddy, M. V. V., V.P., C., & S., S. (2019). A novel indirect solar dryer with inlet fans powered by solar PV panels: Drying kinetics of Capsicum Annum and Abelmoschus esculentus with dryer performance. Solar Energy, 194, 871–885. DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2019.11.031.
[21] Azam, M. M., Eltawil, M. A., & Amer, B. M. (2020). Thermal analysis of PV system and solar collector integrated with greenhouse dryer for drying tomatoes. Energy, 212, 118764. DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2020.118764.
[22] Moravej, M., Namdarnia, F., & Partabian, L. (2022). An experimental study of the effect of using Ag-water nanofluid in different concentrations on the performance of circular collectors. Journal of Solar Energy Research, 7(2), 1016-1026. DOI: 10.22059/jser.2022.336571.1236.
[23] Murali, S., Alfiya, P., Aniesrani Delfiya, D., Harikrishnan, S., Kunjulakshmi, S., & Samuel, M. P. (2022). Performance evaluation of PV powered solar tunnel dryer integrated with a mobile alert system for shrimp drying. Solar Energy, 240, 246–257. DOI: j.solener.2022.05.028.
[24] Eltawil, M. A., Azam, M. M., & Alghannam, A. O. (2018). Solar PV powered mixed-mode tunnel dryer for drying potato chips. Renewable Energy, 116, 594–605. DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2017.10.007.
[25] Aydin, D., Ezenwali, S. E., Alibar, M. Y., & Chen, X. (2019). Novel modular mixed-mode dryer for enhanced solar energy utilization in agricultural crop drying applications. Energy Sources, Part A: Recovery, Utilization, and Environmental Effects, 43(16), 1958–1974. DOI: 10.1080/15567036.2019.1663306. 
[26] Ezhilvannan, P., Krishnan, S., Hemanth Kumar, B., Janardhan, K., & Ramachandran, S. (2023). Analysis of the Effectiveness of a Two-Stage Three-Phase Grid-Connected Inverter for Photovoltaic Applications. Journal of Solar Energy Research, 8(2), 1471-1483. DOI: 10.22059/jser.2023.357025.1285.
[27] Elahi, E., Khalid, Z., & Zhang, Z. (2022). Understanding farmers’ intention and willingness to install renewable energy technology: A solution to reduce the environmental emissions of agriculture. Applied Energy, 309, 118459. DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.118459
[28] Shoeibi, S., Kargarsharifabad, H., Mirjalily, S. A. A., & Zargarazad, M. (2021). Performance analysis of finned photovoltaic/thermal solar air dryer with using a compound parabolic concentrator. Applied Energy, 304, 117778. DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.117778.