Thermal Performance of Greenhouse Solar Dryer with Single and Double Evacuated Tube Solar Collector under no-load

Abstract

Solar dryers are the sustainable solution for meeting the food requirement of rising population in future. The crops and other edible products can be dried to safe moisture level and then it can be stored for longer duration. An evacuated tube solar collector is attached to the hybrid greenhouse solar dryer. The thermal performance analysis of the developed hybrid dryer is carried out in active mode under no-load condition. The effect of single ETC and two ETC connected in series on the performance of the developed dryer are analyzed in the paper. The dryer with double ETC gives maximum of 22.6% higher room temperature than the dryer with single ETC. The dryer gives better performance with two ETC as higher room temperature will provide the faster drying rate but it also increase the capital cost of the dryer.