Design and Evaluation of a Mango Solar Dryer with Thermal Energy Storage and Recirculated Air

Abstract

Climate change has drastically affected our production patterns, negatively distressing the yearly agricultural produce. A core process in the industry is the drying of biomass. Drying increases the value and extends the shelf life of the agricultural products. However, modern drying technologies are still reliant on fossil fuels. Solar-based drying technologies are needed to counteract the fossil fuel dependence. Other than reduction of fuel consumption, solar dryers are easily adaptable to rural communities with heavy reliance on the drying process. Alternative designs have been proposed to improve the performance of the solar dryers, notably integrating thermal energy storage (TES) systems. A limiting factor, however, is that the performance is constrained to the heating capacity of the TES. Previous study has examined the integration of TES with air recirculation, indicating an improved performance. Further evaluation of the dryer with another biomass is needed to illustrate the adaptability of the hybrid feature. This study, therefore, evaluates the performance of solar drying with TES and air recirculation for mango drying. Comparisons were made with other design combinations as a benchmark. Results reveal that the hybrid solar dryer can reduce the drying time from 7.17 hours to 5.32 hours.