Assessment of eco‐thermal sustainability potential of a cluster of low‐cost solar dryer designs based on exergetic sustainability indicators and earned carbon credit

• Published in: Cleaner Energy Systems Vol. 3; p. 100027
• Main Authors: Ndukwu, Macmanus Chinenye, Ibeh, Mathew Imagwuike, Etim, Pomise, Augustine, Christopher Ubong, Ekop, Inemesit Edem, Leonard, Akuwueke, Oriaku, Linus, Abam, Fidelis, Lamrani, Bilal, Simo-Tagne, Merlin, Bennamoun, Lyes
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2022
• Subjects: Energy utilization; exergy analysis, sustainable development, solar drying; solar energy application; Energy utilization; EIF; exergy analysis, sustainable development, solar drying; ERR; solar energy application; WER; EDC; SI; EEF; LOP
• ISSN: 2772-7831; 2772-7831
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cles.2022.100027

•Environmental sustainability performance of different solar dryer designs from the same cluster area were compared•The sustainability indices varied despite having equal collector area•The wind powered solar dryer with triple air path on a single pass collector was more environmentally sustainable than others•The study outcome is indicative for improved sustainable solar dryer design choice for the studied zone This research aims to establish the interconnectivity between solar dryer designs and the exegetic-sustainability performance of solar dryers. This is to assist energy policymakers and fabricators to establish design standards and make the right choice for waste exergy management strategy for environmental sustainability. Therefore, in this study, the exergy-based sustainability indicators and earned carbon credit were used to assess and compare the performance of four different designs of solar dryers of equal collector capacity under the same external environmental conditions in the same town. In terms of better sustainability indicators that include high exergy efficiency, lower waste exergy emission, higher sustainability index and lower lack of productivity, solar dryer designs with single-pass triple air movement direction with inlet air powered by wind generator had the best indices for environmental sustainability. In contrast, the natural convection mix-mode solar dryer design had the lowest environmental effect factor and destruction coefficient while the indirect natural convection solar dryer had the highest energy recovery ratio based on exergy output from water evaporation. However, the mix-mode solar dryer powered by the wind generator earned the highest carbon credit. The exergy efficiency ranged from 19.09 to 52 % for the four cases, whereas the waste exergy ratio ranged from 0.52 to 0.81. The LOP value ranged from 2.95 to 19.96. Similarly, the sustainability index ranged from 1.28 to 2.5, the average environmental destruction coefficient varied from 3.96 to 20.96, the exergy recovery ratio for the four dryers varied from 0.001825 to 0.12405, and the earned carbon credit ranged from $442. 3 to $2630.5. [Display omitted]