Design, Analysis and Experimental Evaluation of Photovoltaic Forced Convection Solar Dryer for the Tropics
The photovoltaic (pv) forced convection solar dryer comprises the solar collector, dryer and pv assemblies. It is designed for a continuous operation throughout the day. The direct solar irradiation is utilized during sunshine hours and it automatically switches power supply to the battery during cl...
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Published in | International journal of engineering research in Africa (Print) Vol. 3; pp. 49 - 61 |
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Main Authors | , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Zurich
Trans Tech Publications Ltd
01.11.2010
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | The photovoltaic (pv) forced convection solar dryer comprises the solar collector, dryer and pv assemblies. It is designed for a continuous operation throughout the day. The direct solar irradiation is utilized during sunshine hours and it automatically switches power supply to the battery during cloud covers and non-insolation periods. The inclusion of a heat reservoir enables heat transfer to continue during this period. In this study, thermal and dryer analyses were done. Experimental investigations were carried out to evaluate the performance of the system by drying plantain chips. The useful power collected was found to be, 391.50W, collector efficiency, 65.6%, dryer efficiency, 39.6%, average drying rate during insolation, 0.0169kg/hr and total drying time was 23 hours. The maximum temperature attained was 55oC. The average drying non insolation period was 0.0112kg/hr. The capital cost is less than $350. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 1663-3571 1663-4144 1663-4144 |
DOI: | 10.4028/www.scientific.net/JERA.3.49 |