IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v187y2022icp1154-1172.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Energy, environmental and economic analyses of an indirect cocoa bean solar dryer: A comparison between natural and forced convections

Author

Listed:
  • Simo-Tagne, Merlin
  • Tamkam Etala, Hermann Dimitri
  • Tagne Tagne, Ablain
  • Ndukwu, Macmanus Chinenye
  • El Marouani, Maryam

Abstract

The objective of the research is to present, the numerical simulation modelling of cocoa bean dryer in natural, forced and combined forced and natural convection to predict their effectiveness in a tropical environment. Cost analysis and CO2 mitigation potential of the solar dryer were also presented. The finite difference and fourth-order Runge Kutta method were used to resolve the iterative equations. The drying kinetics, drying rates, CO2 emissions mitigation, thermal efficiency and payback period are estimated in Yaoundé climate in Cameroon. It was difficult to have the moisture content of the product in equilibrium with ambient air using only natural convection. The best mode of functioning is to use forced convection during sunny period and natural convection during not sunny period. With an initial moisture content of 1.2 kg/kg (db), it took 32 h of drying time to obtained final moisture content of 0.15 kg/kg (db) using forced convection during the day and natural convection during the night for each month. The gradients of humidity and temperature are sufficient to have a homogeneous drying in the established product layers. The specific energy consumption range between 5 and 15 kWh per kg of humidity extracted for the combined natural and forced convection. The thermal efficiency of the solar collector is above 30%, while the global thermal efficiency ranges from 5% to 18%. The CO2 emissions mitigation potential per mass of evaporated water ranged between 15 and 25 g of CO2 per kg of water evaporated in a day. The calculated payback period was 2.19 years.

Suggested Citation

  • Simo-Tagne, Merlin & Tamkam Etala, Hermann Dimitri & Tagne Tagne, Ablain & Ndukwu, Macmanus Chinenye & El Marouani, Maryam, 2022. "Energy, environmental and economic analyses of an indirect cocoa bean solar dryer: A comparison between natural and forced convections," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 1154-1172.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:187:y:2022:i:c:p:1154-1172
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2022.02.015
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148122001549
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2022.02.015?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Simo-Tagne, Merlin & Ndukwu, Macmanus Chinenye & Zoulalian, André & Bennamoun, Lyes & Kifani-Sahban, Fatima & Rogaume, Yann, 2020. "Numerical analysis and validation of a natural convection mix-mode solar dryer for drying red chilli under variable conditions," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 659-673.
    2. Njomo, Donatien, 1991. "Modeling the heat exchanges in a solar air heater with a cover partially transparent to infrared radiations," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 1(5), pages 837-843.
    3. Ndukwu, M.C. & Bennamoun, L. & Abam, F.I. & Eke, A.B. & Ukoha, D., 2017. "Energy and exergy analysis of a solar dryer integrated with sodium sulfate decahydrate and sodium chloride as thermal storage medium," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 1182-1192.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Macmanus C. Ndukwu & Mathew Ibeh & Inemesit Ekop & Ugochukwu Abada & Promise Etim & Lyes Bennamoun & Fidelis Abam & Merlin Simo-Tagne & Ankur Gupta, 2022. "Analysis of the Heat Transfer Coefficient, Thermal Effusivity and Mathematical Modelling of Drying Kinetics of a Partitioned Single Pass Low-Cost Solar Drying of Cocoyam Chips with Economic Assessment," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-20, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Macmanus Chinenye Ndukwu & Lyes Bennamoun & Merlin Simo-Tagne, 2021. "Reviewing the Exergy Analysis of Solar Thermal Systems Integrated with Phase Change Materials," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-26, January.
    2. Simo-Tagne, Merlin & Ndukwu, Macmanus Chinenye & Zoulalian, André & Bennamoun, Lyes & Kifani-Sahban, Fatima & Rogaume, Yann, 2020. "Numerical analysis and validation of a natural convection mix-mode solar dryer for drying red chilli under variable conditions," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 659-673.
    3. Lamrani, Bilal & Elmrabet, Yasmine & Mathew, Ibeh & Bekkioui, Naoual & Etim, Promise & Chahboun, Adil & Draoui, Abdeslam & Ndukwu, Macmanus Chinenye, 2022. "Energy, economic analysis and mathematical modelling of mixed-mode solar drying of potato slices with thermal storage loaded V-groove collector: Application to Maghreb region," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 48-58.
    4. Lakshmi, D.V.N. & Muthukumar, P. & Nayak, Prakash Kumar, 2021. "Experimental investigations on active solar dryers integrated with thermal storage for drying of black pepper," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 728-739.
    5. Ewelina Radomska & Łukasz Mika & Karol Sztekler & Wojciech Kalawa & Łukasz Lis & Kinga Pielichowska & Magdalena Szumera & Paweł Rutkowski, 2023. "Experimental and Theoretical Investigation of Single-Slope Passive Solar Still with Phase-Change Materials," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-29, January.
    6. Sivakumar, S. & Velmurugan, C. & Dhas, D.S. Ebenezer Jacob & Solomon, A. Brusly & Dev Wins, K. Leo, 2020. "Effect of nano cupric oxide coating on the forced convection performance of a mixed-mode flat plate solar dryer," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 1165-1172.
    7. El Hage, Hicham & Herez, Amal & Ramadan, Mohamad & Bazzi, Hassan & Khaled, Mahmoud, 2018. "An investigation on solar drying: A review with economic and environmental assessment," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 815-829.
    8. Atalay, Halil & Cankurtaran, Eda, 2021. "Energy, exergy, exergoeconomic and exergo-environmental analyses of a large scale solar dryer with PCM energy storage medium," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    9. Hamed Karami & Mohammad Kaveh & Iman Golpour & Esmail Khalife & Robert Rusinek & Bohdan Dobrzański & Marek Gancarz, 2021. "Thermodynamic Evaluation of the Forced Convective Hybrid-Solar Dryer during Drying Process of Rosemary ( Rosmarinus officinalis L.) Leaves," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-17, September.
    10. Atalay, Halil, 2019. "Performance analysis of a solar dryer integrated with the packed bed thermal energy storage (TES) system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 1037-1052.
    11. Çiftçi, Erdem & Khanlari, Ataollah & Sözen, Adnan & Aytaç, İpek & Tuncer, Azim Doğuş, 2021. "Energy and exergy analysis of a photovoltaic thermal (PVT) system used in solar dryer: A numerical and experimental investigation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 410-423.
    12. Khanlari, Ataollah & Sözen, Adnan & Afshari, Faraz & Tuncer, Azim Doğuş, 2021. "Energy-exergy and sustainability analysis of a PV-driven quadruple-flow solar drying system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 1151-1166.
    13. Nuria Novas & Rosa María Garcia & Jose Manuel Camacho & Alfredo Alcayde, 2021. "Advances in Solar Energy towards Efficient and Sustainable Energy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-31, June.
    14. Ndukwu, Macmanus Chinenye & Akpan, Godwin & Okeahialam, Azubuike N. & Umoh, John D. & Ubuoh, Emmanuel A. & Benjamine, Uchechukwu G. & Nwachukwu, Chris & Kalu, Confidence A. & Mbanasor, Jude & Wu, Hong, 2023. "A comparison of the drying kinetics, energy consumption and colour quality of drying medicinal leaves in direct-solar dryer with different colours of collector cover," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    15. Yao, Muchi & Li, Ming & Wang, Yunfeng & Li, Guoliang & Zhang, Ying & Gao, Meng & Deng, Zhihan & Xing, Tianyu & Zhang, Zude & Zhang, Wenxiang, 2023. "Analysis on characteristics and operation mode of direct solar collector coupled heat pump drying system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 223-238.
    16. Benlioğlu, Muhammet Mustafa & Karaağaç, Mehmet Onur & Ergün, Alper & Ceylan, İlhan & Ali, İsmail Hamad Guma, 2023. "A detailed analysis of a novel auto-controlled solar drying system combined with thermal energy storage concentrated solar air heater (CSAC) and concentrated photovoltaic/thermal (CPV/T)," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 420-433.
    17. Tchinda, Réné, 2009. "A review of the mathematical models for predicting solar air heaters systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(8), pages 1734-1759, October.
    18. Gupta, Ankur & Das, Biplab & Biswas, Agnimitra & Mondol, Jayanta Deb, 2022. "Sustainability and 4E analysis of novel solar photovoltaic-thermal solar dryer under forced and natural convection drying," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 1008-1021.
    19. Abubakar, S. & Umaru, S. & Kaisan, M.U. & Umar, U.A. & Ashok, B. & Nanthagopal, K., 2018. "Development and performance comparison of mixed-mode solar crop dryers with and without thermal storage," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 128(PA), pages 285-298.
    20. Wang, Yan & Yu, Kaixiang & Peng, Hao & Ling, Xiang, 2019. "Preparation and thermal properties of sodium acetate trihydrate as a novel phase change material for energy storage," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 269-274.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:187:y:2022:i:c:p:1154-1172. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/renewable-energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.