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Experimental investigation of the performance of the solar tunnel dryer for drying bananas

Author

Listed:
  • Schirmer, P.
  • Janjai, S.
  • Esper, A.
  • Smitabhindu, R.
  • Mühlbauer, W.

Abstract

The multi-purpose solar tunnel dryer was used to dry bananas under the hot and humid weather conditions of Thailand in order to investigate its performance. The dryer comprises a plastic sheet-covered flat plate collector and a drying tunnel. The dryer is arranged to supply hot air directly to the drying tunnel using three fans powered by a 53 W solar cell module. The products to be dried are spread in one layer on a plastic net in the drying tunnel to receive energy from both the hot air supplied by the collector and incident solar radiation. This dryer can be used to dry up to 300 kg of ripe bananas in each drying batch. In investigating the performance of the dryer, seven drying tests were conducted at the Royal Chitralada Projects in Bangkok during March–May 1995. Teh temperature of the drying air from the collector varied between 40 and 65°C during drying and the bananas could be dried within 3–5 days, compared to the 5–7 days needed for natural Sun drying. In addition, the bananas being dried in the solar tunnel dryer were completely protected from rain, insects and dust, and the dried bananas were of high quality in terms of flavour, colour and texture. As the fans are powered by the solar module, the dryer could be used in rural areas where there is no supply of electricity from grid. The pay-back period of the dryer is estimated to be about 3 years when the dryer is locally produced.

Suggested Citation

  • Schirmer, P. & Janjai, S. & Esper, A. & Smitabhindu, R. & Mühlbauer, W., 1996. "Experimental investigation of the performance of the solar tunnel dryer for drying bananas," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 119-129.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:7:y:1996:i:2:p:119-129
    DOI: 10.1016/0960-1481(95)00138-7
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    Cited by:

    1. Nabnean, S. & Janjai, S. & Thepa, S. & Sudaprasert, K. & Songprakorp, R. & Bala, B.K., 2016. "Experimental performance of a new design of solar dryer for drying osmotically dehydrated cherry tomatoes," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 147-156.
    2. Fudholi, A. & Sopian, K. & Ruslan, M.H. & Alghoul, M.A. & Sulaiman, M.Y., 2010. "Review of solar dryers for agricultural and marine products," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 1-30, January.
    3. Patil, Rajendra & Gawande, Rupesh, 2016. "A review on solar tunnel greenhouse drying system," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 196-214.
    4. Tuncer, Azim Doğuş & Khanlari, Ataollah & Sözen, Adnan & Gürbüz, Emine Yağız & Şirin, Ceylin & Gungor, Afsin, 2020. "Energy-exergy and enviro-economic survey of solar air heaters with various air channel modifications," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 67-85.
    5. Fudholi, Ahmad & Sopian, Kamaruzzaman & Bakhtyar, B. & Gabbasa, Mohamed & Othman, Mohd Yusof & Ruslan, Mohd Hafidz, 2015. "Review of solar drying systems with air based solar collectors in Malaysia," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 1191-1204.
    6. Mewa, Eunice A. & Okoth, Michael W. & Kunyanga, Catherine N. & Rugiri, Musa N., 2019. "Experimental evaluation of beef drying kinetics in a solar tunnel dryer," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 235-241.
    7. Hegazy, Adel A., 1999. "Technical note," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 283-304.
    8. Azam, Mostafa M. & Eltawil, Mohamed A. & Amer, Baher M.A., 2020. "Thermal analysis of PV system and solar collector integrated with greenhouse dryer for drying tomatoes," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    9. Janjai, S. & Tung, P., 2005. "Performance of a solar dryer using hot air from roof-integrated solar collectors for drying herbs and spices," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 30(14), pages 2085-2095.
    10. Fudholi, Ahmad & Sopian, Kamaruzzaman, 2019. "A review of solar air flat plate collector for drying application," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 333-345.
    11. Janjai, S. & Srisittipokakun, N. & Bala, B.K., 2008. "Experimental and modelling performances of a roof-integrated solar drying system for drying herbs and spices," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 91-103.
    12. Murthy, M.V. Ramana, 2009. "A review of new technologies, models and experimental investigations of solar driers," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 835-844, May.
    13. Fudholi, Ahmad & Sopian, Kamaruzzaman & Gabbasa, Mohamed & Bakhtyar, B. & Yahya, M. & Ruslan, Mohd Hafidz & Mat, Sohif, 2015. "Techno-economic of solar drying systems with water based solar collectors in Malaysia: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 809-820.
    14. Augustus Leon, M. & Kumar, S. & Bhattacharya, S. C., 2002. "A comprehensive procedure for performance evaluation of solar food dryers," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 6(4), pages 367-393, August.
    15. Janjai, Serm & Intawee, Poolsak & Kaewkiew, Jinda & Sritus, Chanoke & Khamvongsa, Vathsana, 2011. "A large-scale solar greenhouse dryer using polycarbonate cover: Modeling and testing in a tropical environment of Lao People’s Democratic Republic," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 1053-1062.
    16. Li, Zhimin & Zhong, Hao & Tang, Runsheng & Liu, Tao & Gao, Wenfeng & Zhang, Yue, 2006. "Experimental investigation on solar drying of salted greengages," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 837-847.

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