IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/rensus/v215y2025ics1364032125002862.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A review on recent developments in natural convective solar dryer for agricultural products: Methods, collector design, influencing factors, performance and challenges

Author

Listed:
  • Prakash, R.
  • Gnanasekaran, Arulmurugan
  • Rengasamy, Marimuthu
  • Rajaram, Kamatchi

Abstract

Solar drying is the best sustainable practice in preserving agricultural produce as open sun drying is prone to contaminations of food grains. Although a number of conventional technologies are in practice, they pollute the environment, increase the carbon foot print and require huge investment. To meet the sustainable development goal of UN 3, 7 and 12, the world focuses more on developing green technologies particularly natural convective solar drying. This review explores natural convective solar dryer (NCSD) that utilizes flat plate collector solar air heaters (FPCSAH) with heat harnessing element, resulting ∼70 % in thermal efficiency and ∼50 % reduction in drying time. Numerous traits and practices for improving effectiveness of solar drying are studied. Subsequently, this study identifies the convincing factors that influence the construction, working and performance evaluation correlations of NCSD. Besides, this review provides informative insights about the methods, detailed procedure to design FPCSAH. Also, the applications of NCSD by distinguishing the types of operations, food products and process parameters are discussed in detail. Eventually, the summary and outlook gathers all the factors and challenges including low mass flow, conversion rate, nano-PCM composite feasibility, robustness, customer perception and recommends solution with advancement for future directions, which will be a data mine to the scientific community in the developing nations for more economical drying process and procedures in NCSD.

Suggested Citation

  • Prakash, R. & Gnanasekaran, Arulmurugan & Rengasamy, Marimuthu & Rajaram, Kamatchi, 2025. "A review on recent developments in natural convective solar dryer for agricultural products: Methods, collector design, influencing factors, performance and challenges," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 215(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:215:y:2025:i:c:s1364032125002862
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2025.115613
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032125002862
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.rser.2025.115613?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

    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. ELkhadraoui, Aymen & Kooli, Sami & Hamdi, Ilhem & Farhat, Abdelhamid, 2015. "Experimental investigation and economic evaluation of a new mixed-mode solar greenhouse dryer for drying of red pepper and grape," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 1-8.
    3. 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.
    4. Xu, Guangsen & Liu, He, 2025. "Efficiency analysis of solar drying system integrated with flat-plate solar collector and thermal storage units," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    5. Varun Pratap Singh & Siddharth Jain & Ashish Karn & Ashwani Kumar & Gaurav Dwivedi & Chandan Swaroop Meena & Nitesh Dutt & Aritra Ghosh, 2022. "Recent Developments and Advancements in Solar Air Heaters: A Detailed Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-55, September.
    6. Kong, Decheng & Wang, Yunfeng & Li, Ming & Liang, Jingkang, 2024. "A comprehensive review of hybrid solar dryers integrated with auxiliary energy and units for agricultural products," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 293(C).
    7. Anuma, Onwuka & Ndukwu, Macmanus Chinenye & Usoh, Godwin & Sam, Emmanuel Okon & Akpan, Godwin & Oriaku, Linus & Orji, Francis & Akuwueke, Leonard & Ben, Augustine Edet & Bekkioui, Naoual & Simo-Tagne,, 2024. "Energy and exergy analysis of a natural convection solar greenhouse drier with insulated opaque walls for drying aromatic yellow pepper," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 233(C).
    8. 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.
    9. Benhamza, Abderrahmane & Boubekri, Abdelghani & Atia, Abdelmalek & El Ferouali, Hicham & Hadibi, Tarik & Arıcı, Müslüm & Abdenouri, Naji, 2021. "Multi-objective design optimization of solar air heater for food drying based on energy, exergy and improvement potential," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 1190-1209.
    10. Badaoui, Ouassila & Hanini, Salah & Djebli, Ahmed & Haddad, Brahim & Benhamou, Amina, 2019. "Experimental and modelling study of tomato pomace waste drying in a new solar greenhouse: Evaluation of new drying models," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 144-155.
    11. Hadibi, Tarik & Boubekri, Abdelghani & Mennouche, Djamel & Benhamza, Abderrahmane & Kumar, Anil & Bensaci, Cheyma & Xiao, Hong-Wei, 2022. "Effect of ventilated solar-geothermal drying on 3E (exergy, energy, and economic analysis), and quality attributes of tomato paste," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    12. Gbaha, P. & Yobouet Andoh, H. & Kouassi Saraka, J. & Kaménan Koua, B. & Touré, S., 2007. "Experimental investigation of a solar dryer with natural convective heat flow," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 32(11), pages 1817-1829.
    13. Singh, Sukhmeet & Gill, R.S. & Hans, V.S. & Singh, Manpreet, 2021. "A novel active-mode indirect solar dryer for agricultural products: Experimental evaluation and economic feasibility," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).
    14. Khanlari, Ataollah & Tuncer, Azim Doğuş & Sözen, Adnan & Aytaç, İpek & Çiftçi, Erdem & Variyenli, Halil İbrahim, 2022. "Energy and exergy analysis of a vertical solar air heater with nano-enhanced absorber coating and perforated baffles," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 586-602.
    15. 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.
    16. Ameri, Mehran & Sardari, Reza & Farzan, Hadi, 2021. "Thermal performance of a V-Corrugated serpentine solar air heater with integrated PCM: A comparative experimental study," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 391-400.
    17. Kalaiarasi, G. & Velraj, R. & Swami, Muthusamy V., 2016. "Experimental energy and exergy analysis of a flat plate solar air heater with a new design of integrated sensible heat storage," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 609-619.
    18. Erick César, López-Vidaña & Ana Lilia, César-Munguía & Octavio, García-Valladares & Isaac, Pilatowsky Figueroa & Rogelio, Brito Orosco, 2020. "Thermal performance of a passive, mixed-type solar dryer for tomato slices (Solanum lycopersicum)," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 147(P1), pages 845-855.
    19. Saini, Raj Kumar & Saini, Devender Kumar & Gupta, Rajeev & Verma, Piush & Thakur, Robin & Kumar, Sushil & wassouf, Ali, 2023. "Technological development in solar dryers from 2016 to 2021-A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    20. Zoukit, Ahmed & El Ferouali, Hicham & Salhi, Issam & Doubabi, Said & Abdenouri, Naji, 2019. "Takagi Sugeno fuzzy modeling applied to an indirect solar dryer operated in both natural and forced convection," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 849-860.
    21. Ahmad, N.T., 2001. "Agricultural solar air collector made from low-cost plastic packing film," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 663-671.
    22. Murali, S. & Amulya, P.R. & Alfiya, P.V. & Delfiya, D.S. Aniesrani & Samuel, Manoj P., 2020. "Design and performance evaluation of solar - LPG hybrid dryer for drying of shrimps," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 147(P1), pages 2417-2428.
    23. Bennamoun, Lyes, 2011. "Reviewing the experience of solar drying in Algeria with presentation of the different design aspects of solar dryers," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(7), pages 3371-3379, September.
    24. Eltawil, Mohamed A. & Azam, Mostafa M. & Alghannam, Abdulrahman O., 2018. "Solar PV powered mixed-mode tunnel dryer for drying potato chips," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 116(PA), pages 594-605.
    25. Pangavhane, Dilip R. & Sawhney, R.L. & Sarsavadia, P.N., 2002. "Design, development and performance testing of a new natural convection solar dryer," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 579-590.
    26. Baniasadi, Ehsan & Ranjbar, Saeed & Boostanipour, Omid, 2017. "Experimental investigation of the performance of a mixed-mode solar dryer with thermal energy storage," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 143-150.
    27. Pandey, Saurabh & Kumar, Anil & Sharma, Atul, 2024. "Sustainable solar drying: Recent advances in materials, innovative designs, mathematical modeling, and energy storage solutions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 308(C).
    28. M. A. Tawfik & Khaled M. Oweda & M. K. Abd El-Wahab & W. E. Abd Allah, 2023. "A New Mode of a Natural Convection Solar Greenhouse Dryer for Domestic Usage: Performance Assessment for Grape Drying," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-27, May.
    29. Lingayat, Abhay Bhanudas & Chandramohan, V.P. & Raju, V.R.K. & Meda, Venkatesh, 2020. "A review on indirect type solar dryers for agricultural crops – Dryer setup, its performance, energy storage and important highlights," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    30. Tuncer, Azim Doğuş & Khanlari, Ataollah, 2023. "Improving the performance of a triple-flow solar air collector using recyclable aluminum cans as extended heat transfer surfaces: An energetic, exergetic, economic and environmental survey," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    31. Hu, Wentao & Alekhin, Vladimir N & Huang, Yue & Meng, Tianxin & Du, Yang, 2025. "Design, thermal performance evaluation, and economic analysis of a new solar air dryer suitable for high latitude regions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 318(C).
    32. Djebli, Ahmed & Hanini, Salah & Badaoui, Ouassila & Haddad, Brahim & Benhamou, Amina, 2020. "Modeling and comparative analysis of solar drying behavior of potatoes," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 1494-1506.
    33. Yazici, Mesut & Kose, Ramazan & Acer, Semra Durmus, 2025. "Investigation of the Comparative okra drying performance of a geothermal and solar hybrid forced convection indirect type cabinet dryer," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. EL-Mesery, Hany S. & EL-Seesy, Ahmed I. & Hu, Zicheng & Li, Yang, 2022. "Recent developments in solar drying technology of food and agricultural products: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    2. Kong, Decheng & Wang, Yunfeng & Li, Ming & Liang, Jingkang, 2024. "A comprehensive review of hybrid solar dryers integrated with auxiliary energy and units for agricultural products," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 293(C).
    3. Yazici, Mesut & Kose, Ramazan & Acer, Semra Durmus, 2025. "Investigation of the Comparative okra drying performance of a geothermal and solar hybrid forced convection indirect type cabinet dryer," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(C).
    4. 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.
    5. Saini, Raj Kumar & Saini, Devender Kumar & Gupta, Rajeev & Verma, Piush & Thakur, Robin & Kumar, Sushil & wassouf, Ali, 2023. "Technological development in solar dryers from 2016 to 2021-A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    6. Singh, Sukhmeet & Gill, R.S. & Hans, V.S. & Mittal, T.C., 2022. "Experimental performance and economic viability of evacuated tube solar collector assisted greenhouse dryer for sustainable development," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 241(C).
    7. Madhankumar, S. & Viswanathan, Karthickeyan, 2022. "Computational and experimental study of a novel corrugated-type absorber plate solar collector with thermal energy storage moisture removal device," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 324(C).
    8. Zou, Dongjin & Chen, Xiao & Gu, Zhipan & Jiang, Qingyang & Chen, Hongyao & Zhao, Lianjin & Hou, Jingxin & Ji, Wentao & Luo, Zhen & Zhu, Lexin, 2025. "Modeling and comparative analysis of solar drying behavior of yam (Rhizoma dioscoreae) slices," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 242(C).
    9. 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.
    10. Shiva Gorjian & Behnam Hosseingholilou & Laxmikant D. Jathar & Haniyeh Samadi & Samiran Samanta & Atul A. Sagade & Karunesh Kant & Ravishankar Sathyamurthy, 2021. "Recent Advancements in Technical Design and Thermal Performance Enhancement of Solar Greenhouse Dryers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-32, June.
    11. 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.
    12. VijayaVenkataRaman, S. & Iniyan, S. & Goic, Ranko, 2012. "A review of solar drying technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(5), pages 2652-2670.
    13. Silva, Gisele Mol da & Ferreira, André Guimarães & Coutinho, Rogério Morouço & Maia, Cristiana Brasil, 2021. "Energy and exergy analysis of the drying of corn grains," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 1942-1950.
    14. 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.
    15. Benhamza, Abderrahmane & Boubekri, Abdelghani & Atia, Abdelmalek & El Ferouali, Hicham & Hadibi, Tarik & Arıcı, Müslüm & Abdenouri, Naji, 2021. "Multi-objective design optimization of solar air heater for food drying based on energy, exergy and improvement potential," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 1190-1209.
    16. 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).
    17. 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.
    18. Boroze, Tchamye & Desmorieux, Hélène & Méot, Jean-Michel & Marouzé, Claude & Azouma, Yaovi & Napo, Kossi, 2014. "Inventory and comparative characteristics of dryers used in the sub-Saharan zone: Criteria influencing dryer choice," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 1240-1259.
    19. Badaoui, Ouassila & Djebli, Ahmed & Hanini, Salah, 2022. "Solar drying of apple and orange waste: Evaluation of a new thermodynamic approach, and characterization analysis," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 199(C), pages 1593-1605.
    20. Çoban, Harun & Abuşka, Mesut, 2024. "Drying of Sultana seedless (Vitis vinifera L.) grape variety in indirect drying chamber using solar air collector with conic dimpled absorber: The case of end-season drying," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:rensus:v:215:y:2025:i:c:s1364032125002862. 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.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/description#description .

    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.