A Comprehensive Review of Design and Technological Advancements across Various Types of Solar Dryers

This analysis investigates the widespread use of solar drying methods and designs in developing countries,particularly for agricultural products like fruits,vegetables,and bee pollen.Traditional techniques like hot air oven drying and open sun drying have drawbacks,including nutrient loss and exposure to harmful particles.Solar and thermal drying are viewed as sustainable solutions because they rely on renewable resources.The article highlights the advantages of solar drying,including waste reduction,increased productivity,and improved pricing.It is also cost-effective and energy-efficient.The review study provides an overview of different solar drying systems and technologies used in poor nations,aiming to identify the most effective and efficient designs.The focus is on comparing current models of solar dryers for optimal performance.The review underscores the importance of solar drying as a long-term,eco-friendly approach to drying food in developing countries.This review aims to evaluate how using solar-powered drying techniques can enhance food preservation,minimize waste,and enhance the quality and marketability of agricultural goods.The paper will specifically focus on examining the efficacy of these methods for drying bee pollen and pinpointing where enhancements can be made in their advancement.

Experimental Study and Thermal Modelling of Cocoa Shell Convective Drying in an Indirect Solar Dryer

The concern of the present work is the convective drying of empty cocoa shells in an indirect solar dryer. Some drying experiments, using one sample, were carried out. During the experiments, the sample is introduced in the drying chamber. Then at steady time intervals, the sample is withdrawn from the drying chamber, for a rapid weighing. After each weighing, the sample is reintroduced in the dryer. At each time interval, the ambient temperature of the drying chamber and its relative humidity γ are measured by a thermo-hygrometer. From the experimental data, a theoretical determination of the moisture evaporated from the product was performed and a good agreement was found between the theoretical and experimental values, confirmed by the value of the RMSE. Those calculations used the constants in the Nusselt number found in literature. Then those constants were evaluated again, to get new values more suitable with the experimental data. The dimensionless numbers of Nusselt, Grashof and Prandtl were calculated. That allowed the calculation of the average value of the Nusselt number. The average convective heat transfer coefficient was determined.

Mathematical Modelling and Design of Helical Coil Heat Exchanger for Production of Hot Air for Fluidized Bed Dryer

In global industrialization, efforts have been made to increase the rate of heat transfer in heat exchanger, minimizing the size of heat exchanger to reduce cost as well as increasing the effectiveness. Helical coil heat exchanger (HCHE) has been proven to be effective in improving heat transfer due to its large surface area. In this study, HCHE was designed to provide hot air needed for fluidized bed drying processes. The HCHE design model was fabricated and evaluated to study the efficiency of the hot air output for a laboratory fluidized bed dryer. The mathematical model for estimation of the final (output) temperature of air, Taf, passing through the HCHE was developed and validated experimentally. The drying of bitter kola particulates was carried out with a drying temperature of 50C 3C and a bed height-to-bed diameter ratio (H/D) of 1.5. The time taken to dry bitter kola particulates to 0.4% moisture content was 1 hour 45 minutes. Hence, HCHE is recommended for use in the production of hot for laboratory-scale fluidized bed dryers.

Heat and Mass Transfer for a Nanofluid Flow in Fluidized Bed Dryer in Presence of Induced Magnetic Field

This research entails the study of heat and mass transfer of nanofluid flow in a fluidized bed dryer used in tea drying processes in presence of induced magnetic field. A mathematical model describing the fluid flow in a Fluidized bed dryer was developed using the nonlinear partial differential equations. Due to their non-linearity, the equations were solved numerically by use of the finite difference method. The effects of physical flow parameters on velocity, temperature, concentration and magnetic induction profiles were studied and results were presented graphically. From the mathematical analysis, it was deduced that addition of silver nanoparticles into the fluid flow enhanced velocity and temperature profiles. This led to improved heat transfer in the fluidized bed dryer, hence amplifying the tea drying process. Furthermore, it was noted that induced magnetic field tends to decrease the fluid velocity, which results in uniform distribution of heat leading to efficient heat transfer between the tea particles and the fluid, thus improving the drying process. The research findings provide information to industries on ways to optimize thermal performance of fluidized bed dryers.

Design and Development of a Parabolic Trough Solar Air Heater for a Greenhouse Dryer

Design and Development of a Parabolic Trough Solar Air Heater (PTSAH) for a Greenhouse Dryer (GD) was done to improve the dryer’s performance. The materials used for the fabrication of the PTSAH included galvanized sheets covered with aluminium foil, an absorber tube made of GI pipe painted matt black to increase heat absorbance at the focal line, mild steel square tubes, shutter plywood, and an axial fan to push air through the absorber tube. Key geometrical parameters used for the design of the PTSAH were a rim angle of 98 degrees, focal length of 0.2608 m, height of 0.3451 m, length of 2 m, and an aperture width of 1.2 m. The PTSAH’s total aperture surface area was 2.4 m2, while its absorber tube surface area was 0.1587 m2. The PTSAH was experimentally tested to establish its thermal performance. It was found that the ambient air recorded an average value of 31.1˚C and that the air heater could increase the air temperature by 45.6˚C above ambient with a thermal efficiency of 5.3%. It can, therefore, be concluded that the PTSAH can significantly improve the performance of a GD by supplying the GD with air at a higher temperature than ambient.

Development and Experiment of Multi- functional Wood Dehumidification Dryer

A multi functional wood dehumidification dryer has been developed recently. The dryer can carry out air dehumidification by using only one refrigeration system, in which heat supplying and moisture air are exhausted by changing the position of several air dampers. In this paper, the work principles and characteristics of the dehumidification dryer are introduced, and the testing results about the thermal engineering performance of the dehumidification dryer, as well as the experiment results of drying several species of lumbers are expounded.

Cyclone as a Sugar Cane Bagasse Dryer

Drying of sugar cane bagasse was theoretically and experimentally studied ina cyclone. The experiments were carried out using hot air as drying agent. The influence of thecyclone conical part was studied. It was shown that the conical part has a great influence on theparticle residence time and, consequently, on moisture reduction. Experimental results were alikeindustrial ones. CFX 4.4 from AEA Technology was used to simulate some experiments. Simulated andexperimental results were close and showed that the presented model leads to a good prediction.

Multiple Phase Change Materials for Performance Enhancement of a Solar Dryer with Double Pass Collector

The fluctuation in drying temperature influences the food products’quality and drying time significantly during the drying process using an indirect solar dryer.One of the effective methods to reduce these variations in the temperature is based on thermal storage materials to control the drying temperature.An experimental investigation is presented in this study to evaluate the performance of an indirect solar dryer with air double pass using multiple phase change materials(PCM)as thermal storage materials.Two PCMs with different melting points are used to store the available heat energy during peak sunshine periods and reduce the drying temperature fluctuations.Drying tests on a food product sample are conducted in three cases,the first was without PCMs using natural convection.The second and third cases are based on forced convection with and without using multiple PCMs under Baghdad city conditions.The results showed that;approximately a steady temperature of hot drying air was obtained during relatively low ambient temperatures when the dryer was incorporated with multiple PCMs.The drying time of the product sample for the natural,forced convection without PCMs and forced with PCMs was 87,72 and 47 h,respectively.The higher performance of the dryer was for the forced convection with PCMs.The reduction percentage in drying time was about 17.2%and 46%for the forced convection without and with PCMs respectively compared with natural convection.The average drying rate for the natural,forced without PCMs and forced convection with PCMs was 0.0093,0.0135 and 0.0172 kg/h,respectively.The enhancement in thermal efficiency of the solar collector and drying chamber with multiple PCMs was 43%and 25.5%,respectively,compared with a typical solar dryer.

Prediction of wall deposition behaviour in a pilot-scale spray dryer using deposition correlations for pipe flows

The particle deposition behaviour of skim milk, water and maltodextrin in the conical section of a pilot-scale spray dryer was predicted using simple correlations for particle depositions in pipes. The predicted particle deposition fluxes of these materials were then compared with the measured deposition fluxes. The predicted particle deposition regimes of the spray dryer were expected to be in the diffusional and mixed (diffusional and inertial) regimes, but the experimental results suggested that the particle deposition was mainly in the inertial regime. Therefore, using the pipe correlations for predicting deposition in a pilot-scale spray dryer suggests that they do not sufficiently represent the actual deposition behaviour. This outcome indicates that a further study of particle flow patterns needs to be carried out using numerical simulations (computational fluid dynamics, CFD) in view of the additional geometrical complexity of the spray dryer.

Quantifying the effect of persistent dryer climates on forest productivity and implications for forest planning:a case study in northern Germany

Background: Forest management decisions are based on expectations of future developments. For sound decisions it is essential to accurately predict the expected values in future developments and to account for their inherent uncertainty,for example the impact of climate change on forests. Changing climatic conditions affect forest productivity and alter the risk profile of forests and forest enterprises. Intensifying drought stress is seen as one major risk factor threatening forest management in the north German lowlands. Drought stress reduces tree growth and vitality and might even trigger mortality. But so far, it is not possible to quantify effects of a persistent dryer climate on forest productivity at a level suitable for forest management.Methods: We apply a well-established single-tree forest growth simulator to quantify the effect of persistent dryer climates on future forest productivity. We analyse the growth of Scots pine(Pinus sylvestris L.), European beech(Fagus sylvatico L.) and oak(Quercus robur L. and Quercus petraea(Matt.) Liebl.) in two forest regions in the north German lowlands for a time interval of 60 years until 2070. The growth response under three different climate projections is compared to a baseline scenario.Results: The results show clear differences in volume increment to persistent dryer climates between tree species. The findings exhibit regional differences and temporal trends. While mean annual increment at biological rotation age of Scots pine and oak predominantly benefits from the projected climate conditions until 2070, beech might suffer losses of up to 3 m^3·ha^(-1)yr^(-1) depending on climate scenario and region. However, in the projection period2051 to 2070 the uncertainty ranges comprise positive as well as negative climatic effects for all species.Conclusions: The projected changes in forest growth serve as quantitative contributions to provide decision support in the evaluation of, for example, species future site suitability and timber supply assessments. The analysis of productivity changes under persistent dryer climate complements the drought vulnerability assessment which is applied in practical forestry in northwestern Germany today. The projected species' productivity has strong implications for forest management and the inherent uncertainty needs to be accounted for.

Review:Resuspension of wall deposits in spray dryers

Wall deposition occurs in spray dryers when dried or partially dried particles contact and adhere to the walls during operation, thus reducing the yield of product collected. Wall deposits also present a product contamination risk and a fire or explosion risk when spray drying products that oxidize exothermically, such as milk powder. Re-entrainment is the resuspension of spray dryer wall deposits into the main gas stream for collection as product. Literature suggests that the process for re-entrainment of particles from spray dryer wall deposits is strongly dependent on particle size and gas velocity.

Development and Quality Analysis of a Direct Solar Dryer for Fish

The study investigates drying characteristics of common species of fish in the tropics, catfish (Clarias gariepinus) and tilapia fish (Oreochromis niloticus) using a direct solar dryer. The drying process was carried out during the dry and wet season under natural (0 m/s) and forced convective drying (1.5 m/s, 2.5 m/s, 3.5 m/s fan speed). Results obtained showed that the drying air attained by the dryer was satisfactory and the maximum temperature difference between the dryer and the ambient temperatures was 35°C. The moisture content of the dried samples was 13.97% for catfish and 13.35% for tilapia fish during dry season and during the wet season it was 15.68% for catfish and 14.9% for tilapia fish while for the open sun dried samples it was 21.7% for catfish and 17.0% for tilapia fish. Maximum drying efficiency of 74.3% was recorded for the dryer during dry season and the dried samples at 3.5 m/s fan speed were better in drying rates. The proximate compositions of the fish before and after drying were determined. There was significant difference in proximate composition before and after drying (P < 0.05) and no significant difference in proximate composition at fan speeds considered for both fish species (P < 0.05).

Performance Analysis and Drying Kinetics of Maize in an AflaSTOP Dryer

The performance of an AflaSTOP dryer which utilises biomass energy for drying maize was investigated. The drying behaviour of maize grains in the dryer was also investigated using ten (10) thin-layer mathematical models. The models were compared based on coefficient of determination (R2) and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) values between experimental and predicted moisture ratios. At an average drying air temperature of 50°C and drying air velocity of 2.5 m/s, maize at average moisture content (MC) of 17.5% (wb) was dried to an average MC of 11.5% (wb) in three (3) hours. The drying and thermal efficiency were calculated as 81.1% and 29.6% respectively. Overall, drying took place in the falling rate period. The Logistics model was best to describe the thin-layer drying kinetics of maize in the dryer with R2 value of 0.9902 and RMSE value of 0.04908.

Drying Temperature Effect on Kernel Damage and Viability of Maize Dried in a Solar Biomass Hybrid Dryer

Though several maize varieties have been developed and introduced over the years in Ghana, farmers still face challenges of access to quality seed maize. Among the major constraint is lack of proper drying systems to guarantee quality of seed produced. As in most parts of Africa, drying of maize in the open, on bare ground along shoulders of roads is still a common practice in Ghana. In this study, a 5-tonne capacity hybrid solar biomass dryer was developed for drying maize for seed and food/feed in Ghana. Effect of air temperature in the dryer on the physiological quality and germination of maize kernels was investigated. Maize grains were dried in the open sun simulating farmers practice and using the dryer at 4 varying levels (L1, L2, L3 and L4) with corresponding heights (0.6 m, 1.2 m, 1.8 m and 2.4 m, respectively) from the ground. Harvested maize at 22.8% moisture content was dried at the varying levels until reaching the final desired moisture content of 12.8% ± 0.2% (wb). Results showed that, air temperatures in the dryer increased in accordance with height with lowest mean temperature of 44.4&degC ± 4.6&degC recorded at L1 and mean maximum of 52.8&degC ± 5.4&degC at L4. Drying temperatures recorded at L1 - L3 and ambient had no significant effect (p < 0.05) on kernel damage and viability. Drying conditions at L1-L3 were considered optimum (<50&degC) for kernel drying compared to the topmost tray, L4. Kernel stress crack index (multiple and checked) was therefore reduced on average by 14% while kernel germination increased by 33%. This satisfies the dryer’s potential to be used for commercial drying of maize grains for seed production for smallholder farmers in Ghana.

Effect of Drying Air Velocity on Drying Kinetics of Tomato Slices in a Forced-Convective Solar Tunnel Dryer

The objective of this work is to analyse the extent to which a change in the drying air velocity may affect the drying kinetics of tomato in a forced-convective solar tunnel dryer. 2 m?s?1 (V1) and 3 m?s?1 (V2) air speeds were applied in similar drying air temperature and humidity conditions. Main drying constants calculated included the drying rate, the drying time and the effective water diffusivity based on the derivative form of the Fick’s second law of diffusion. Henderson and Pabis Model and Page Model were used to describe the drying kinetics of tomato. We found that solar drying of tomato occurred in both constant and falling-rate phases. The Page Model appeared to give a better description of tomato drying in a forced-convective solar tunnel dryer. At t = 800 min, the drying rate was approximately 0.0023 kg of water/kg dry matter when drying air velocity was at 2 m/s. At the same moment, the drying rate was higher than 0.0032 kg of water/kg dry matter when the drying air velocity was 3 m/s. As per the effective water diffusivity, its values changed from 2.918E?09 m2?s?1 to 3.921E?09 m2?s?1 when drying air velocity was at 2 and 3 m?s?1 respectively, which is equivalent to a 25% increase. The experimentations were conducted in Niamey, on the 1st and 5th of January 2019 for V2 and V1 respectively. For both two experiments, the starting time was 9:30 local time.

Hydrodynamics of Continuous Spiral Dryer with Rotatory Conical Sleeves: Experiments versus CFD Simulations

In this study, a continuous and airtight twin-spiral dryer was developed in accordance with the characteristics and challenges in the process of disposing polysilicon slurry. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were used to investigate the flow field in the rotating twin-spiral continuous dryer and an original discrete phase model was also elaborated to compare with the cold-modeling experimental results. The corresponding flow field was obtained using the available inlet velocity of 0.05–0.3 m/s and the rotational speed of the inner cone of 12–44 r/min, the residence time distribution, and tracked particles trajectory. Results showed that the residence time of the tracer particles in the cone cylinder was about 15.8–25.4% of the time spent out of it, and the particle’s residence time was much shorter in contrast to the rotational speed and inlet velocity. The external ribbon had a larger influence on the fluid, thereby leading to a larger velocity in the region outside the cone compared to that in the region inside the cone. In addition, the appearance of the vortex and boundary layer separation at the back of the ribbon and the spoke bar had secondary diversion effects on the fluid. Furthermore, the inlet velocity had little influence on the flow field while the rotational speed of the cone greatly affected the flow field. Hence, the CFD simulations showed good agreement with the experimental results. © 2017 Tianjin University and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany

ON A NEW DRYER FOR SLAG OR FLY-ASH

Granulated blastfurnace slag or fly-ash , as admixture of slag cement or pozzolana cement, has to be dried before it is ground with clinker, for it contains water. Here, a new dryer for drying slag or fly-ash is recommended, which is called suspension dryer.

Study on Predrying by Spin Flash Dryer for Granulation

Spin flash dryer has the advantages of both fluidized bed dryer and pneumatic dryer.It has predominance in dealing with thermal sensitive materials.In this paper,the distribution of the air velocity in the spin flash dryer is discussed,which indicates that the rotating air in the dryer chamber can be divided into two areas,potential flow area and plane swirl area.Experiments show that air tangent velocity effects the process of granulation most remarkably.The radial distribution and moisture content of the particles have their intrinsic rules along either the diameter or height of the drying chamber.Besides,the operating parameters of predrying on bleaching powder are optimized.To meet the strict standard of the wet pressing granulator on the moisture content of the feeder,a narrow lap is made at proper height in the wall of the drying chamber,where a chute and a rotating valve are installed in order to predry the filter cake and remove a part of water.Then the material is fed into the wet pressing granulator.

The Effects of Distance and Duration of Exposure to Electromagnetic Radiation of Hair Dryer on Rat Sperm Parameters

Background: As a part of modern life, using electromagnetic field exposure has increased. EMFs might produce a variety of adverse effects on different parts of human body including the reproductive system. The consequences of exposure to the emitted EMFs from a hair dryer on sperm parameters were the major concerns of the present study. Materials and Methods: Fifty four adult Male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to 9 groups. Samples from all experimental groups received exposure with two different modes: switch on (hot wind) and switch off (cold wind). Samples of group 1 (control) maintained under experimental conditions without any exposure. The exposure protocol for samples in groups 2 to 9 were 10 cm at 10 min—on, 10 cm at 10 min—off, 10 cm at 20 min—on, 10 cm at 20 min—off, 20 cm at 10 min—on, 20 cm at 10 min—off, 20 cm at 20 min—on, 20 cm at 20 min—off. After exposure sperm motility was analyzed with a light microscope as a blind experiment. Nonparametric tests were used to detect statistically significant differences between different groups. Results: Findings of our study indicated no significant changes in the frequency of sluggish and non-motile sperms of rats in the control group compared to all treatment groups and showed statistically significant differences between the relative frequency of progressive sperms in control group rats compared to all treatment groups except groups 2 and 7. There were no statically significant changes between groups with different time and distance. Sperm count and morphology were not affected by microwave emitted from hair dryer. Conclusion: Exposure to the hair dryer microwaves affects sperm motility, which is amongst the key parameters determining the chance of conceiving.

Two-Stream Numerical Simulation of a New Type Drum Dryer

In recent years, the new type of tumble waste dryer has been promoted and developed. Heat generation through phase transition is an environmental, friendly and efficient heat transfer drying method. In order to know under what conditions the water vapor has higher heat transfer efficiency in the semi-circular cylinder and more sufficient liquid phase transition, and under what conditions the quantity of heat transferred can be exactly controlled, we carried out relevant work. Based on the analysis of two-phase heat transfer of rotating body, a three-dimension model of garbage dryer is established. Then, the commercial CFD software ANSYS Fluent is used to simulate the two-phase flow in the semi-circular cylinder, and the simulation calculation is carried out. Finally, the theoretical calculation results are verified by experiments. Calculated by the simulation results analysis: according to the industrial use of setting conditions, simulation calculation results can achieve convergence, namely water vapor through the pipe wall heat conduction. Finally condense into liquid water, and to ensure that the liquid cavity in the body has a higher volume fraction, water vapor phase change rate is of more than 90%, the Nusselt number of the heat transfer surface is 60 to 300.