Energy Conversion & Management 40:615-655. In the last decades, several studies have been conducted ( Ekechukwu & Norton, 1999 Ekechukwu OV, Norton B (1999) Review of solar-energy drying systems II: an overview of solar drying technology. Thus, for the simpler solar dryers, the challenge is to ensure that the drying process is continuous, irrespective of periods of low insolation, such as cloudy or rainy days, and no insolation at night. The complete drying process, in most cases, is longer than the daily insolation period ( El Hage et al., 2018 El Hage H, Herez A, Ramadan M, Bazzi H, Khaled M (2018) An investigation on solar drying: A review with economic and environmental assessment. These characteristics make continuous dehydration of the food impossible, resulting in incomplete dehydration, an unsuitable product, or a product with unsatisfactory characteristics for consumption. However, the intermittent behavior of solar radiation and the climatic conditions of the site do not allow the continuous functioning of solar dryers. ), and for providing increased income to small producers in a sustainable manner. ) because of its low cost, low payback time ( El Hage et al., 2018 El Hage H, Herez A, Ramadan M, Bazzi H, Khaled M (2018) An investigation on solar drying: A review with economic and environmental assessment. Case Studies in Thermal Engineering 12:677-686. Shamekhi-Amiri et al., 2018 Shamekhi-Amiri S, Gorji TB, Gorji-Bandpy M, Jahanshahi M (2018) Drying behaviour of lemon balm leaves in an indirect double-pass packed bed forced convection solar dryer system. Queiroz et al., 2011 Queiroz AJ de M, Dantas HJ, Figueirêdo RMF de, Melo K dos S (2011) Solar drying of jack fruit almonds. This technique is widely used in developing countries ( Mohanraj & Chandrasekar, 2008 Mohanraj M, Chandrasekar P (2008) Drying of copra in a forced convection solar drier. A direct application is drying, which reduces spoilage of food after harvest.
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 18:83-594. Solar energy is commonly used for the sustainable development of the agricultural sector, standing out as a viable option, particularly in remote rural areas ( Mekhilef et al., 2013 Mekhilef S, Faramarzi SZ, Saidur R, Salam Z (2013) The application of solar technologies for sustainable development of agricultural sector.
#TRNSYS ESPAÑOL SOFTWARE#
An arrangement with four electric resistors totaling 1900 W, with three different powers of 1000 W, 500 W, and 200 W proved adequate to guarantee the entrance of air at a constant temperature when considering the climatic conditions of a city in the South of Brazil.Įlectrical resistor arrangement flat plate solar collector auxiliary heating system TRNSYS software The target temperature selected is 70 oC, and the absence of food products in the chamber is assumed. The simulated hybrid system consists of a flat plate solar collector and an arrangement of electrical resistors that guarantee the entry of air, at a constant temperature, into the dehydration chamber. The software selected for the simulation was TRNSYS. Therefore, the present work simulates and evaluates the thermal and energetic behavior of a hybrid system for heating the air that is directed to the dehydration chamber of a solar food dryer. By including storage systems (thermal accumulation) and/or auxiliary energy sources, drying processes or dehydration can be conducted continuously, even during periods of low insolation.
These conditions often make them impossible to use. The intermittence of solar radiation, due to continuous rainy or cloudy days, is a limitation of simple and small solar dryers.