Ahmed El-sebaii

Invetigation of Thermal Performance of Indirect Solar Drying Systems: Solar Energy Ahmed El-sebaii

In the present study, The Indirect-mode forced convection solar dryer is investigated. Three types of double pass solar air heaters with flat, v-corrugated and finned absorber plate are designed and constructed to compare their thermal performance experimentally. Moreover, analytical models for the three heaters are presented. The theoretical predictions indicated that the agreement with the measured performance is fairly good. The experimental and theoretical results showed that the heater with v-corrugated plate is the most efficient heater among the three investigated heaters. So;it is coupled to the drying chamber and the blower to construct the indirect-mode forced convection solar dryer (IMFCSD). The IMFCSD as solar-thermal conversion systems are relatively simple to construct, operate and test for several years without major attention of maintenance or repair, therefore; it is advised to use the IMFCSD to save the energy for another alternative purpose and also to reduce the losses of agricultural products which estimated to be 30-40% of production; especially, the color, flavor, texture and nutritional value of the dried products do not seriously affected.