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Recent developments on photovoltaic thermal drying systems: a clean energy production

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Abstract

With the increase in population globally, a big problem has been raised, which is food supply. A remedy to this problem is to use an ancient practice of sun drying to preserve harvests, vegetables, and fruits. Several types of dryers are being developed for drying agricultural commodities. They do, however, demand much energy, which is typically obtained from polluting fossil fuels. Producers, as well as researchers, are encouraged to look for alternate options because of environmental issues and the risk of fossil fuel depletion. Continual solar energy can be helpful in drying applications because it is widely available freely in most parts of the world. Solar dryers come in various sizes and designs, and they may be used to dry a wide range of products. Farmers will find a variety of driers available to meet their demands. A thorough examination of the various designs, methods of construction, and operating ideologies of the numerous sun-drying devices mentioned previously is provided. This study emphasizes the hybrid photovoltaic thermal solar dryer because of its high electrical and thermal efficiency, good mitigation of carbon dioxide levels, giving a good product with a high drying rate and less payback time. The greenhouse solar dryer is found to be best adapted to the requirement in rural locations, where there are more agricultural products accessible for drying and space is also readily available. The future scope and recommendations section of this study will assist researchers in developing an efficient photovoltaic thermal solar dryer collector system that is economical and has good electrical and thermal efficiency for large-scale applications.

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Data availability

Enquiries about data availability should be directed to the authors.

Abbreviations

PVTMMD (WGC):

Photovoltaic thermal mix mode dryer (with glass cover)

PVTMMD (WOGC):

Photovoltaic thermal mix mode dryer (without glass cover)

HAGSD:

Hybrid active greenhouse solar dryer

HAGD (WETC):

Hybrid active greenhouse dryer (with evacuated tube collector)

HAGD (WOETC):

Hybrid active greenhouse dryer (without evacuated tube collector)

PVTGD:

Photovoltaic thermal greenhouse dryer

IFCD:

Indirect force convection dryer

GSD (FCM):

Greenhouse solar dryer (Force convection mode)

GSD (NCM):

Greenhouse solar dryer (Natural convection mode)

GSD:

Greenhouse solar dryer

HPVTGD:

Hybrid photovoltaic greenhouse dryer

PVTGD (CdTe):

Photovoltaic thermal greenhouse dryer (Cadmium Telluride)

PVTGD (C-si):

Photovoltaic thermal greenhouse dryer (Crystalline silicon)

MGD:

Modified greenhouse dryer

MSD (WPCM):

Modified solar dryer (with phase change material)

PVTSD:

Photovoltaic thermal solar dryer

HSD:

Hybrid solar dryer

STPVTSSGD:

Semi transparent photovoltaic thermal with single slop greenhouse dryer

HPVTSD (FC):

Hybrid photovoltaic solar dryer (force convection)

HPVTSD:

Hybrid photovoltaic solar dryer

HD:

Hybrid dryer

PVTCSD (MM):

Photovoltaic thermal collector based solar dryer (mix mode)

PVTCSD (IM):

Photovoltaic thermal collector based solar dryer (Indirect mode)

PVTCD (WOF):

Photovoltaic thermal collector based dryer (without fin)

PVTCD (WF):

Photovoltaic thermal collector based dryer (with fin)

SSGD:

Single slope greenhouse dryer

IMPVTSD (FC):

Indirect mode solar photovoltaic thermal dryer (force convection)

PPVTCID:

Powdered photovoltaic thermal collector with infrared convective Dryer

IFCSD:

Indirect forced convection solar dryer

MMGD:

Mix-mode greenhouse dryer

PVTMMGD:

Photovoltaic thermal mix mode greenhouse dryer

PVTGSD:

Photovoltaic thermal greenhouse solar dryer

PVTCDF (FCD):

Photovoltaic double pass counter flow (force convection dryer)

PVTCDF (MMD):

Photovoltaic double pass counter flow (mix mode dryer)

IFCSD:

Indirect force convection solar dryer

HPVT (FC):

Hybrid photovoltaic (force convection)

HPVT (NC):

Hybrid photovoltaic (natural convection)

HSTD:

Hybrid solar tunnel dryer

SCD:

Solar conduction dryer

STGD:

Solar tunnel greenhouse dryer

STGD (WBBH):

Solar tunnel greenhouse dryer (with biomass backup heater)

DMSD (NC):

Direct mode solar dryer (natural convection)

AD:

Air dryer

HGSD:

Hybrid greenhouse dryer

PVTGSD (FC):

Photovoltaic thermal greenhouse solar dryer (force convection)

PVTGSD (NC):

Photovoltaic thermal greenhouse solar dryer (natural convection)

NWGD (FC):

North wall insulated greenhouse dryer (force convection)

NWGD (NC):

North wall insulated greenhouse dryer (natural convection)

PVTGSD (p-Si):

Photovoltaic thermal greenhouse solar dryer (p-type Silicon)

PVTGSD (a-Si):

Photovoltaic thermal greenhouse solar dryer (amorphous silicon)

PVTGSD (C-Si):

Photovoltaic thermal greenhouse solar dryer (crystalline silicon)

PVTGSD (mc-Si):

Photovoltaic thermal greenhouse solar dryer (multi crystalline silicon)

PVTGSD (nc-Si):

Photovoltaic thermal greenhouse solar dryer (nano crystalline silicon)

PVTGSD (CdTe):

Photovoltaic thermal greenhouse solar dryer (cadmium telluride)

PVTGSD (CIGS):

Photovoltaic thermal greenhouse solar dryer (copper indium gallium selenide)

HGSD:

Hybrid greenhouse solar dryer

\(A\) :

Area of greenhouse (m2)

A t :

Area of tray, m2

A m :

Area of module (m2)

A i :

Area of all side wall of dryer (m2)

a, b, c, d, g, h, g c, k, k 0 :

Drying models constants

C :

Experimental constant

C a :

Specific heat of drying air J/kg/K

C v :

Specific heat of humid air, J/kg oC

d :

Diameter of fan (m)

Gr :

Grashof number = \(\beta gX^{3} \rho_{v}^{2} \Delta T/\mu_{v}^{2}\)

g:

Acceleration due to gravity, m/s2

h c :

Convective heat transfer coefficient, W/m2 °C

h e :

Evaporative heat transfer coefficient, W/m2 °C

hi :

Heat transfer coefficient (htc) inside solar drying chamber (W/m2K)

h o :

Heat transfer coefficient from top of module to ambient (W/m2K)

h 1 :

Heat transfer coefficient from wall of dryer to ambient (W/m2K)

I :

Solar radiation intensity on greenhouse, W/m2

I i :

Solar intensity on the wall of drying chamber (W/m2)

I eff :

Total radiation in the greenhouse chamber (W)

k g :

Thermal conductivity of glass of module (W/mK)

K g :

Thermal conductivity of glazing (W/mK)

K v :

Thermal conductivity of humid air, W/m °C

L g :

Thickness of glass cover of module (m)

L g :

Thickness of glazing (m)

n :

Experimental constant

N :

Number of observations in each set

N 1 :

Fan speed (RPM)

M ao :

Mass flow rate of drying air at outlet of dryer, kg/s

m ev :

Moisture evaporated, kg

M ev :

Mass evaporated, kg

Me :

Equilibrium moisture content of the product (dry basis)

Mi :

Initial moisture content of the product (dry basis)

Mt :

Moisture content of the product at time t (dry basis)

MR:

Moisture ratio

m a :

Mass flow of drying air, kg/s

Nu :

Nusselt number = \(h_{c} \,X/K_{v}\)

P fan :

Power of fan (W)

Pr :

Prandtl number = \(\mu {}_{v}C_{v} /K_{v}\)

Re :

Reynolds number = \(\rho_{v} \,V\,X/\mu_{v}\)

P(T) :

Partial vapour pressure at temperature T, N/m2

Q e :

Rate of heat utilized to evaporate moisture, J/m2 s

T amb :

Ambient temperature, K

T g :

Drying air temperature, K

T p :

Temperature of product surface, °C

T e :

Temperature just above the product surface, °C

T o :

Cell temperature for optimum cell efficiency i.e. 25 °C

T c :

Cell temperature (°C)

T r :

Drying chamber temperature (°C)

t :

Time, s

∆T :

Effective temperature difference, °C

T go :

Air temperature at greenhouse outlet, °C

T ref :

Reference temperature, °C

T s :

Sun surface temperature = 6000 K

U bcr :

Heat transfer coefficient from bottom of module to drying chamber (W/m2K)

U tca :

Heat transfer coefficient from top of module to ambient air (W/m2K)

V :

Air velocity inside the greenhouse, m/s

X :

Characteristic dimension, m

Q th,th,ov :

Overall theoretical thermal energy (W/m2K)

Q th,exp,ov :

Overall experimental thermal energy (W/m2K)

β :

Coefficient of volumetric expansion, 1/K

α c :

Absorptivity of solar cell

β 0 :

Temperature dependent efficiency factor

β c :

Packing factor of module

γ :

Relative humidity, %

λ :

Latent heat of vaporization, J/kg

µ v :

Dynamic viscosity of humid air, Ns/m2

ρ v :

Density of humid air, kg/m3

η 0 :

Standard efficiency at standard condition

η c :

Solar cell efficiency

η m :

Module efficiency

V :

Wind velocity (m/s)

v 1 :

Air velocity in drying chamber (m/s)

T h :

Thermal

n :

Natural mode

f :

Forced mode

τg :

Transmittivity of module glass

Τg1 :

Transmittivity of wall glass

References

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak for providing the Laboratory facilities.

Funding

This research did not receive any specific Grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Haryana, India

    Manisha, Deepak Chhabra, Meena Kumari & Ravinder Kumar Sahdev

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Shiv Nadar Institution of Eminence Deemed To be University, Gautam Buddha Nagar, UP, India

    Sumit Tiwari

  3. Madan Mohan Malaviya University of Technology, Gorakhpur, UP, India

    Prabhakar Tiwari

Authors
  1. Manisha
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  2. Sumit Tiwari
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  3. Deepak Chhabra
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  4. Meena Kumari
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  5. Prabhakar Tiwari
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  6. Ravinder Kumar Sahdev
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Contributions

“All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by M, ST, DC, MK, PT, and RKS. The first draft of the manuscript was written by M and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. RKS and ST supervised the research. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.”

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ravinder Kumar Sahdev.

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Appendix 1

Appendix 1

Formulae used to calculate different heat transfer coefficient used in thermal analysis are as follows.

\(v_{1} = \frac{{\pi^{2} d^{3} N_{1} }}{{4 \times 60 \times A_{c} }}\)

\(\dot{M}_{f} = \rho A_{c} v_{1}\)

\(h_{o} = 5.7 + 3.8v\)

\(h_{o} = 5.7 + 3.8v\)

\(h_{1} = 2.8 + 3v_{2}\)

\(h_{i} = 2.8\)

\(U_{bcr} = ((l_{g} /k_{g} ) + (1/C) + (L_{g} /K_{g} ) + (1/h_{i} ))^{ - 1}\)

\(U_{tca} = ((l_{g} /k_{g} ) + (1/h_{o} ))^{ - 1}\)

\(U_{tcra} = ((1/h_{i} ) + (L_{g} /K_{g} ) + (1/C) + ({\text{l}}_{g} /k_{g} ) + ({\text{l}}_{g} /k_{g} ) + (1/h_{0} ))^{ - 1}\)

\(UA = A_{m} U_{tcra} + A_{i} U_{wra}\)

\(U_{wra} = (l_{g} /k_{g} ) + (1/h_{1} )\)

\(A_{i} = A_{N} + A_{S} + A_{E} + A_{W}\)

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Manisha, Tiwari, S., Chhabra, D. et al. Recent developments on photovoltaic thermal drying systems: a clean energy production. Clean Techn Environ Policy 25, 2099–2122 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-023-02514-2

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