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Energy and exergy analysis of solar dryer with triple air passage direction collector powered by a wind generator

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Abstract

The objective of this study is to thermodynamically investigate the performance of solar dryers by delaying the airflow in the collector. For this reason, a triple air path on a single pass collector with the fan powered by a wind generator was developed and evaluated in a very humid climate. The evaluation parameters were drying efficiency, energy and exergy analysis, sustainability assessment, CO2 mitigation ability and effective moisture diffusivity of dried product. The results showed that the collector efficiency of triple air passage path collector designs improved the direct passage collector by 119%. The overall collector and drying efficiencies were 8.43% and 2.6% higher than the direct flow path collector. The specific energy consumption was 1.1033 kWh/kg while the specific moisture extraction rate was obtained as 0.273 kg/kW, respectively. The average exergy efficiency ranged between 38.09 and 63.81% while the waste exergy ratio, improvement potential and sustainability index for the three dryers ranged from 0.00 to 1.13, 7.54 × 10–7 to 2.003 kW and 0.00 to 11.47, respectively. Using the solar dryers instead of the coal-powered dryer will mitigate more CO2 into the atmosphere in the range of 9741.334 to 21,481. 476 tons of CO2 per year while using grid-based electricity will limit the least amount of CO2 in the range of 12.981 to 14.153351.50 tons of CO2 per year.

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Abbreviations

A c :

Area of the collector (m2)

C p :

Specific heat (kJ/kg.K)

e s :

Specific exergy (kJ/kg)

E:

Thermal energy (J)

F R :

Overall heat removal factor

h :

Enthalpy (kJ/kg)

H :

Absolute humidity of the air (kgwater kg dry air)

I :

Intensity of radiation (W/m2)

k :

Heating value of diesel

L :

Thickness (m)

M :

Mass of product dried per day (kg/day) or molecular mass (g/mol) or moisture content (db or wb)

m :

Mass (kg)

P :

Internal moisture pressure of the product or pressure (Pa)

Q :

Heat (J)

r :

Equivalent radius (m)

R :

Universal gas constant (kJ/kg.K)

S :

Entropy (kJ/kg. K)

T :

Temperature (ºC)

U :

Overall heat loss (W/m2 ºC)

W :

Mass of moisture expelled from the product (kg)

X 0 v :

Molar ratio of water vapour in the air

y i :

Mole fraction of chemical species in the gaseous mixture at these same conditions

y 0 :

Mole fraction of chemical species in the ambient air at reference temperature

τ:

Transmittance

α:

Absorbance of the plate

ṁ:

Mass flow rate

η:

Efficiency of the generator

v :

Volume of diesel generator

a:

Air

bd:

Bone dried

b:

Back or biomass

e:

Edge or equilibrium

f:

Final or fuel

g:

Gas

i:

Initial

0:

Initial or reference state

p:

Pebbles or planum

r:

Radiation

s:

Sun

t:

Top or time

v:

Vapour

w:

Water

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This research received no funding or support from any organization.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agricultural and Bio-Resources Engineering, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, P.M.B. 7267, Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria

    Macmanus C. Ndukwu, Chinemerem N. Ezewuisi, Chibueze B. Ndukwe, Chris Nwachukwu & James C. Ehiem

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering Akwa, Ibom State University Ikot Akpadem, Ikot Akpadem, Nigeria

    Bassey B. Okon

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, P.M.B. 7267, Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria

    Fidelis I. Abam

  4. MANAPSE Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences, Mohammed V University in Rabat, Rabat, Morocco

    Bilal Lamrani

  5. Laboratoire de Matière Condensée Et Sciences Interdisciplinaires (LaMCScI), Faculty of Sciences/Mohammed, V University in Rabat, P.O.Box 1014, Rabat, Morocco

    Naoual Bekkioui

  6. School of Physics, Engineering and Computer Science, University of Hertfordshire Hatfield, Hatfield, UK

    Hongwei Wu

  7. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of New Brunswick, Federincon, Canada

    Lyes Bennamoun

  8. Department of Civil Engineering and Geomatics, School of Engineering, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK

    Uchenna Egwu

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  1. Macmanus C. Ndukwu
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Correspondence to Macmanus C. Ndukwu.

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Ndukwu, M.C., Okon, B.B., Abam, F.I. et al. Energy and exergy analysis of solar dryer with triple air passage direction collector powered by a wind generator. Int J Energy Environ Eng 14, 63–77 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40095-022-00502-8

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