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Eco-thermal Analysis and Response Surface Optimization of the Drying Rate of Potato Slices in a Mix-Mode Solar Dryer

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Abstract

This research aims to establish the interconnectivity between mix-mode solar dryer designs with carbon and energy cost mitigation using different energy scenarios and study the drying kinetics to obtain the optimal drying rates for drying blanched potato slices. This will help the policy makers in the establishment of design standard for solar dryer fabricators and also assist them in making the right choice for carbon emission management for environmental sustainability and determining the end point of drying potato slices for energy conservation. Hence, a mix–mode solar dryer was deployed with sun-drying using blanched potato as a case study. The potato slices were spread on the drying tray to form a thin layer. Mass loss data and temperature and relative humidity data were recorded at 1 h intervals until the desired moisture content was achieved. The dryer utilized 4.562 M J to dry the potato slices from 64% w.b initial moisture content to 7.56% w.b final moisture content. The percentage of the energy utilization ratio (EUR) ranged from 4.19 to 82.68% with an average value of 39.46%, while the thermal efficiency of the solar dry varied from 0.6 to 34% with an average value of 17%. The dryer can save from $74.22 to $741.22 per year at a 10 to 100% rate of usage with an indicative payback period of 0.17–1.64 years at the same rate of usage. The decarbonization potential of the solar dryer was high when compared to coal, diesel or grid electricity-powered dryers as an energy case scenario with the values ranging from 2.9 to 237.71 tonnes of CO2 per year with earned carbon credit ranging from $41.98 to $ 3446.85 per year. Blanching time affected the drying rate and effective moisture diffusivity of the potato slices with effective moisture diffusivity varying from 6.35 × 10−11 to 7.07 × 10−10m2/s for sun-dried potato slices and 9.86 × 10−11 to 1.24 × 10−9m2/s for solar drying potato slices. Using the solar dryer reduced the drying time by 25.81 to 34.48% compared to open sun drying. The optimum drying rate for the solar-dried untreated potato slices was 0.0239665 kg/h at a collector temperature of 40.93 °C and thermal efficiency of 17.30%, while blanching for 3, 6 and 9 min gave optimum drying rate of 0.0177959 kg/h, collector temperature (T) of 40.9 °C and thermal efficiency(η) of 17.30% for the three pre-treatments.

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Abbreviations

A:

Area (m2)

Cp :

Specific heat capacity (J/kg oC)

C:

Capacity of the dryer per batch (kg/batch)

d:

Drying time per batch (hr/batch)

Ec :

Total energy utilized for drying the potato slices (kWh)

hc :

Total heat transfer coefficient (W/m2K)

hca :

Convective heat transfer coefficient from crop surface to drying chamber (W/m2K)

hcb :

Evaporative heat transfer coefficient from crop surface to drying chamber (W/m2K).

I or Is :

Average solar radiation (W/m2),

L:

Latent heat of vaporization of water

ṁa :

Airflow rate (kg/s)

mw :

Mass of water removed (kg)

M:

Possible mass of potato that could be dried by the dryer per day (kg/day) at full capacity

N:

Number of sets

PTcr :

Partial pressure at crop temperature (N/m2)

P:

Pressure (Pa)

PTr :

Partial pressure at drying chamber temperature (N/m2),

R:

Radius (m)

t:

Time (h) or (s)

Tcr :

Crop surface temperature (0C),

T:

Temperature (oC)

Td :

Temperature (°C) of the drying chamber,

Uo :

Heat loss coefficient(W/m2 oC)

w:

Number of days to deploy the dryer and is given as follows

X or m:

Moisture content (w.b)

\(\sigma\) :

Standard deviation from a data set.

\(\gamma\) :

Relative humidity of air in the drying chamber (%),

ω:

Specific humidity

τ:

Transmittance of the glazing cover

atm:

Atmosphere

i:

Inlet or initial

a :

Air

o:

Outlet

c:

Collector

a:

Ambient r inlet

t:

Tray or time

e:

Equilibrium

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Funding

The authors Onyenwigwe Doris, Ndukwu Macmanus Chinenye, Abam Fidelis, Dirioha Cyprian and A.B.Eke acknowledge the support of the Tertiary Education Trust fund (TET fund) in sponsoring this project under the Education Research Fund(E.I.T./03/18).

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Authors and Affiliations

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

    Doris Ijeoma Onyenwigwe, Macmanus Chinenye Ndukwu, Elijah Ugwu, Leonard Akuwueke, Cyprian Dirioha & Akachukwu Ben Eke

  2. Exergy, Energy and Environment Research Group (EEERG), Department of Mechanical Engineering, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Nigeria

    Fidelis Ibiang Abam & Mathew Ibeh

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

    Jude Mbanasor

  4. Engineering Research Unit, National Root Crop Research Institute, Umudike, Abia State, Nigeria

    Linus Oriaku

  5. School of Physics, Engineering and Computer Science, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, AL10 9AB, UK

    Hongwei Wu

  6. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of New Brunswick, 15 Dineen Drive, Fredericton, NB, E3B 5A3, Canada

    Lyes Bennamoun

Authors
  1. Doris Ijeoma Onyenwigwe
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  2. Macmanus Chinenye Ndukwu
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  3. Fidelis Ibiang Abam
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  9. Hongwei Wu
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  10. Cyprian Dirioha
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  11. Akachukwu Ben Eke
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  12. Lyes Bennamoun
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Correspondence to Macmanus Chinenye Ndukwu.

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Onyenwigwe, D.I., Ndukwu, M.C., Abam, F.I. et al. Eco-thermal Analysis and Response Surface Optimization of the Drying Rate of Potato Slices in a Mix-Mode Solar Dryer. Iran J Sci Technol Trans Mech Eng 47, 1379–1396 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40997-023-00595-4

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