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Investigation of thermodynamics performance of a heat exchanger-incorporated solar dryer equipped with double-pass flat, v-corrugated, and low-e coated collectors for drying applications

Aacharya, Ananta LU ; Davidsson, Henrik LU ; Baral, Bivek and Andersson, Martin LU orcid (2024) In Case Studies in Thermal Engineering 64.
Abstract

In this study, a solar dryer incorporating a flat plate heat exchanger to recover heat from exhaust air was investigated to explore the usability of different types of collectors in the system. Their usability was further evaluated through economic and environmental analyses. Moreover, the thermodynamic performance of the solar dryers was evaluated under two weather conditions in Nepal. Apple drying experiments were conducted for 8 h from 09:00 to 17:00 from February to April 2023 on solar dryers and with open sun drying (OSD) in Dhulikhel, Nepal. The results showed that the low emissivity (low-e) coated aluminum collector was more efficient in terms of collector efficiency and drying rate than collectors with flat or v-corrugated GI... (More)

In this study, a solar dryer incorporating a flat plate heat exchanger to recover heat from exhaust air was investigated to explore the usability of different types of collectors in the system. Their usability was further evaluated through economic and environmental analyses. Moreover, the thermodynamic performance of the solar dryers was evaluated under two weather conditions in Nepal. Apple drying experiments were conducted for 8 h from 09:00 to 17:00 from February to April 2023 on solar dryers and with open sun drying (OSD) in Dhulikhel, Nepal. The results showed that the low emissivity (low-e) coated aluminum collector was more efficient in terms of collector efficiency and drying rate than collectors with flat or v-corrugated GI absorbers. The average collector efficiency and drying rate were found to be 89 % and 107 g/(h × m2) using the low-e coated aluminum collectors, while the values were 50 % and 84 g/(h × m2) for the GI sheet collector. The results indicated a slight improvement in the performance of v-corrugated collectors, with values of 53 % and 89 g/(h × m2). The drying rate for OSD was found to be 78 g/(h × m2), which was lower than for the dryers with all collectors used in this study. In terms of economic analysis, the dryer equipped with the low-e coated collector was found to be superior, with a payback time of 1.61 years compared to the dryers with flat or v-corrugated GI collectors. Reducing the thermal losses due to radiation by using the low-e coated absorber was shown to be more important than increasing the absorber area using v-corrugated GI sheets.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Double passage, Heat recovery, Low-e coated, Solar collector, Solar dryer, V-corrugated
in
Case Studies in Thermal Engineering
volume
64
article number
105482
pages
19 pages
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85209121623
ISSN
2214-157X
DOI
10.1016/j.csite.2024.105482
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The Authors
id
b6e74e51-b688-4132-9339-9d8b5adb40fb
date added to LUP
2024-11-28 16:12:45
date last changed
2025-04-04 15:04:08
@article{b6e74e51-b688-4132-9339-9d8b5adb40fb,
  abstract     = {{<p>In this study, a solar dryer incorporating a flat plate heat exchanger to recover heat from exhaust air was investigated to explore the usability of different types of collectors in the system. Their usability was further evaluated through economic and environmental analyses. Moreover, the thermodynamic performance of the solar dryers was evaluated under two weather conditions in Nepal. Apple drying experiments were conducted for 8 h from 09:00 to 17:00 from February to April 2023 on solar dryers and with open sun drying (OSD) in Dhulikhel, Nepal. The results showed that the low emissivity (low-e) coated aluminum collector was more efficient in terms of collector efficiency and drying rate than collectors with flat or v-corrugated GI absorbers. The average collector efficiency and drying rate were found to be 89 % and 107 g/(h × m<sup>2</sup>) using the low-e coated aluminum collectors, while the values were 50 % and 84 g/(h × m<sup>2</sup>) for the GI sheet collector. The results indicated a slight improvement in the performance of v-corrugated collectors, with values of 53 % and 89 g/(h × m<sup>2</sup>). The drying rate for OSD was found to be 78 g/(h × m<sup>2</sup>), which was lower than for the dryers with all collectors used in this study. In terms of economic analysis, the dryer equipped with the low-e coated collector was found to be superior, with a payback time of 1.61 years compared to the dryers with flat or v-corrugated GI collectors. Reducing the thermal losses due to radiation by using the low-e coated absorber was shown to be more important than increasing the absorber area using v-corrugated GI sheets.</p>}},
  author       = {{Aacharya, Ananta and Davidsson, Henrik and Baral, Bivek and Andersson, Martin}},
  issn         = {{2214-157X}},
  keywords     = {{Double passage; Heat recovery; Low-e coated; Solar collector; Solar dryer; V-corrugated}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Case Studies in Thermal Engineering}},
  title        = {{Investigation of thermodynamics performance of a heat exchanger-incorporated solar dryer equipped with double-pass flat, v-corrugated, and low-e coated collectors for drying applications}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.csite.2024.105482}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.csite.2024.105482}},
  volume       = {{64}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}