Drying chamber performance of V-groove forced convective solar dryer

Abstract

The performance of the drying chamber of a solar assisted drying system was analyzed. The solar assisted drying system consists of drying chamber, V-groove collector of 13.8 mð area, the auxiliary heater and two variable speed centrifugal fans. K-type thermocouples were used for temperature measurement, while solar radiation was measured by Eppley Pyranometer. Drying temperature is considered the most important factor in the drying operation. The accuracy of the temperature measurement is important in this analysis. The procedure for calculating the heat losses from drying chamber may be quite complex and often difficult to accurately determine the numerous variables. In this work standard equations under steady state condition were used to calculate the drying chamber efficiency and the heat losses from the chamber room.