IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v36y2011i3p1053-1062.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A large-scale solar greenhouse dryer using polycarbonate cover: Modeling and testing in a tropical environment of Lao People’s Democratic Republic

Author

Listed:
  • Janjai, Serm
  • Intawee, Poolsak
  • Kaewkiew, Jinda
  • Sritus, Chanoke
  • Khamvongsa, Vathsana

Abstract

A large-scale solar greenhouse dryer with a loading capacity of 1000 kg of fruits or vegetables has been developed and tested at field levels. The dryer has a parabolic shape and the dryer is covered with polycarbonate sheets. The base of the dryer is a black concrete floor with an area of 7.5 × 20.0 m2. Nine DC fans powered by three 50-W solar cell modules are used to ventilate the dryer. The dryer was installed at Champasak (15.13 °N, 105.79 °E) in Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). It is routinely used to dry chilli, banana and coffee. To assess the experimental performances of the dryer, air temperature, air relative humidity and product moisture contents were measured. One thousand kilograms of banana with the initial moisture content of 68% (wb) was dried within 5 days, compared to 7 days required for natural sun drying with the same weather conditions. Also three hundred kilograms of chilli with the initial moisture content of 75% (wb) was dried within 3 days while the natural sun drying needed 5 days. Two hundred kilograms of coffee with the initial moisture content of 52% (wb) was dried within 2 days as compared to 4 days required for natural sun drying. The chilli, coffee and banana dried in this dryer were completely protected from insects, animals and rain. Furthermore, good quality of dried products was obtained. The payback period of the dryer is estimated to be 2.5 years. A system of partial differential equations describing heat and moisture transfer during drying of chilli, coffee and banana in the greenhouse dryer was developed. These equations were solved by using the finite different method. The simulated results agree well with the experimental data. This model can be used to provide the design data for this type of dryer in other locations.

Suggested Citation

  • Janjai, Serm & Intawee, Poolsak & Kaewkiew, Jinda & Sritus, Chanoke & Khamvongsa, Vathsana, 2011. "A large-scale solar greenhouse dryer using polycarbonate cover: Modeling and testing in a tropical environment of Lao People’s Democratic Republic," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 1053-1062.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:36:y:2011:i:3:p:1053-1062
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2010.09.008
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148110004209
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2010.09.008?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fudholi, A. & Sopian, K. & Ruslan, M.H. & Alghoul, M.A. & Sulaiman, M.Y., 2010. "Review of solar dryers for agricultural and marine products," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 1-30, January.
    2. Sharma, Atul & Chen, C.R. & Vu Lan, Nguyen, 2009. "Solar-energy drying systems: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(6-7), pages 1185-1210, August.
    3. Schirmer, P. & Janjai, S. & Esper, A. & Smitabhindu, R. & Mühlbauer, W., 1996. "Experimental investigation of the performance of the solar tunnel dryer for drying bananas," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 119-129.
    4. Condorı́, M & Echazú, R & Saravia, L, 2001. "Solar drying of sweet pepper and garlic using the tunnel greenhouse drier," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 447-460.
    5. Smitabhindu, R. & Janjai, S. & Chankong, V., 2008. "Optimization of a solar-assisted drying system for drying bananas," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 33(7), pages 1523-1531.
    6. Condorí, Miguel & Saravia, Luis, 1998. "The performance of forced convection greenhouse driers," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 453-469.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yahya, M. & Rachman, Arfidian & Hasibuan, R., 2022. "Performance analysis of solar-biomass hybrid heat pump batch-type horizontal fluidized bed dryer using multi-stage heat exchanger for paddy drying," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(PB).
    2. Tiwari, Sumit & Agrawal, Sanjay & Tiwari, G.N., 2018. "PVT air collector integrated greenhouse dryers," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 142-159.
    3. Fudholi, Ahmad & Sopian, Kamaruzzaman & Gabbasa, Mohamed & Bakhtyar, B. & Yahya, M. & Ruslan, Mohd Hafidz & Mat, Sohif, 2015. "Techno-economic of solar drying systems with water based solar collectors in Malaysia: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 809-820.
    4. Badaoui, Ouassila & Djebli, Ahmed & Hanini, Salah, 2022. "Solar drying of apple and orange waste: Evaluation of a new thermodynamic approach, and characterization analysis," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 199(C), pages 1593-1605.
    5. Singh, Sukhmeet & Gill, R.S. & Hans, V.S. & Mittal, T.C., 2022. "Experimental performance and economic viability of evacuated tube solar collector assisted greenhouse dryer for sustainable development," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 241(C).
    6. Philip, Nadiya & Duraipandi, Sruthi & Sreekumar, A., 2022. "Techno-economic analysis of greenhouse solar dryer for drying agricultural produce," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 199(C), pages 613-627.
    7. Sangamithra, A. & Swamy, Gabriela John & Prema, R. Sorna & Priyavarshini, R. & Chandrasekar, V. & Sasikala, S., 2014. "An overview of a polyhouse dryer," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 902-910.
    8. Prakash, Om & Kumar, Anil, 2014. "Solar greenhouse drying: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 905-910.
    9. Nabnean, S. & Janjai, S. & Thepa, S. & Sudaprasert, K. & Songprakorp, R. & Bala, B.K., 2016. "Experimental performance of a new design of solar dryer for drying osmotically dehydrated cherry tomatoes," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 147-156.
    10. Patil, Rajendra & Gawande, Rupesh, 2016. "A review on solar tunnel greenhouse drying system," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 196-214.
    11. Tiwari, Sumit & Tiwari, G.N. & Al-Helal, I.M., 2016. "Development and recent trends in greenhouse dryer: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 1048-1064.
    12. Fudholi, Ahmad & Sopian, Kamaruzzaman & Bakhtyar, B. & Gabbasa, Mohamed & Othman, Mohd Yusof & Ruslan, Mohd Hafidz, 2015. "Review of solar drying systems with air based solar collectors in Malaysia," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 1191-1204.
    13. Abdul Ghani Olabi & Nabila Shehata & Hussein M. Maghrabie & Lobna A. Heikal & Mohammad Ali Abdelkareem & Shek Mohammod Atiqure Rahman & Sheikh Khaleduzzaman Shah & Enas Taha Sayed, 2022. "Progress in Solar Thermal Systems and Their Role in Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-31, December.
    14. Deeto, S. & Thepa, S. & Monyakul, V. & Songprakorp, R., 2018. "The experimental new hybrid solar dryer and hot water storage system of thin layer coffee bean dehumidification," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 954-968.
    15. Mellalou, Abderrahman & Riad, Walid & Bacaoui, Abdelaziz & Outzourhit, Abdelkader, 2023. "Impact of the greenhouse drying modes of two-phase olive pomace on the energy, exergy, economic and environmental (4E) performance indicators," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 229-250.
    16. ELkhadraoui, Aymen & Kooli, Sami & Hamdi, Ilhem & Farhat, Abdelhamid, 2015. "Experimental investigation and economic evaluation of a new mixed-mode solar greenhouse dryer for drying of red pepper and grape," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 1-8.
    17. Chauhan, Prashant Singh & Kumar, Anil & Gupta, Bhupendra, 2017. "A review on thermal models for greenhouse dryers," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 548-558.
    18. Chauhan, Prashant Singh & Kumar, Anil & Nuntadusit, Chayut & Banout, Jan, 2018. "Thermal modeling and drying kinetics of bitter gourd flakes drying in modified greenhouse dryer," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 799-813.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Patil, Rajendra & Gawande, Rupesh, 2016. "A review on solar tunnel greenhouse drying system," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 196-214.
    2. Fudholi, A. & Sopian, K. & Ruslan, M.H. & Alghoul, M.A. & Sulaiman, M.Y., 2010. "Review of solar dryers for agricultural and marine products," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 1-30, January.
    3. Tiwari, Sumit & Tiwari, G.N. & Al-Helal, I.M., 2016. "Development and recent trends in greenhouse dryer: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 1048-1064.
    4. Tiwari, Sumit & Agrawal, Sanjay & Tiwari, G.N., 2018. "PVT air collector integrated greenhouse dryers," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 142-159.
    5. VijayaVenkataRaman, S. & Iniyan, S. & Goic, Ranko, 2012. "A review of solar drying technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(5), pages 2652-2670.
    6. Chauhan, Prashant Singh & Kumar, Anil & Nuntadusit, Chayut, 2018. "Heat transfer analysis of PV integrated modified greenhouse dryer," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 53-65.
    7. Prakash, Om & Kumar, Anil, 2014. "Solar greenhouse drying: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 905-910.
    8. García-Valladares, O. & Ortiz, N.M. & Pilatowsky, I. & Menchaca, A.C., 2020. "Solar thermal drying plant for agricultural products. Part 1: Direct air heating system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 1302-1320.
    9. Asim Ahmad & Om Prakash & Anil Kumar & Rajeshwari Chatterjee & Shubham Sharma & Vineet Kumar & Kushagra Kulshreshtha & Changhe Li & Elsayed Mohamed Tag Eldin, 2022. "A Comprehensive State-of-the-Art Review on the Recent Developments in Greenhouse Drying," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-42, December.
    10. Fudholi, Ahmad & Sopian, Kamaruzzaman, 2019. "A review of solar air flat plate collector for drying application," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 333-345.
    11. EL-Mesery, Hany S. & EL-Seesy, Ahmed I. & Hu, Zicheng & Li, Yang, 2022. "Recent developments in solar drying technology of food and agricultural products: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    12. Nabnean, S. & Janjai, S. & Thepa, S. & Sudaprasert, K. & Songprakorp, R. & Bala, B.K., 2016. "Experimental performance of a new design of solar dryer for drying osmotically dehydrated cherry tomatoes," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 147-156.
    13. Murthy, M.V. Ramana, 2009. "A review of new technologies, models and experimental investigations of solar driers," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 835-844, May.
    14. Bhutto, Abdul Waheed & Bazmi, Aqeel Ahmed & Zahedi, Gholamreza, 2012. "Greener energy: Issues and challenges for Pakistan—Solar energy prospective," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(5), pages 2762-2780.
    15. Shiva Gorjian & Behnam Hosseingholilou & Laxmikant D. Jathar & Haniyeh Samadi & Samiran Samanta & Atul A. Sagade & Karunesh Kant & Ravishankar Sathyamurthy, 2021. "Recent Advancements in Technical Design and Thermal Performance Enhancement of Solar Greenhouse Dryers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-32, June.
    16. Aghbashlo, Mortaza & Mobli, Hossein & Rafiee, Shahin & Madadlou, Ashkan, 2013. "A review on exergy analysis of drying processes and systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 1-22.
    17. Irene Montero & María Teresa Miranda & Francisco José Sepúlveda & José Ignacio Arranz & Carmen Victoria Rojas & Sergio Nogales, 2015. "Solar Dryer Application for Olive Oil Mill Wastes," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-15, December.
    18. Mekhilef, S. & Faramarzi, S.Z. & Saidur, R. & Salam, Zainal, 2013. "The application of solar technologies for sustainable development of agricultural sector," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 18(C), pages 583-594.
    19. Fudholi, Ahmad & Sopian, Kamaruzzaman & Bakhtyar, B. & Gabbasa, Mohamed & Othman, Mohd Yusof & Ruslan, Mohd Hafidz, 2015. "Review of solar drying systems with air based solar collectors in Malaysia," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 1191-1204.
    20. Fudholi, Ahmad & Sopian, Kamaruzzaman & Gabbasa, Mohamed & Bakhtyar, B. & Yahya, M. & Ruslan, Mohd Hafidz & Mat, Sohif, 2015. "Techno-economic of solar drying systems with water based solar collectors in Malaysia: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 809-820.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:36:y:2011:i:3:p:1053-1062. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/renewable-energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.