Solar Drying Technology: Concept, Design, Testing, Modeling, Economics, and Environment

640 Pages·2017·15.98 MB·English

by  Om Prakash

Green Energy and Technology
Om Prakash
Anil Kumar
Solar
Drying
Technology
Concept, Design, Testing, Modeling,
Economics, and Environment
Green Energy and Technology
Moreinformationaboutthisseriesathttp://www.springer.com/series/8059
Om Prakash (cid:129) Anil Kumar
Editors
Solar Drying Technology
Concept, Design, Testing, Modeling,
Economics, and Environment
Editors
OmPrakash AnilKumar
DepartmentofMechanicalEngineering DepartmentofEnergy(EnergyCentre)
BirlaInstituteofTechnology,Mesra MaulanaAzadNationalInstituteofTechnology
Ranchi,Jharkhand,India Bhopal,MadhyaPradesh,India
ISSN1865-3529 ISSN1865-3537 (electronic)
GreenEnergyandTechnology
ISBN978-981-10-3832-7 ISBN978-981-10-3833-4 (eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-981-10-3833-4
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2017949696
©SpringerNatureSingaporePteLtd.2017
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Foreword by Akhtar Kalam
At the present situation,for the major chunk ofglobalpopulation, satisfyingtheir
basicneedslikeenergy,food,cleanwaterandhousingcannotbeachievedbecause
ofthedemandforenergyisfarmuchhigherthanthesupply.
Inthisageofenergycrisis,there is astrongurgetolook forrenewableenergy
sourcesforthefulfillmentofourbasicenergyneed.Itisnotonlyprovidetheenergy
security but save our precious environment from greenhouse gasses. Solar energy
hasemergedasoneoftheprominentrenewableenergy.Solarradiationisanother
termusedforelectromagneticradiation.Bytheproperutilizationoftheradiation,
various important activitiescanbedonelikedrying,waterpurification,electricity
generation, space heating, crop cultivation etc. For developing nations like India,
solar food processing is the newest and efficient advanced technology introduced
for addressing different problems faced by our citizens. The technology which
includes food processing and storage using solar energy can indirectly aid in
removing poverty. We do not produce less; the fact is that much of our produce
goes as waste as we do not have proper food processing and preservation mecha-
nism in our country. By introducing solar drying technology to our farmers, a
revolutioncan be started and absolute poverty and hunger can be wiped from our
country.
In majority of Asian countries, agriculture mostly dominates economy. More
thanhalfthepopulationisemployedinagriculturebutstillthedemandoutdoesthe
supply. One of the major reasons for this being lack of efficient preservation and
storagetechniques.Oneofthemostpopulartechniquesforpreservingfoodinmost
oftheAsiancountriesisdryingofcropsbyemployingsolarenergy.Applicationof
solarenergyindryingforpreservingagriculturalandmarineproduceisinpractice
sinceages.Thiswasdoneusingdirectsolarradiations.
Solardryershavehugeapplicationsinagricultureandindustrialsector;especially
from an energy point of view, dryers are the most useful devices. These can save
energy,saveplentyoftime,occupyminimalsurfacearea,enhancelifeandqualityof
products and most importantly are ecofriendly. Drying rice using solar dryers has
beenwellknownformanyyearsespeciallyinthecountriesproducingrice,suchas
v
vi ForewordbyAkhtarKalam
ThailandandtheotherAsiancountries.Solardryerscanbeusedeffectivelyforlow
temperature drying and hence can be used effectively to dry agricultural produce,
flowers, herbs etc. Thus, solar dryers overcome various disadvantages of artificial
mechanicaldryers,reducingthetotalamountoffuelenergyrequired.
Thisbookhas5sectionsandcovers23chapters.These5sectionsare:
(i) ConceptofSolarDrying
(ii) DesignandTestingofSolarDryingSystems
(iii) ModellingofSolarDryingSystems
(iv) EnvironomicalImpactofSolarDryingSystems
(v) InnovationinSolarDrying
ThisbookeditedbyDr.AnilKumar,whowasarespectedresearcherattheEnergy
TechnologyResearchCentre,DepartmentofMechanicalEngineering,FacultyofEngi-
neering, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Thailand, and at present, Assistant
Professor,Dept.ofEnergy(EnergyCentre),MaulanaAzadNationalInstituteofTech-
nology, Bhopal (India), and Dr. Om Prakash, Assistant Professor, Department of
Mechanical Engineering, from Birla Institute of Technology Mesra, Ranchi-India, is
extremelywellwrittenandtheauthorsofvariouschaptershavesubstantialanalyticaland
theoreticalknowledgeinthesubject.Acomprehensivereviewofthevariousdesigns,
details of construction and operational principles of the wide variety of practically-
realiseddesignsofsolar-energydryingsystemshasbeenpresented.Icommendthisbook
toallundergraduates,postgraduates,researchersandacademicsinterestedinacquiring
knowledgeinthisimportantarea.Theappropriatenessofeachdesigntypeforapplica-
tionbyruralfarmersandothersindevelopingcountrieshasbeendiscussed.Somevery
recentdevelopmentsinsolardryingtechnologyhavealsobeenhighlighted.
SmartEnergyResearchUnit,College AkhtarKalam
ofEngineeringandScience
(D524orD332)
VictoriaUniversity
BallaratRoad,Footscray,3011,VIC,
Australia
Foreword by D. P. Kothari
Solar energy is an ancient subject. In India, the Sun is considered to be God.
Women worship the Sun. In fact, all forms of energy emanates from the Sun
only.Inthefuture,solarenergywillformthemajorchunkoftheenergysupplied.
IndiaisluckytohaveSunfor220daysinmostpartsoutof365days.
There are several aspects of solar science and engineering which the students,
teachers, researchers and industry personnel have to study, such as solar power
generationbyPVandsolarthermal,solarrefrigeration,solarcooker,solarcooling
andheating,solardrying,andsolararchitecture.Outofthese,solardryingfindsa
specialplace.
The book Solar Drying Technology: Concept Design Testing Modeling Eco-
nomics and the Environment edited by my friends Dr. Om Prakash and Dr. Anil
Kumarwillfulfilthelongfeltneedofabookinthisvitalarea.Itwillprovetobea
goodtext/referencebook.
Themainstrengthofthisbookisitsbeautyofcombiningtheoryandpracticein
variouschapterswrittenbywell-knowninternationalexpertsinthearea.
Boththeeditorsarewellknowntomeandtheyhavedoneafabulousjob.Asa
co-author/co-editor of more than 50 books and as one who has also worked in
solar energy and was in the illustrious company of greatsolarenergy experts like
Prof. M.S. Sodha, Prof. S.S. Mathur, Prof. H.P. Garg, Prof. G.N. Tiwari, Prof.
T.C. Kandpal andothererstwhilecolleagues intheCenterforEnergystudies,IIT
Delhi for 30 years, I can safely vouch for the quality of the book. I am sure the
readerswillimmenselybenefitbythisbook.
IndianInstituteofTechnology,Delhi D.P.Kothari
NewDelhi,110016,Delhi,India
vii
Foreword by Trilochan Mohapatra
Food preservation is very important for food safety and security. Food and Agri-
culture Organization (FAO) estimated that 852 million people worldwide are
undernourished. The global challenge to ensuring food and nutritional security
for the fast-growing human population can be addressed through technological
development and innovation in agricultural sector. Technology intervention is
essential to safeguard against post-harvest losses of agri-produce that continue to
happenowingtoprimitivemethodsofharvests,handlingandstorage.
Dryingofagriculturalproductsisoneoftheimportantmethodstopreserveand
enhanceshelf-life.Althoughopensundryingisaverycommonandcost-effective
method, its advantage is partly upset due to quantitative and qualitative losses
caused by rodents, birds, insects, dust, rain, over drying and/or under drying. It is
extremely important, therefore, to develop energy-efficient drying operations to
conserve conventional energy without affecting the quality of the end product. In
this regard, solar dryers not only meet the drying requirements of crops, fish and
animalproducts,butalsosavetime,energyandmoney.
Iamhappytorecordthatthisbookisajointventureofnationalandinternational
experts whose ideas have been meticulously compiled by the editors highlighting
theconcept,design,testing,modelling,economicsandenvironmentalperspectives
of solar dryers for plausible reading and functional adoption. The editors and the
authorsdeserveappreciationforthistimelyeffort.
IndianCouncilofAgriculturalResearch TrilochanMohapatra
KrishiBhavan
NewDelhi,110001,Delhi,India
21November2016
ix
Preface
The tremendous rise in demand for energy has led to scarcity of conventional
sources of energy like fossil fuels, thereby pushing us to search for alternative
sources of energy. With the sun being the ultimate source of energy, we need to
harness its energy to sustain the growth of mankind. Solar drying has been in
practice since ages to preserve different kinds of agricultural produce. Due to
advancement in science and technology, we have developed inexpensive and
efficientsolardryingdevicesfordryingdifferentagriculturalandmarineproducts
using solar power. Using solar dryer, the amount of moisture can be reduced
tremendously, thus preserving the products for a longer time. It reduces product
wastageandenhancestheproductivityoffarmers.
This book is divided in five parts. The first part deals about the concept of
solardrying.Inthispart,therearefivechapters(1,2,3,4,and5).InChap.1,the
authorsdiscussedthefundamentalconceptsofdryingsuchaswateractivityand
its significance, the important properties of air and its products, drying mecha-
nism,dryingcurvesandtheperformanceindicatorsofadryer.Thefundamental
knowledge in drying will enable a better understanding of any solar drying
system.
In Chap. 2, the author discusses the general classification of solar drying
systems. Numerous types of solar dryers have been designed and developed in
variouspartsoftheworld.Asolardryercanbeoperatedbasedoneithernatural
or forced convection of heat transfer. Based on the mode of heating source, a
solar dryer is classified broadly in three types, namely, direct, indirect and
mixed mode solar dryer. The most typical solar dryers for agricultural produce
based on their construction designs were described. The selection of solar
dryingsystemsshouldconsidertheavailableinsolationrateinthetargetregion,
kind of product that will be dried, production throughput and operational and
investment costs. Most studies consider solar drying as a good alternative to
traditional open air drying and/or conventional drying systems operated by
fossil fuels.
xi