Premium
Experimental testing of a new solar dryer
Author(s) -
Tiris Cigdem,
Ozbalta Necdet,
Tiris Mustafa,
Dincer Ibrahim
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
international journal of energy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.808
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1099-114X
pISSN - 0363-907X
DOI - 10.1002/er.4440180407
Subject(s) - solar dryer , solar energy , economic shortage , environmental science , fossil fuel , waste management , agricultural engineering , pulp and paper industry , environmental engineering , horticulture , engineering , linguistics , philosophy , government (linguistics) , electrical engineering , biology
Drying of agricultural products is an energy‐intensive operation. High prices and shortages in fossil fuels increase the emphasis on using solar energy as an alternative energy source, especially in developing countries. In this respect, a new solar dryer, which consisted of a solar air heater and a drying chamber, was developed and used for drying various fruits and vegetables, i.e., sultana grapes, green beans, sweet peppers and chilli peppers and was successfully tested. In order to make a comparison, the traditional sun‐drying experiments were employed. Results showed that the solar dryer reduced the drying time significantly and prevented mass losses, and essentially provided better product quality.