Performance of an Integrated Solar-Greenhouse Photovoltaic Ventilated Dryer with Clay-CaCl2 Energy Storage Desiccants for Tomato Drying
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Date
2021-04
Authors
Mbacho, Susan Andrew
Thoruwa, Thomas
Lang’at, Nickson Kipngetich
Ako, Elias
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
science publishing group
Abstract
The use of solar energy in drying of perishable crops such as tomatoes is a good alternative to the problem of
post-harvest processing in tropical eastern African countries. A review of the literature revealed that most of the solar crop drying
systems developed during the last five decades have small loading capacity and cannot operate during the night. Therefore, an
integrated solar greenhouse dryer system [SGDS] with Clay-CaCl2 desiccant energy storage system was designed and tested.
Such SGDS have the advantage over other solar systems of high loading capacity and structural simplicity. In addition, they have
relatively good thermal crop drying performance compared to most solar dryers. However, their main limitation, like most solar
dryers, is their inability to dry at night. Therefore, to enhance night-time drying capacity, a prototype SGDS integrated with a
low-cost Clay-CaCl2 desiccant energy storage system was designed, fabricated, and tested. The drying performance of this
prototype was evaluated using loads of fresh tomatoes during October – December 2019 at Nairobi, Kenya. The dryer was able to
dry fresh tomatoes from 93.9% (mcwb) to 8.3% (mcwb) within 27hours with solar greenhouse drying efficiency of 23% during
daytime and desiccant drying efficiency of 19.9% during nighttime. The drying rate for the two-day light drying was 0.985kg/h
and 0.875kg/h respectively and that in night drying using desiccants was 0.34kg/h. Based on these results, it was concluded that
prototype solar greenhouse dryer with Clay-CaCl₂ energy storage has great potential for drying perishable produce such as
tomatoes in tropical countries.
Description
article
Keywords
Clay-CaCl2 Solid Desiccants, Desiccant Energy Storage, Drying Efficiency, Drying Time, Solar Greenhouse Drying, Tomatoes
Citation
Mbacho, S. A., Thoruwa, T., Lang’at, N. K., & Ako, E. (2021). Performance of an Integrated Solar-Greenhouse Photovoltaic Ventilated Dryer with Clay-CaCl2 Energy Storage Desiccants for Tomato Drying. American Journal of Energy Engineering, 9(2), 19-29.