10.1007/s40095-022-00502-8

Energy and exergy analysis of solar dryer with triple air passage direction collector powered by a wind generator

  • Macmanus C. Ndukwu*1,
  • Bassey B. Okon2,
  • Fidelis I. Abam3,
  • Bilal Lamrani4,
  • Naoual Bekkioui5,
  • Hongwei Wu6,
  • Lyes Bennamoun7,
  • Uchenna Egwu8,
  • Chinemerem N. Ezewuisi1,
  • Chibueze B. Ndukwe1,
  • Chris Nwachukwu1,
  • James C. Ehiem1,
  1. Department of Agricultural and Bio-Resources Engineering, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Umuahia, Abia State, NG
  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering Akwa, Ibom State University Ikot Akpadem, Ikot Akpadem, NG
  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Umuahia, Abia State, NG
  4. MANAPSE Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences, Mohammed V University in Rabat, Rabat, MA
  5. Laboratoire de Matière Condensée Et Sciences Interdisciplinaires (LaMCScI), Faculty of Sciences/Mohammed, V University in Rabat, Rabat, MA
  6. School of Physics, Engineering and Computer Science, University of Hertfordshire Hatfield, Hatfield, GB
  7. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of New Brunswick, Federincon, CA
  8. Department of Civil Engineering and Geomatics, School of Engineering, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, GB

Published in Issue 2022-05-26

How to Cite

Ndukwu, M. C., Okon, B. B., Abam, F. I., Lamrani, B., Bekkioui, N., Wu, H., Bennamoun, L., Egwu, U., Ezewuisi, C. N., Ndukwe, C. B., Nwachukwu, C., & Ehiem, J. C. (2022). Energy and exergy analysis of solar dryer with triple air passage direction collector powered by a wind generator. International Journal of Energy and Environmental Engineering, 14(1 (March 2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40095-022-00502-8
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Abstract

Abstract The objective of this study is to thermodynamically investigate the performance of solar dryers by delaying the airflow in the collector. For this reason, a triple air path on a single pass collector with the fan powered by a wind generator was developed and evaluated in a very humid climate. The evaluation parameters were drying efficiency, energy and exergy analysis, sustainability assessment, CO 2 mitigation ability and effective moisture diffusivity of dried product. The results showed that the collector efficiency of triple air passage path collector designs improved the direct passage collector by 119%. The overall collector and drying efficiencies were 8.43% and 2.6% higher than the direct flow path collector. The specific energy consumption was 1.1033 kWh/kg while the specific moisture extraction rate was obtained as 0.273 kg/kW, respectively. The average exergy efficiency ranged between 38.09 and 63.81% while the waste exergy ratio, improvement potential and sustainability index for the three dryers ranged from 0.00 to 1.13, 7.54 × 10 –7 to 2.003 kW and 0.00 to 11.47, respectively. Using the solar dryers instead of the coal-powered dryer will mitigate more CO 2 into the atmosphere in the range of 9741.334 to 21,481. 476 tons of CO 2 per year while using grid-based electricity will limit the least amount of CO 2 in the range of 12.981 to 14.153351.50 tons of CO 2 per year.

Keywords

  • Collector design,
  • Energy and exergy–based sustainability,
  • Solar drying,
  • Cocoyam,
  • Wind generator

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