Abstract: Solar dryer has been developed for drying agriculture products with aims for preservation of food. It takes the advantages of greenhouse effect which turns the sun irradiation energy into heat energy to drive moisture out of the products, and the addition advantage of using solar energy for solar dryers is that it comes without cost. However, the effectiveness of solar dryers is depending upon the available of the sunlight during the day which in turn is seasonal. The temperature inside the solar dryer is sensitive to weather conditions. The use of Phase Change Material (PCM) is not only to store and retain the heat during charging cycle, but also to maintain the suitable temperature inside dryer during discharging cycle for longer period of time after the sun is out in the evening. There are 2 key parameters related to the required performance of solar dryer which are the rate constant and the retaining time both during charge and discharge periods. Since is very sensitive to how the PCM used, therefore the aims of this are to investigate the suitable composition of PCM and the quantity of PCM used in the solar dryer to meet the performance targets. The mathematical modeling based on the first order equation developed is sufficient to determine the suitable of PCM in a small scale solar dyer to achieve overall performance targets.
Keywords: solar dryer, Phase Change Material; PCM, charging/discharging period, retaining time, Mathematical modeling for PCM, the rate constant (k ).
Title: Mathematical Modeling for Phase Change Materials in a Small Scale Solar Dryer
Author: Supapad Malasai, Kanyarat Holasut
International Journal of Engineering Research and Reviews
ISSN 2348-697X (Online)
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