Effects of phase change material on the performance of solar dryer used for Eruca Sativa

Abstract

This work presents experimental investigations of the performance for a solar dryer with and without phase change material (PCM) used to dry Eruca Sativa foodstuffs. This dryer is consists of a solar collector with dimensions of (1000 mm as width by 1000 mm depth and by 1000 mm highest) which includes dryer chamber and the heat storage container inside it. The experimental work included the design and fabrication of the solar dryer, and the outdoor tests of the system. The experimental tests were performed under real outdoor weather conditions at the Technical College of Al-Mussaib located in Babylon, Iraq (32.5° N 44.3° E) during December 2019. Three modes of drying (natural drying, solar drying, and solar drying with PCM) were applied. The results showed that the moisture recorded lowest rating for using the solar dryer with PCMs by 17.3% with that of using the solar dryer without PCMs and 40% with using of natural solar drying. The maximum temperature in the drying chamber with PCMs was reached 45 ° C and while it was 40 ° C without PCMs and it was 20 ° C for sun drying. It found reducing of drying time with using of PCMs comparing with using others methods as: 5.3 hr, 7.3 hr, and 24 hr for solar dryer with PCMs, without PCMs, and sun drying respectively.