Design and Performance Evaluation of a Mixed-Mode Solar Crop Dryer

This study is concerned with development and performance evaluation of a mixed-mode solar  yam dryer. It was done to address the problems of uneven drying of product on different trays coordinate position in a typical indirect multiple trays dryer. Solar energy drying system was designed using the meteorological conditions of Zaria, Nigeria to dry yam slices in the mixed-mode natural convection. The dryer was designed to dry (7 kg) of yam slices. The dimensions of the dryer were: collector length, collector area, height of the drying chamber, chimney height, length of the drying chamber, and Width of the drying chamber were 0.65 m, 0.27 m2, 0.9 m, 0.7 m, 0.5 m, and 0.43 m, respectively. The solar yam dryer was exposed to solar radiation from 10:00 am to 06:00 pm and tested without load and with yam chips of 5 mm average thickness. Meteorological conditions were monitored during the dehydration process. The average drying rate, collector efficiency and drying efficiency were 2.55 kg/s, 42.20% and 25.35%, respectively. The results of performance evaluation of the solar dryer showed that the drying rate decreases by 3% and 8% in the second and third trays relative to the first tray. This shows that the drying rates did not vary significantly with the coordinate positions of the trays.