International Journal of Advanced Research in Engineering and Technology (IJARET), ISSN 0976 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCED RESEARCH IN 6480(Print),

, ISSN 0976 6499(Online) Volume 4, Issue 5, July August (2013), IAEME

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (IJARET)

ISSN 0976 - 6480 (Print) ISSN 0976 - 6499 (Online) Volume 4, Issue 5, July August 2013, pp. 10-16 IAEME: www.iaeme.com/ijaret.asp Journal Impact Factor (2013): 5.8376 (Calculated by GISI) www.jifactor.com

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AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF FORCED CONVECTION GREEN HOUSE DRYING

AjeetKumar Rai*, SarfarajAhamadIdrisi, Shahbaz Ahmad Department of Mechanical Engg. SSET, SHIATS-DU Allahabad

ABSTRACT In the present study a greenhouse dryer is designed, fabricated and its performance is tested in the force convection mode of heat transfer. A thermal model of the system is developed in the forced convection greenhouse dryer and in the natural convection open sun drying mode. Experiments were conducted in the premises of SHIATS-DU Allahabad at latitude of 25N. Measurements of solar intensity, relative humidity inside and outside the green house dryer, moisture removal rate, air velocity and temperatures at different points were recorded. It is find that the average convective heat transfer coefficient for the forced convection greenhouse drying mode is higher than the open sun drying. Key words: Forced convection green house dryer, convective mass transfer coefficient. INTRODUCTION Now a days solar drying is a renewable and environmentally friendly technology. Solar drying can be considered as an advancement of natural sun drying and it is a more efficient technique of utilizing solar energy. For a better performance the solar drying systems must be properly designed in order to meet particular drying requirements of specific products and to give optimal performance. Designers should investigate the basic parameters such as dimensions temperature, relative humidity, airflow rate and the characteristics of products to be dried etc. The most common process of crop drying is known as open sun drying (OSD), during which solar radiation falls directly on the crop surface and is absorbed up to certain limit of temperature. The absorbed radiations heat up the crop and evaporate the moisture from the crop. Sodha et al. modes.[1] presented a simple analytical model based on simultaneous heat and mass transfer at the product surface and included the effect of wind speed, relative humidity, product thickness, and heat conducted to the ground for open sun drying and for a cabinet dryer.[2] Condori M, Luis S. Greenhouse driers have the regular greenhouse structure (when not in use for crop production),
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International Journal of Advanced Research in Engineering and Technology (IJARET), ISSN 0976 6480(Print), ISSN 0976 6499(Online) Volume 4, Issue 5, July August (2013), IAEME

where the product is placed in trays receiving solar radiation through the plastic cover, while moisture is removed by n forced air flow. Mulet et al. [3] proposed a method of standardizing open sun drying time by defining the equivalent time based on the average solar radiation input. Hossain et al[4] redesigned, fabricated and installed a mixed mode type forced convection solar tunnel dryer at the Department of Farm Power and Machinery, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Bangladesh for drying of red and green chillies under the tropical weather condition. Shanmugam et al. [5] designed and fabricated a desiccant integrated solar dryer to investigate its performance under the hot and humid climatic conditions of Chennai, India during the month of June. Dincer and Dost [6] presented a method to determine the moisture diffusion coefficient and moisture transfer coefficient for a solid object by employing the drying coefficient and lag factor. Ratti and Crapiste [7] evaluated the heat transfer coefficient under forced convection from the data on crop drying and heat and mass balances. The experimental heat transfer coefficients were correlated by dimensionless expressions with Nusselt and Reynolds numbers. Anwar and Tiwari [8] evaluated the convective heat transfer coefficients for some crops under a simulated condition of forced mode in indoor open and closed conditions. Manohar and Chandra [9] studied the drying process in greenhouse type solar dryer using natural as well as forced ventilation and the drying data were represented with the Page drying equation. Condon' and Saravia [10] presented an analytical study of the evaporation rate in two types of forced convection greenhouse dryers using single and double chamber systems. Kumar A and Tiwari [11] compared the convective mass transfer coefficient of open sun drying, greenhouse dryer under natural and forced convections for drying onion flakes. It was found that the rate of moisture evaporation in case of greenhouse drying is more than that in open sun drying during the off sunshine hours due to the stored energy inside the green house. The purpose of this work was to evaluate the heat transfer coefficient. The experiments were conducted after the crop harvesting season May 2013. This study was limited to constant rate drying from 7.5 to 8 hr of the day. The half hourly data for rate of moisture removal, crop temperature, relative humidity inside and outside the greenhouse and ambient air temperature for the complete drying period have been recorded. These data were used for determination of the convective heat transfer coefficient at every half an hour of drying time for bitter melon with the following conditions:(a) Open sun drying (OSD) under natural convection. (b) Greenhouse drying (FGHD) under forced convection. A suitable empirical model is presented to regress the convective heat and mass transfer coefficients as a function of drying time. Materials and methods The Nusselt number is a function of Grash of number and Prandtlnumbes for natural convection. The Nusselt number is a function of the Reynolds and Prandtl numbers for force convection. Nu = [ Nu = [ ] =C(GrPr)n ] =C (RePr)n (for natural convection), (for forced greenhouse convection)

Where C and n are the constants Now the convective heat transfer coefficient under natural convection can be determined as ----hc= [ ] C(GrPr)n

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International Journal of Advanced Research in Engineering and Technology (IJARET), ISSN 0976 6480(Print), ISSN 0976 6499(Online) Volume 4, Issue 5, July August (2013), IAEME

Moisture evaporation is given as Qe= 0.0l6 hc [P (Tp) P (Te)] The hc in the above expression with moisture evaporation is termed the convective mass transfer coefficient in the case of crop drying. Substituting the value of hc in above, Qe = 0.016[ ] C(GrPr)n [P(Tp)-P(Te)] The moisture evaporated found by dividing the latent heat of vaporization (k) and multiplying by the area of the tray (At) and time interval (t). Mev = tAt = 0.016 [P(Tp) P(Te)] tAt C (Gr Pr)n , Z=0.016 [P(Tp) P(Te)] tAt, Mev=ZC(Gr Pr)n Taking the logarithm of both side, ln [ ] = ln C+ ln (GrPr)n

This is the form of a linear equation Y = mX0 + C0, where X0= ln[Gr Pr], m = n; and C0= ln C; thus C = eC0 Y =ln[ ], (for natural convection) Similarly, for forced green house convection Y =ln[ ], X0= ln[Re Pr], m = n; and C0= ln C; thus C = eC0 Experimental set up Two stainless steel wires mesh trays of 0.500.50m2 were used to accommodate 0.400 kg samples of bitter melon as thin layers, respectively. A roof type even span greenhouse with an effective floor covering 1.0 1.0 m2 has been made of aluminum plate (of L-shape c/s) and plastic film covering of 1.5mm. thikness. The central height and height of the walls were 1.285 and 1.0 m, respectively. An air vent with legs 0.1m andan effective opening provided at the roofof 0.150.15 m2and a fan of 150 mm sweep diameter with air velocity 5 m/s was provided on the sidewallof dryer for forced convection. A continuous supply of A/C current 220V was supplied. The experimental set up for open sun drying and forced convection drying mode is shown in Fig. 1 and 2.The greenhouse had an east-west orientation during the experiments.

Fig. 1 Open sun drying (OSD)

Fig.2 Forced green house drying (GHD)

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International Journal of Advanced Research in Engineering and Technology (IJARET), ISSN 0976 6480(Print), ISSN 0976 6499(Online) Volume 4, Issue 5, July August (2013), IAEME

Fig.3 Instruments used in the experiments Instrumentation builds up A digital humidity/temperature meter was used to measure the relative humidity and temperature of air in the greenhouse, of ambient and above the crop surface.It had a least count of 0.1% relative humidity with accuracy of 3% on the full scale range of 5-99.9% of relative humidity and 1C temperature with accuracy of 1 % on the full scale range of 10-80C. A non-contact thermometer, having a least count of 1C and full scale range of 18 to 260C was used for measurement of the crop temperature. A top loading digital balance (gold line) of 500 g weighing capacity, having a least count of 0.01gm was used to weigh the sample during drying. The difference in wave length calibrated bysolarimeter (Central Electronics Ltd., India).It measures solar radiation in m W/cm2, having a least count of 2 m W/cm2 with 2% accuracy of the full scale range of 0-120 mW/cm2. The air velocity across the greenhouse section was measured with an electronic digital anemometer, a fan to produce forced convection of Zigma Pvt. Ltd. fitted on side wall of the green house dryer Sample preparation The same sizes of samples were maintainedof fresh bitter melon (karalla) cut into small slices 5 mm thickness with the help of chips cutter. The slices were soaked in water for 4 h and than conditioned in a shed for 1/2 h after removing the excess water. The same sizes of samples were same for open sun drying and inside the forcedconvectiongreenhouse in all the cases. Experimentation The experiments on OSD were always under natural convection and forced convection under FGHD was done with the help of air vent provided at the roof and an A/C fan on the side of the greenhouse dryer.The experiments were revised type in nature. Experiments were conducted in the months of May 2013 for open and forced convection green house dryer by using a fan on the side of dryer, in the Climatic conditions of SHIATS Allahabad. The 0.400 kg samples were kept in the wire mesh tray for the experiments. Observations were taken under open sun and inside the forced greenhouse simultaneously. The observations were recorded from 9 am at every hour interval for the 17 times continuous drying. All the experiments of forced greenhouse drying (FGHD) have been conducted simultaneously with the open sun drying (OSD) for experimental study.

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International Journal of Advanced Research in Engineering and Technology (IJARET), ISSN 0976 6480(Print), ISSN 0976 6499(Online) Volume 4, Issue 5, July August (2013), IAEME

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Variation of relative humidity with respect to the time of the dayareshown in fig.4.At 1.30 Oclock relative humidity inside the green house and of the environment becomes equal.Variation of solar intensity with respect to the time of the dayshows in the fig 5. It is highest at 1.00 O clock. Solar intensity and falls down in the afternoon time than the rate of rise in the morning. In the fig 6 the variation of air velocity is also shown which plays an important role in open sun drying. This has promoted the faster rate of moisture removal in open sun drying than in the FGHD in the initial stage of drying. The values of constants C and n are obtained by simple linear regression analysis, and thus the values of hc were determined for both open sun drying and forced convection greenhouse drying mode. Fig.8 shows the variation of convective heat transfer coefficients Vs time for open sun drying and FGHD drying modes. It is observed that the maximum rate of moisture removal took place in the beginning of the drying time. The mass removal rate becomes nearly constant after 240 minutes of drying time in FGHD. The convective heat transfer coefficient inside forced convection greenhouse drying mode is more than open sun drying.Similar results have been observed by D. Jain et al.[12].and S K Shukla et al [13].Whereas Ajeet Kumar Rai et.al.[14] have reported that the convective heat transfer coefficient is higher in open sun drying when it is compared with the green house drying in natural convection mode. Result Data forOpen sun and forced convection Green house drying modes C n hc (W/m2C) hcav (W/m2C) Open sun drying mode Forced convection green house Drying mode
20

0.87 1.46

0.31 0.3824

1.862-3.265 1.693-3.673

2.545 2.832

1500

Solar Intensity

Humidity %

10 5 0 0 100 200 300 400 Time (minute) 500 600

Solar Intensity

15

1000 500 0 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 Time(minute)

Fig.4. Variation of relative humidity Vs time

Fig.5. Variation of solar intensity Vs time

Air Velocity 2

1.5 1

0.5 0 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 Time(minute)

160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 -20 0

FGHD Mev (gm)

Air velocity (m/s)

Mev (gm)

100 200

300 400 500 600 Time (minute)

Fig. 6-variation of air velocity Vs time

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Fig.7-variation of Moisture removal rate Vs time

International Journal of Advanced Research in Engineering and Technology (IJARET), ISSN 0976 6480(Print), ISSN 0976 6499(Online) Volume 4, Issue 5, July August (2013), IAEME

CONCLUSION A greenhouse dryer is designed and fabricated to work in force convection mode. A thermal model of the system is developed. The convective heat transfer coefficients for bitter melon under open sun and forced convection mode were determined by using the values of the constants Cand n in the expression of Nusselt number. C and n in the open sun drying were found to be 0.87 and 0.31, whereas for the forced convection greenhouse drying the corresponding values are found to be 1.46 and 0.3824 respectively.The maximum values of convective heat transfer coefficients under open sun drying and forced convection greenhouse drying were found to be 3.26513 W/m2 C, and 3.67323 W/m2C.Where the average convective heat transfer coefficient for theforced convection greenhouse drying mode is higher than the open sun drying. It is concluded that-

4 3.5 3
hc (W/m2 C)

FGHD hc Curve OSD hc Curve

2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 360 390 420 450 480 510 Time(minute)

Fig. 8Variation of Convective heat transfer coefficient (W/m2C) Vs time 1. The maximum rate of moisture evaporation took place in the beginning of the drying time (1-4 h). The mass transfer rate became approximately constant after 6 h of drying time. 2. The convective mass transfer coefficient in the beginning of drying behaves like a wetted surface and at the end of the drying like as a dry surface. 3. The convective mass transfer coefficient as a function of drying time has been established withthe help of a two term exponential curve model. REFERENCES [1] Sodha M. S., Dang A., Bansal P.K., and Sharma S.B. (1985). An analytical and experimental study of open sun drying and a cabinet type dryer. Energy conversion and management, 25,pp 263-271. Condori M, Luis S. The performance of forced convection greenhouse driers. Renewable Energy 1998;13(4):453-69. MuletA, Berna A, Rossello, CaiiellasJ. Analysis of open sun drying experiments .Drying Technol 1993;11(6): 1385-400. Hossain M. A., Bala B. K. Drying of hot chili using solar tunnel dryer Solar Energy 81(2007): 85-92.
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[2] [3] [4]

International Journal of Advanced nced Research in Engineering and Technology (IJARET), ISSN 0976 6480(Print), ISSN 0976 6499(Online) Volume 4, Issue 5, July August (2013), IAEME

[5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

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Shanmugam V.,Nataranjan E Experimental Investigation of forced convection and desiccant integrated tegrated solar dryer Renewable Energy 31 (2006): 1239-12 1239 12 Dincer I, Dost S. A modelling study for moisture diffusivities and moisture transfer coefficients in drying of solid objects. Int J Energy Res 1996;20(6):531-9. Ratti C, Crapiste GH. Determination of heat transfer coefficient during drying of foodstuffs. J Food Process Eng 1995; ; 18:41 18:41-53. Anwar SI, Tiwari GN. Convective heat transfer coefficient of crop in forced co convection drying an experimental study.Energy Convers Mgmt 2001;42:1687-98. ManoharKR , Chandra P. Drying of agricultural produce in a greenhouse type dryer . IntAgricEng J 2000;9(3) : 139-50. 139 Condon' M, Saravia L. The performance of forced forced convection greenhouse driers. Renewable Energy 1998;13(4): 453 453-69. Kumar, ar, A. and Tiwari, G.N. (2007). (2007).Effect Effect of mass on convective mass transfer coefficient during open sun and greenhouse drying of onion flakes, J. Food Eng., Vol. 79, 1337-1350. JainDilip,TiwariG.N.(2004). Effect of greenhouse on crop drying undernatural and forced convection I: Evaluation of convective mass transfer coefficient, Energy Conversion and Management 45 (2004) 765-783 S. K. Shukla, D. C. Saraswat, Tirathraj, A. K. Rai and H.K.Rai, Evaluation of convective heat and mass transfer in open sun and green house drying. Proceeding of ES2007, Energy sustainability2007, June 27-30, Long Beach, California Ajeet Kumar Rai, Shahbaz Ahmad and Sarfaraj Ahamad Idrisi, Design, Design, Fabrication and Heat Transfer Study of f Green House Dryer, Dryer International Journal of Mechanical Engineering & Technology (IJMET), Volume 4, Issue 4, 2013, pp. 1 - 7, , ISSN Print: 0976 6340, ISSN Online: 0976 6359. Ansari Md.Asifmd sifmd Riyasat Prof.J.G.Rana, Msvijayshree A More and Dr.S.A.Naveed, Green House Monitoring Based on Zigbee, International Journal ournal of Computer Engineering & Technology (IJCET), Volume 3, Issue 3, 2012, pp. 147 - 154, , ISSN Print: 0976 6367, ISSN Online: 0976 6375. Singh, L.P., Choudhry V. and Upadhyay, R. K. K., Drying Characteristics of o a Hygroscopic Material in a Fabricated Natural Convective Solar Cabinet Drier, Drier International Journal of Mechanical Engineering & Technology (IJMET), Volume 4, Issue 3, , 201 2013, pp. 299 - 305, ISSN Print: 0976 6340, ISSN Online: 0976 6359. Ajeet Kumar Rai, Vivek Sachan and Bhawani Nandan, Experimental Experimental Study of Evaporation in a Tubular Solar Still, International Journal of Mechanical Engineering & Technology (IJMET), Volume 4, , Issue 2, 201 2013, pp. 1 - 9, ISSN Print: 0976 6340, ISSN Online: 0976 6359.

APPENDIX TP(T)=exp[ 25.317{353.44/ (Ti+273.15)}] Gr = gL32T/2 v = 1.71810-5 +4.62010-8Ti Re = v L/ v = 353.44/ (Ti+273.15) Pr = Cp/K Kv=0.0244+0.767310-4Ti =0.0244+0.767310 Where, Ti=(Tp+Te)/2 Cv= 999.2+0.1434 Ti+1.10110-4Ti2-6.758110-8Ti3

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