oikos Ph.D.

summer academy 2004

“Creating and Transforming Markets for Sustainability"

A Study on a Renewable Energy-based Air Heating System

for Drying Applications

This is a work in progress. Please do not cite without permission of the author.

M. Augustus Leon
Asian Institute of Technology
Thailand

Abstract
Harnessing solar energy for drying offers significant potential to dry agricultural products such
as food grains, fruits, vegetables and medicinal plants, thereby eliminating many of the prob-
lems experienced with open-sun drying and industrial drying, while saving huge quantities of
fossil fuels. A great deal of experimental work over the last few decades has already demon-
strated that agricultural products can be satisfactorily dehydrated using solar energy. Various
designs of small-scale solar dryers have been developed in the recent past, mainly for drying
agricultural products.
Major problems experienced with solar dryers are their non-reliability as their operation
largely depends on local weather conditions. While back-up heaters and hybrid dryers partly
solved this issue, difficulties in controlling the drying air temperature and flow rate remains a
problem, and affects the quality of the dried product.
This study is aimed at eliminating the fluctuations in the quality of hot air supplied by simple
solar and hybrid air heaters used for drying fruits and vegetables. It is an attempt to analyse
the applicability of the combination of an unglazed transpired solar collector, thermal storage
and a biomass gasifier stove to achieve a steady supply of hot air at required temperature and
flow rate for drying fruits and vegetables. In the process, an efficient, low-cost and reliable air
heating system will be developed, for drying applications.

oikos Ph.D. summer academy 2004 - “Creating and Transforming Markets for Sustainability" 1
M. Augustus Leon

1. Introduction and problem formulation

Food products, especially fruits and vegetables require hot air in the temperature range of
45-60°C for safe drying. Drying under controlled conditions of temperature and humidity
helps the crop to dry reasonably rapidly to a safe moisture content level and to ensure a
superior quality of the product (Sharma et al., 1994). Controlled drying is practiced mostly in
industrial drying processes. Hot air for industrial drying is usually provided by burning fossil
fuels, and large quantities of fuels are used worldwide for this purpose. High cost of fossil
fuels, gradual depletion of its reserve and environmental impacts of their use have put severe
constraints on their consumption.
Many rural locations of developing countries suffer from non-access to grid electricity; sup-
plies of other non-renewable sources of energy are also either unavailable, unreliable or, for
many farmers, too expensive. In such areas, crop-drying systems that employ electrically op-
erated fans, heaters and other accessories are inappropriate. The large capital and running
costs of fossil fuel-powered dryers are often not affordable for small farmers.
With the abundant availability of solar radiation in the tropical climates of Asia, an unglazed
transpired solar collector (UTC) system could readily provide hot air at this temperature
range, for almost 300 days of the year in most of the countries in the region. Large roof-
mounted installations are the natural choice, to capture most of the incident solar radiation.
Such installations offer a cost-effective alternative to the expensive glazed collectors to supply
significant quantities of hot air for drying applications.
Major problems experienced with solar dryers are their non-reliability as their operation
largely depends on local weather conditions, and difficulties in controlling the drying air
temperature and flow rate, and therefore the quality of the dried product. Hybrid dryers,
which incorporate a secondary heat source, partly solved the reliability problem. Biomass
residues offer themselves as an attractive option as secondary heat source.
Large quantities of crop residues are produced annually worldwide, and are vastly under-
utilised (ACRE, 1999). A common agricultural residue is the rice husk, which makes up 25%
of rice by mass. Other plant residues, mainly in the Asian region, include bagasse, coconut
husks and shells, palm oil fibre, groundnut shells, and cereal straw. If these resources are
tapped, the benefits for the countries involved will be in terms of economic growth, foreign
currency saving, employment generation, and local environmental management (Hulscher,
1998).

Biomass as a supplementary energy source is considered most appropriate for rural farmers
and small communities due to their ready availability and traditional use as an energy source.
Of all the renewable sources of energy, biomass is unique in that it is effectively stored solar
energy. Furthermore, it is the only renewable source of carbon (WEC, 1994).
Solar-biomass hybrid dryers combine the two sources of energy, solar and biomass, thus
incorporating the cost advantages of solar dryers, and the reliability of biomass-fuelled dryers.
Biomass-fuelled hybrid dryers commonly use simple combustion-type stoves, which are often
not efficient, and require regular attention to ensure proper stove operation. There is also a
considerable operational cost involved in these dryers as significant quantities of biomass fuels
are required in the stoves, and in most cases, biomass fuels are acquired at cost.
Solar-biomass hybrid dryers of different types, designs and capacities have been developed for
drying a variety of agricultural products. Almost all these dryers suffer from varying degrees
of fluctuations in the quality (temperature and relative humidity) and flow rate of drying air,
either due to weather fluctuations or due to difficulties in maintaining the required quality and
flow rate even while operating on supplementary heat sources. A solar-biomass hybrid sys-
tem in most cases uses a simple biomass combustion stove, and there is no practical way of

2 oikos Ph.D. summer academy 2004 - “Creating and Transforming Markets for Sustainability"
reliably controlling the combustion inside the stove to supply hot air at a constant tempera-
ture and flow rate.
Gasifier stove seems to offer certain definite advantages over simple combustion stoves, as
back-up heat source in solar dryers. Biomass gasifier stove has been demonstrated as a tech-
nically feasible option as a back-up heat source while drying fruits and vegetables in solar dry-
ers (Tanit, 1999; Aung, 2000). Gasifier stove is preferred because of to its relatively stable
and steady heat output, clean combustion of gases, long unattended operation, and ease of
heat control (although to a limited extent) in comparison with simple direct combustion sto-
ve.
Thermal storage for solar dryers is a useful option in view of the energy deficiency during off-
sunshine hours and the requirement of continuous hot air supply for high quality dried prod-
ucts and efficient drying. In dryers using thermal storage, the drying process continues
through the night, thereby extending the duration of effective drying, while preventing re-
absorption of moisture by the product at night from the surrounding air (Aboul-Enein et al.,
2000).
Unglazed transpired solar collectors or UTC (also known as perforated collectors) are a relatively new
development in solar collector technology, introduced in the early nineties for ventilation air heating.
These collectors are used in several large buildings in Canada, USA and in Europe, effecting consider-
able savings in energy and heating costs. Transpired collectors are a potential replacement for expen-
sive glazed flat plate collectors, and have been tried also for drying applications (NREL, 2001; Van
Decker et al., 2001; Gawlik, 1999; Arulanandam et al., 1999; Gunneweik et al., 1996; Kut-
scher et al., 1993).
A combination of transpired solar collector, thermal storage and biomass gasifier stove, can
potentially deliver a hot air system that would be efficient, economic and operationally reli-
able in the tropical climate of Asia. By coordinating the operation of the individual compo-
nents, which could be achieved using a suitably designed control system, the following are
possible: (i) fluctuations in drying air temperature (due to variations in incident solar radia-
tion) can be largely reduced; (ii) hot air at a required temperature and flow rate could be
supplied by the system continuously over extended periods of time, until the drying process
is complete.
The study will result in the development of such an air heating system suitable for drying fru-
its and vegetables. With the replacement of usually expensive glazed flat-plate solar collector
by the non-glazed transpired collector, the air heater is expected to be affordable for many
rural communities, mainly medium farmers in Asia, thereby increasing the quality of their
dried products and income, and still reducing the operational difficulties experienced in most
solar/hybrid dryers.

2. Research areas
Work on the use of unglazed transpired solar collectors (UTC) for drying application is ra-
ther limited. Only a few investigations have been carried out so far in this area, and detailed
research results are not available. Hollick (1999) in his feasibility report for the Spices Board
of India has concluded that commercial drying of several agricultural commodities including
tea, coffee, fruits, fish, spices, rubber and seeds can be economically carried out with solar
dryers using transpired collectors. He reported that a transpired collector solar dryer in-
stalled recently in South India for drying marigold flowers for animal feed has been designed
to deliver hot air at temperatures up to 70°C. Operating parameters and data are however
not available yet.
Performance of UTC in humid tropical climates require extensive investigation as the pros-
pects for their use as a low-cost alternative to expensive conventional, glazed flat-plate solar
collectors in rural Asia is high. Apart from eliminating glass, the transpired collector concept

oikos Ph.D. summer academy 2004 - “Creating and Transforming Markets for Sustainability" 3
M. Augustus Leon

also does not require insulation, making itself competitive to conventional flat plate collectors
– typically costing only half as much as glazed flat plate collectors. As most glazing reflect
about 15% of incident radiation, eliminating them also increases the efficiency. Therefore, an
investigation on the performance and applicability of this type of collector in tropical humid
climates for drying fruits and vegetables would be valuable.
A heat and mass transfer investigation on UTC using a transient simulation model would pro-
vide useful insights into the collector operation. The model could incorporate a combination
of standard heat and mass transfer expressions as well as empirical relations for estimating
the various heat transfer coefficients involved. It can predict the transient thermal perform-
ance of unglazed transpired solar collectors over a wide range of design and operating condi-
tions.
The model will be used to design a transpired collector for a specific hot air requirement.
The UTC will then be fabricated and its performance analysed and compared with the model
results. The experimental data would be useful in validating the model itself.
Sizing of the gasifier stove and design of the pebble-bed thermal storage are the other areas
requiring in-depth study. Experimentation to characterise the thermal performance of the
pebble bed and gasifier stove will form part of the study. Investigating the design, perform-
ance and real-life operation of the system as a whole, combining the UTC, pebble-bed ther-
mal storage and a biomass gasifier stove will be of ultimate interest.
The combined system is expected to be efficient, economic and operationally reliable in the
tropical climate of Asia. A suitably designed control system could be employed for coordinat-
ing the operation of the individual components. The function of the control system would be
to ensure the following: (i) fluctuations in drying air temperature (due to variations in incident
solar radiation) should be largely reduced; (ii) hot air at a required temperature and flow rate
should be supplied by the system continuously, over extended periods of time, until the dry-
ing process is complete.

3. Scope of research
The proposed research will focus on a hot air system that would be suitable for drying fruits
and vegetables. The layout of the proposed system is presented in Figure 1. Table 1 provides
the control strategy for a normal day’s operation. The study is aimed at achieving a steady
supply of drying air at controlled temperature and flow rate, independent of fluctuations in
solar radiations and gasification/combustion inside the gasifier stove.
The study will concentrate on the design and thermal performance of the hot air system, and
will not involve the dryer/drying chamber. Studies on areas such as drying kinetics, and qual-
ity, handling, packaging and storage of fresh/dried products will not be covered in this re-
search.
Solar collector which will be used in the dryer will be an unglazed transpired solar collector.
Glazed flat-plate designs will not be investigated. Designing the transpired solar collector
would involve simulation studies.

4 oikos Ph.D. summer academy 2004 - “Creating and Transforming Markets for Sustainability"
 120 m3/hr
Pebble bed 2

Blower 1 One-way valve Hot air for drying

Air out
(discharging,
at 120 m3/hr)
UTC

T2

Air in solenoid
(charging) valve 1
PLC
One-way valve
T3

Exhaust
Pebble
bed 1

Blower 2
360 m3/hr HX

Ambient air Airflow meter

Damper1
T1
Simultaneous on/off
Gate
Valve 2
Solenoid
Bye pass valve 2

One-way Air out

Gasifier valve (charging)
Stove

(IGS2 - Output wattage: 6 kW)

Air in
(discharging)
Blower 3
120 m3/hr

Airflow meter
Damper 2

Simultaneous on/off

Figure 1: Schematic diagram of the air heating system

Table 1: System operation during a normal day

Time System Operation

09:00 a.m. – 05:00 p.m. Solar only operation
1
12:30 p.m. – 05:00 p.m. Pebble-bed charging using gasifier stove
05:00 p.m. – 09:00 p.m. Pebble-bed discharge
2
08:30 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. Pebble bed charging using gasifier stove
11:00 p.m. – 09:00 a.m. Pebble bed discharge
1
includes a stove start-up time of 30 minutes
2
There will be no hot air available for drying between 9:00–11:00 pm, when the pebble-bed is charged.

oikos Ph.D. summer academy 2004 - “Creating and Transforming Markets for Sustainability" 5
M. Augustus Leon

Thermal storage for the proposed study will be limited to sensible heat storage using peb-
ble-bed; other sensible heat-
storage options, latent heat storage using phase change materials and thermochemical heat
storage will not be covered in this study.
The auxiliary heat source to be used for hybrid operation will be a natural draft biomass gasi-
fier stove, of cross-flow type. The stove will be sized to requirement from the design already
available. The design will not be based on first principles (i.e., mass, momentum and energy
balance) as the procedure involves too many parameters and is too complex to deliver satis-
factory results.

4. Research methodology
The research on the proposed air heating system would involve three aspects: (i) Theoretical
study and modelling, (ii) Design and fabrication, and (iii) Experimentation and performance
analysis. The initial phase of this research will involve a detailed literature review on the three
key components of the system – the unglazed transpired solar collector, biomass gasifier
stove and the pebble-bed thermal storage. Inputs from the review would be the basis for the
transient simulation model to be developed for the UTC. The model will be developed in an
equation-solving programme, “Engineering Equation Solver” of the University of Wisconsin,
2
and will be used to analyse the thermal performance of the collector in detail. A 2 m collec-
tor will then be designed using the model, and fabricated. Experimental results from the col-
lector will be used to validate the model, by comparing with the simulation results.
Studies on the pebble-bed will involve predicting the exit air temperature at specific airflow
rates during charging and discharging, at specific inlet air temperatures. Using the classical
design procedure, a pebble bed will be designed and fabricated according to the thermal stor-
age demands of the proposed system.
Biomass gasifier stove will be sized from existing designs, according to the thermal energy
requirement of the proposed air heating system. Sizing will be carried out from the capacity
(wattage) of biomass stove, estimated heat requirement for charging the pebble-bed, and
thermal losses involved. The stove will then be fabricated and tested using wood chips as fuel.
The effect of air feed rate on gasification rate, fuel consumption and thermal output (kW) will
be studied, the results of which will be useful in the system design.
The UTC, stove and pebble-bed will now be integrated together with a controller (PLC), to
form the air heating system. Dampers, blowers and valves are the key components in the
control system. An air-to-air heat exchanger is used to transfer the heat from the flue gases
from the stove to the air used for charging the pebble-bed. A second pebble-bed is used to
iron-out the fluctuations in exit air temperature from the collector during fluctuations in so-
lar radiation over the day.
The performance of the system will be analysed for the hot air requirements of a typical dry-
ing application, during different weather conditions.

6 oikos Ph.D. summer academy 2004 - “Creating and Transforming Markets for Sustainability"
References
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oikos Ph.D. summer academy 2004 - “Creating and Transforming Markets for Sustainability" 7