Search

The groundnuts were dried inside an even span roof type free convection greenhouse dryer with a useful floor area of 1.2x0.8m² in the environmental conditions of Rohtak, India (28° 54'-N 76° 34'E). Wire mesh sieves of sizes 0.15x0.25 m², 0.25x0.4 m², and 0.35x0.6 m² were used to accommodate thin layer samples of groundnuts. The groundnuts were dried till the optimum safe moisture storage level (8%-10%) was attained. Based on experimental (hourly) observations the values of constants (C and n) in the equation of Nusselt number were evaluated. The values of convective and evaporative heat transfer coefficients were calculated which were observed to decrease with the increase in the sieve size. The overall average greenhouse thermal, energy, and exergy efficiencies were evaluated as 8.83%, 22.67%, and 2.75% respectively. The overall average experimental error in terms of % uncertainty for groundnuts drying was evaluated as 37.94%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, convective and evaporative heat transfer coefficients of the Indian groundnut were computed under indoor forced convection drying (IFCD) mode. The groundnuts were dried as a single thin layer with the help of a laboratory dryer till the optimum safe moisture storage level of 8 - 10%. The experimental data were used to determine the values of experimental constants C and n in the Nusselt number expression by a simple linear regression analysis and consequently, the convective heat transfer coefficient (CHTC) was determined. The values of CHTC were used to calculate the evaporative heat transfer coefficient (EHTC). The average values of CHTC and EHTC were found to be 2.48 W/m2 oC and 35.08 W/m2 oC, respectively. The experimental error in terms of percent uncertainty was also estimated. The experimental error in terms of percent uncertainty was found to be 42.55%. The error bars for convective and evaporative heat transfer coefficients are also shown for the groundnut drying under IFCD condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, an attempt is made to study the effect of mass on convective heat transfer coefficient (CHTC) for open sun drying (OSD) of groundnut ( Arachis hypogaea L.). Experiments were conducted during the month of May, 2016 in the climatic condition of Rohtak, India (28°54′0″N 76°34′0″E). Groundnut samples of 130 and 198 g were dried under OSD condition till almost no variation in its mass was recorded. Hourly data of the mass evaporated, groundnut temperature, relative humidity and ambient temperature were recorded. The experimental data obtained were used to determine the constants 'C' and 'n' in the Nusselt number expression using linear regression method. CHTC increased with the increase in mass of groundnuts. The experimental errors in terms of percent uncertainty were found to vary from 44.29 to 48.77%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Limited sources and rising cost of fossil fuels has instigated researchers to look towards renewable energy resources. Among renewable energy resources, solar energy is required to become indispensable in the future, as it is inexpensive, abundant, inexhaustible, environmental friendly and non-pollutant. Most of the people living in developing countries are dependent on agriculture. Agricultural products are dried to increase the storage life, minimize the packaging requirement and reduce the transportation weight. Solar drying for drying agricultural products is being practiced since long back throughout the world. Because of its drawbacks, advance technique, i.e. greenhouse drying, is being adopted for drying crops to reduce the drying time and increase the quality of the food products. Some new methods have also been attempted to increase the drying efficiency of greenhouse. In this paper, a comprehensive review of greenhouse drying of various commodities is presented. Different parameters such as thermal analysis, drying characteristics of crops, energy and exergy analysis, and greenhouse drying performance were discussed. In addition, the economical aspects of greenhouse dryers were also highlighted. This review paper will be helpful to the new researchers to know about the various technical aspects of the greenhouse dryer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research paper, the convective and the evaporative heat transfer coefficients of ginger (zingiber officinale) drying in an indirect solar cabinet dryer under the induced forced convection mode is presented. Experiments were conducted during the month of March 2015 under the climatic conditions of Hisar, India (29°5'5"N latitude and 75°45'55"E longitude). The experimental data obtained for solar drying of a constant ginger mass of 150 g has been used to determine constants 'C' and 'n' in the Nusselt number expression using linear regression analysis; consequently, the convective and the evaporative heat transfer coefficients have been evaluated. The average value of constants 'C' and 'n' were evaluated as 0.999 and 0.318, respectively. The average values of the convective and the evaporative heat transfer coefficients were found to be 3.95 W/m2 °C and 160.47 W/m2 °C, respectively, for the given mass samples of ginger. The average collector efficiency was observed to be 14.5%. The experimental error in terms of percentage uncertainty was found to be 20.87%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]