Utilization of photovoltaic array in a multi-tray fruits drying system for rural areas (original) (raw)

Abstract

The existence of a mixed mode (direct and indirect) multi-tray crop drying system connected to photovoltaic panels could present a possible solution for horticultural produce preservation and increasing of its shelf life. This study aim to design, fabricate and test of a mixed mode multi-tray crop drying system operated by solar photovoltaic (SPV). A fig fruits (Ficus carica) was dried to evaluate the system performance. A comparison between mixed mode forced dehydration with three airflow rates (1.52, 2.15 and 3.25 m 3 /min), natural convection drying (direct and indirect) and electrical oven drying with different figs treatment (1% sodium hydroxide and 1.5% aqueous solution of sodium metabisulfit then drying; 1.5% aqueous solution of sodium metabisulfit then drying-blanching-drying and 70% sugar solution) was conducted. Results indicated that, the average daily PV panel energy output of 1.28 kWh/d was oversized the daily load energy demand by 50.4, 44.3 and 39.61% (where load energy were 0.635, 0.713 and 0.773 kWh/d) for different airflow rates of 1.52, 2.15, 3.25 m 3 /min, respectively. The average daily conversion efficiency of SPV was 8.76% corresponding to average daily panel temperature of 47.55 oC. The best pretreatment for drying figs was with 1.5% aqueous solution of sodium metabisulfit. Dehydration of figs treated with 1.5% sodium metabisulfit by electrical oven required of about 20 hrs, while dehydration by the mixed mode multi-tray crop drying system powered by SPV required of about 38, 33 and 27 hrs spread over three drying sunny days at airflow rates of 1.52, 2.15 and 3.25 m 3 /min, respectively. The mixed mode direct natural convection required of

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