Mathematical Modeling of Solar Tunnel Greenhouse Dryer for Describing the Drying Kinetics of Copra
S. Arun1, S. Ayyappan2, V. V. Sreenarayanan3
1S. Arun, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dr. Mahalingam College of Engineering and Technology, Pollachi (Tamil Nadu), India.
2Prof. S. Ayyappan, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dr. Mahalingam College of Engineering and Technology, Pollachi (Tamil Nadu), India.
3Dr. V. V. Sreenarayanan, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dr. Mahalingam College of Engineering and Technology, Pollachi (Tamil Nadu), India.
Manuscript received on 17 October 2014 | Revised Manuscript received on 24 October 2014 | Manuscript Published on 30 October 2014 | PP: 61-67 | Volume-4 Issue-5, October 2014 | Retrieval Number: E1833104514/14©BEIESP
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© The Authors. Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Abstract: The most important aspect of drying technology is the mathematical modelling of the drying processes ad equipments. Since moisture ratio and dryer temperature are the deciding parameters for the modelling of a natural convection solar tunnel greenhouse dryer, a mathematical modeling analysis was carried out in the solar tunnel greenhouse drier with biomass backup heater under full load conditions during the month of January 2014. About 5000 coconuts were dried in the dryer from 53.84% initial moisture content to about 7.003% final moisture content for 44 hours and the moisture ratio of the coconuts were calculated for every one hour interval. Ten different modelling were used for determining the theoretical moisture ratio of the coconuts. From the analysis, it was found that the Page method is the best method available for determining the drying characteristics of coconuts since the ᵪ2 and RMSE values are found to be very minimum.
Keywords: Biomass Backup Heater, Coconuts, Drying, Mathematical Modelling, Moisture Content, Moisture Ratio, Solar Tunnel Greenhouse Dryer.
Scope of the Article: Heat Transfer