Preliminary experimental study of passive solar air heating system in drying chilli under Malaysian climates
2020
Shahbal, Abdalla Abdur Rahman | Ng, Khai Mun
In this paper, a preliminary experimental investigation of a passive solar air heating system in drying an agricultural product, chilli, under the Malaysian climates was presented. 10 days outdoor experimental works were conducted, in which the recorded parameters were solar irradiance, mass of chilli, temperature around the system and thermal mapping of the system. Results showed that the maximum average temperature attained by the solar absorber was recorded at about 80°C. The temperature on the bottom tray of the system was found to be higher than the temperature on its upper tray. Outcome indicated that the developed passive solar air heating system could enhance the drying rate as compared to the conventional direct sun drying method. It showed that the percentage of moisture removal was about 74% when using the passive solar air heating unit, meanwhile it was recorded at about 54% when applying the direct sun drying method, indicating that the passive solar air heater has outperformed the direct sun drying method, with approximately 20% better drying rate. A linear correlation has been developed that the absorber temperature could be predicted at a moderate accuracy by knowing the solar radiation data with R² = 0.6881.
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