Analysis of recent developments in greenhouse dryer on various parameters- a review

Abstract

In today’s world, the main focus is to reduce the dependency on fossil fuels for fulfilling the increasing energy demand. Burning of fossil fuels leads to emission of greenhouse gases that pollute the environment. Renewable energy sources such as wind energy, solar energy, etc. are sources of clean energy. Solar energy is present abundantly in most parts of the world and it can be utilized as prime source to meet the energy demand. Drying of various products such as fruits, crops, etc. requires energy in form of heat for removal of the moisture content to a certain limit so that the product can be preserved for longer period of time. Traditionally open sun drying is used for drying purpose but it has various shortcomings such as poor quality of dried product, large open space requirement, longer drying time, etc. To overcome these issues of open sun drying, a large variety of solar greenhouse dryer has been introduced. The main objective of this paper is to analyze the recent developments in greenhouse dryer keeping in mind the performance, economic and environmental aspects. The study in this review paper reveals the various advancements and their impact on the performance of greenhouse dryer. This review paper will help in addressing research gaps on critical areas of greenhouse dryer.