Comprehensive analysis of the greenhouse solar tunnel dryer (GSTD) using Tomato, snake Gourd, and Cucumber: Insights into energy Efficiency, exergy Performance, economic Viability, and environmental impact

Abstract

With the goal of sustainability, an innovative walk-in type Greenhouse Solar Tunnel Dryer (GSTD) with GI pipe and MS plate foundation, polycarbonate walls and roof, and cudappah stone flooring was developed and investigated. A comparison of GSTD and open sun drying was performed with tomato, snake gourd, and cucumber. The greenhouse drier drastically reduced the moisture content of the products, decreasing it from roughly 90 % to 2 % or less in 24 h. The developed GSTD was subjected to extensive energy, exergy, economic, and environmental assessments in order to examine its thermodynamic performance, economic viability, and environmental impact under forced convection by drying the three products chosen. The average efficiency of energy and exergy is 30.86 % and 14.76 %, respectively. The cost of utilizing GSTD to dry 1 kg of tomato, snack gourd, and cucumber was computed using the annualised cost technique to be 0.41, 0.1075 and 0.1232 USD, respectively. The lifetime savings range from 18,497 to 38,296 USD relying on the type of dried goods. The payback period for tomato is 1.34 years, snake gourd is 2.73 years and cucumber is 1.63 years. The lifetime carbon mitigation for tomato, snake gourd, and cucumber is 61.72 tonnes, 726.92 tonnes, and 175.74 tonnes, respectively, while the carbon credit earned is 1234.4 USD, 14538.4 USD, and 3514.8 USD.