Energy and exergy analyses of carob pulp drying system based on a solar collector

Abstract

In regards to the highly perishable character of most food products and plants, their conservation during large transportation distances and storage is a sensitive issue. The drying process is a method used to increase the shelf life of the products. It is a fundamental operation in the industry that requires energy and time. This process permits to avoid the deterioration of product quality through the microorganisms and the enzymatic reactions. The aim of this work is to study the carob pulp (Ceratonia Siliqua L.) solar drying using a convective solar dryer. Besides, to understand the drying kinetics and to obtain the characteristic drying curve under different temperatures (50, 60, 70, 80 °C) and different drying air velocities. As results, the increase of drying temperature leads to a drying time decrease. In addition, the variation of the diffusivity coefficient is found to be ranged between 1.56 10−9 and 6.98 10−9, moreover, it is influenced by the increase of the drying temperature. As well an energy-exergy analysis is conducted to evaluate the performance of the studied solar dryer. The energy and exergy efficiencies of the convective dryer are varied in a range of 4.23–7.25% and 30.12–80.5%, respectively.