Experimental performance analysis of 16 m2 solar Scheffler system for jaggery making

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The process of making jaggery involves heating and evaporating sugarcane juice with the addition of thermal energy. Dry bagasse is used as a thermal energy source in the traditional jaggery manufacturing process. Traditional methods of making jaggery have limitations in terms of energy loss due to poor combustion, energy loss via exhaust gases, and other losses related to the furnace wall. Additionally, burning bagasse pollutes the environment. To overcome these problems, the steam energy generated by the solar Scheffler system is used to power the jaggery-making process in this paper. The performance of a 16 m2 Scheffler is evaluated to estimate the amount of jaggery produced and the production time. The experiment was carried out with a fixed amount of sugarcane juice, i.e., 2500 ml, under three different radiation conditions. Under maximum beam radiation conditions, i.e., 754 W/m2 during the experiment, the receiver power and thermal energy efficiency are 5.2 kW and 63.5 %, respectively. The energy required to produce 1 kg of jaggery under maximum radiation conditions (754 W/m2) is 285 W for 130 min. More precisely, 60 min for steam generation and 70 min. for jaggery production. Under maximum radiation conditions (754 W/m2) with 63.5% receiver efficiency, this Scheffler system is capable of producing approximately 16.14 kg of jaggery in 130 min. of duration. The maximum amount of jaggery produced is clearly dependent on the receiver power available for steam generation, as evidenced by the summary of results obtained during the first, second, and third experiments.By improving the thermal efficiency of the receiver and reducing the amount of boiling power required, we can reduce the time required for the production of jaggery, also increasing the quantity of jaggery produced.