Optimizing solar energy for wood drying under various climates: A comparative study of flat plate and photovoltaic thermal solar collectors

Abstract

Wood drying is an important operation in many sectors, and harnessing solar energy for this purpose has received a lot of interest due to its sustainability and cost-effectiveness. In this work, we compare how two solar collector configurations namely, Flat Plate Collector and Photovoltaic Thermal collector, perform in a solar wood drying system. The moisture content of wood was reduced from 73% to 12% in four different regions: Errachidia, Meknes, Tangier, and Rabat. The Gauss–Seidel method is used to solve the governing equations for heat transfer after discretizing them via implicit finite differences. The effectiveness of the solar collectors was simulated through the TRNSYS software, and a numerical program was generated using the Python programming language. According to our research, the FPC beats the PVT collector because of its higher output temperatures dramatically shorten the time it takes for wood to dry. The study emphasizes how temperature and humidity affect drying, showing that faster drying occurs in hotter, drier locations. Furthermore, drying time can be saved by using FPC and PVT collectors compared to conventional open sun drying.The primary conclusions of this research are: In the FPC solar dryer, the drying time needed in Errachidia, Meknes, Rabat and Tangier was 144 h, 162 h and 171 h, respectively. While in the PVT solar dryer, it required 162 h in Errachidia, 171 h in Meknes, 180 h in Rabat and 189 h in Tangier. Further, the FPC collectors showed a range of 293 K to 347 K for the outlet temperature. The PVT collectors, however, showed a variable range between 295.9 K and 320 K. The drying periods and temperature ranges examined revealed that Errachidia was the most advantageous location, regardless of whether FPC or PVT collectors were used. In fact, the drying time that can be saved by using FPC is 41% while PVT is 31% compared to traditional open sun drying.