Optimizing Air Flow and Temperature Distribution in a Greenhouse Solar Dryer Using Computational Fluid Dynamics
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37934/arnht.29.1.1626Keywords:
Air flow optimization, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Drying efficiency, Food preservation, Greenhouse solar dryer, Sustainable technology, Temperature distributionAbstract
This research is conducted to optimize the uniformity of air flow and temperature distribution for a greenhouse solar dryer based on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations. But the aim was to maximise drying efficiency, which could only be achieved by ensuring that there was a uniform air velocity — and temperature, for some applications — throughout the whole volume of the drying chamber. The basic idea is to model and simulating several fan configurations such as horizontal flow fans (with grilles), without grille, or even vertical flow fans. The results revealed that the (horizontal-flow/fan/grille) system also improved air distribution, leading to steadier temperature field and higher average air velocity when compared with other configurations. The peak air velocity at the inlet of drying zone for optimized model is observed to be 3.8 m/s, with an average temperature in the drying zone is 320 K which led to better drying efficiency and faster dry times. The results of this study should be useful to the optimal designing and operating greenhouse solar dryers whilst aiming for a sustainable and energy-efficient way forward in food preservation methods.
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