Drying Technology, 30: 398–403, 2012

Copyright # 2012 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

ISSN: 0737-3937 print=1532-2300 online
DOI: 10.1080/07373937.2011.644649

Experimental Investigation of a Photovoltaic-Powered Solar

Cassava Dryer
C. N. Anyanwu,1 O. U. Oparaku,1 S. O. Onyegegbu,2 U. Egwuatu,2 N. I. Edem,2
K. Egbuka,2 P. N. Nwosu,1 and V. K. Sharma3
1
National Centre for Energy Research and Development, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria
2
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria
3
Solar Test Laboratory, ENEA Research Centre Trisaia, Rotondella, Italy

of the product and environmental aspects. Adoption of

This communication describes the design and experimental
performance evaluation of a photovoltaic (PV)-powered solar drying
system suitable for processing of export-grade cassava developed at
the National Centre for Energy Research and Development,
University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The drying system, which is capable
of handling about 50 kg of fresh crop per batch, comprises an
8.40 m2 roof-type solar collector; a drying unit with five trays, each
with a cross-sectional area of 0.60 m2; and a PV-powered 90 WAC
blower. The experience gained with the solar drying system
described here indicates that, in essence, the unit is structurally
and functionally operative. The experimental results suggest that,
even under unfavorable weather conditions, the unit is able to pro-
duce good quality products. Although the active dryer is more
expensive than a passive drying system of comparable capacity, it
is nonetheless suitable for application in rural, off-grid agricultural
settlements in Nigeria.
Keywords Active dryer; Cassava; Draft; Photovoltaic panel;
Solar collector; Solar drying
INTRODUCTION
One of the most important applications of solar energy
is the supply of hot air at low to moderate temperatures for
drying of some agricultural crops, which, in fact, are more
suited to solar drying technologies than to fossil fuel–fired
drying systems. Moreover, to overcome the existing preser-
vation problems in large agricultural zones of Nigeria char-
acterized by irregular=low-intensity electricity supply but
with solar radiation varying between about 3.5 kW=m2
day in the coastal areas and 7.0 kW=m2 day at the northern
boundary.[1] the introduction of solar dryers is promising.
A comprehensive comparison of the major drying tech-
niques[2–5] clearly indicates that whereas solar drying ranks
second behind open air method in terms of cost–benefit,
the former remains the best with respect to both quality
Correspondence: Cosmas N. Anyanwu, National Centre for
Energy Research and Development, University of Nigeria,
Nsukka, 410001, Enugu State, Nigeria; E-mail: cnasofia@yahoo.
com
advanced drying techniques requiring a substantial
investment in infrastructure, no doubt, is a good option
but are not within the reach of rural farmers. It is in this
context that efforts have been made to introduce cheap
and efficient solar dryers for diffusion of solar energy
applications in agriculture.
Justification for the Project Undertaken
Nigeria is the largest cassava-producing nation in the
world, with an annual production of about 35 million met-
ric tons.[6] Moreover, due to the growing demand for
bioethanol production worldwide, production of cassava
is increasing at a high pace. Cassava, usually grown in
remote and off-grid locations, is often exported in the form
of chips when dried to safe moisture levels and transported
by ship to destinations such as India, China, South Africa,
and Europe. As a possible solution to the complex and
costly drying technologies, the present report considers
the design and development of an active solar drying
system, which relies on a roof-scale collector and a photo-
voltaic (PV)-powered blower to create the draft required
for processing export-grade cassava. The use of PV panels
to power the blower renders the entire system fully inde-
pendent of grid electricity, making it more reliable.
DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
Estimation of Required Aperture Area of the Solar Dryer
According to Kumar and Kandpal,[7] the quantity of
moisture to be removed (Wr) per unit of dried crop can
be calculated as
Mi
Mf
Wr ¼ ð1Þ
1
Mi
where Mi and Mf are the initial and final moisture contents
of the crop on a wet fraction basis.

398
 PHOTOVOLTAIC-POWERED SOLAR CASSAVA DRYER 399

The initial and final moisture contents of cassava were TABLE 1

taken as 80 and 10%, respectively (based on previous Design values and specifications
experience), leading to Wr ¼ 3.5 kg=kg. About 50 kg of crop
has a final dry mass of 15 kg because it contains 35 kg Quantity Unit Value
(3.5  10) of moisture. If a total drying rate of about Initial moisture content (Mi) % 80.0
2 kg=h for each batch is chosen (which is reasonable in such Final moisture content (Mf) % 10.0
applications), this would translate into a total drying time Initial weight of crop kg 50.0
of 17.5 h. Then the rate of transfer of useful heat energy Final weight of crop (Qdry) kg 10
to the crops is given by Water enthalpy (hfg) MJ=kg 2.500

Plate temperature (Tp) C 60
2:0 kg kJ 
 2500 ¼ 1:39 kW ð2Þ Ambient temperature (Ta) C 25
60  60 s kg Design solar radiation (I) W=m2 480
On the other hand, the rate of transfer of useful energy to Overall collector efficiency (gc) — 0.42
the working fluid (air) per unit area is Total collector area m2 8.40

q_ u ¼ gpf q_ net ¼ gpf gsc I ¼ gc I ð3Þ

where gpf is the heat transfer efficiency from the absorber
plate to the fluid, gsc is the capture efficiency of the solar
collector, and I is the design solar irradiance, which equals
480 W=m2 (average for Nsukka). However, gpf gsc ¼ gc for a
covered plate air-heated collector,[7] where gc is the overall
collector efficiency.
Specifically, in the case of single glazed flat-plate solar
collectors, Aranovitch[8] recommended
Physical Properties of the Cassava Chips
The void space (e), refers to the amount of free space
(allowance for air passage) contained in a bed packed with
the solid material (Fig. 1),[9] which was determined exper-
imentally for cassava. Cassava chips were packed into a
shallow tray. The volume of solid was determined by
unpacking the chips into a graduated cylinder containing
some water and recording the difference in water level.
Mathematically,

Tp
Ta Vb
Vs
gc ¼ 0:83
6:5 ; ð4Þ e¼ ð7Þ
I Vb
which leads to a value of 0.42 for the overall collector where Vb is the volume of the bed packed with solids and
efficiency (taking the plate [Tp] and ambient [Ta] tempera- Vs is the volume of solids in the bed. The approximate par-
tures as 60 and 30 C, respectively). Thus, ticle diameter Dp was also obtained experimentally as
0.016 m.
q_ u ¼ gI ¼ 201:6 W=m2 ð5Þ
Pressure Drop in the System
Therefore, the minimum absorber plate area is given as
Next, the pressure drop in the drying system, in parti-
1390 cular the packed bed, was determined. The pressure drop
Ac ¼ ¼ 6:90 m2 ð6Þ
201:6 in the collector and pipes was assessed using Bernoulli’s
equation and found to be negligible. The system pressure
To accommodate losses of about 17%, the collector drop was therefore based on the packed bed of solid
absorber plate was constructed in two parts (north- and material given by the following equation[9]:
south-facing sides) with each side measuring 4.2 m2
(2.1 m  2 m). These loss considerations (presented in 2fm G 2 Lð1
eÞ3
n
Table 1) led to a total aperture area (taken as collector DP ¼ ð8Þ
area) of 8.40 m2. Dp q/3
n
s e
3

The most important factors that determine the rate of

drying are the humidity of the ambient air, solar radiation where fm is the friction factor, which is given as f(Re0 )
intensity (expressed as ambient temperature), wind speed, (obtained from Figs. 5–69, Moyers and Baldwin[9]); G is
and the nature of the material being dried. In the case of the mass flow rate of working fluid (air, kg=s  m2); L is
an active drying system, the nature of the material influences
the void factor of the bed and, hence, the pressure drop
across the bed of solids. Therefore, the design of the active
solar dryer was carried out by first determining the relevant
physical properties of the material (cassava) to be dried. FIG. 1. Solid bed typifying a through-pass dryer tray.
400 ANYANWU ET AL.
the depth of packing (m); e is the void space; Dp is the
approximate particle diameter (m, determined experimen-
tally); q is the density of air (kg=m3); Us is a shape factor
(Table 5.22, Moyers and Baldwin[9]); and n is the parameter
f(Re).
The modified Reynolds number, which describes the
mode of transportation of the working fluid (air), is given by
DpG
Re0 ¼ ð9Þ
l
where l is the viscosity of air and
G ¼ qV ð10Þ
The Solar Energy Research Institute handbook[10]
recommends a volumetric flow rate of air (V) for active
systems of 10 L=sm2; that is, 0.01 m3=sm2. For air at tem-
peratures close to ambient, q ¼ 1.2943 kg=m3 and
l ¼ 0.0185  10
5 Pa  s. The cross-sectional area is sized
to correspond with laminar flow, because Re0  10. There-
fore, we may express the pressure drop in Eq. (8) as a func-
tion of bed depth, L.
However, the pressure drop is also correlated with the
fan power according to the following expression[10]:
8Pmin gf
DP ¼ ð11Þ
V
where Pmin is the minimum power rating of the fan
(blower), 0.09 kW and gf is thean efficiency (fraction),
taken as 0.25.
Iterative solution of Eqs. (8) and (11) led to determi-
nation of the total depth of the packed bed (0.56 m), from
which the number of trays and depth of each tray were
computed (five trays, each 0.12 m deep). Intertray spacing
was based on practically acceptable values for loading
and off-loading of product, and the chimney height was
chosen to be within 10–30 cm (it is usually shorter than
FIG. 2. Various views of the solar collector.
in passive systems, where it is commonly employed to
create the draft).
MATERIALS OF CONSTRUCTION
The collector consisted of a matte black painted absorber
plate made of 1.5-mm-thick mild steel, encased in a glazing
formed out of 4-mm-thick silicon glass panels. The absorber
plate was insulated with glass wool and sawdust insulators.
The entire collector was supported by a stand made of angle
iron. The blower selected for this work (AEG, Germany)
had a rated power of 90 WAC (positive draft). It was
mounted facing the air channel and the distance between
the absorber and glazing had a 0.070-m aperture. Power
supply to the blower was provided by 2  80 W PV panels
(model STP-2=sb, Suntech, China) connected in series. The
power output was passed through a 1-kVA Victron Energy
(China) inverter. The collector was connected to the drying
chamber with polyethylene pipes of 80 mm internal diam-
eter, which are usually flexible insulators. The roof collector
and various views of the drying chamber are shown in
Figs. 2–4. The drying chamber was constructed using
Perspex supported on an angle iron stand.
The sides and top of the dryer were made of Perspex to
enhance solar radiation absorption. The chamber, which
was made of wire mesh material and supported on angle iron,
consisted of five trays, each with a depth of about 12 cm (cor-
responding to a total depth, L, of about 60 cm). The drying
chamber was also equipped with a 20-cm-high stack chimney
and a rear door used for charging and discharging of pro-
duce. Some important physical properties of cassava and
the working fluid (air) are presented in Table 2.
PERFORMANCE EVALUATION
Performance evaluation was conducted while using the
system to dry cassava, which is a perishable agricultural
product. Freshly harvested cassava tubers were peeled,
chopped into slices of less than 20 mm thickness, and
 PHOTOVOLTAIC-POWERED SOLAR CASSAVA DRYER 401

TABLE 2
Physical properties of cassava and working fluid (air)
Quantity Unit Value
Void factor (e) — 0.21
Approx. particle diameter (Dp) m 16.0  10
3
Shape factor (Us) — 0.75
Modified friction factor (fm) — 10.0
Parameter (n) — 1.0
Modified Reynolds number — 11.0
Volumetric air flow rate (V) m3=sm2 0.01
Density of air (q) kg=m3 1.2943
Viscosity of air Pa  s 0.0185  10
5

humidity was carried out by placing one sensor inside each

FIG. 3. Various views of the solar dryer. dryer tray and taking the readings every 2 h as drying pro-
gressed.
The temperature profile of the absorber plate and that of
washed. The initial moisture content of 10 cassava chips the crops on each tray was measured using a K-type ther-
selected at random was determined according to the mocouple (model HI98517, Hanna Instruments, USA) and
Association of Analytical Chemists’ method[11] and the
average was taken. Subsequent moisture contents were
calculated based on weight loss. This was achieved by sub-
dividing the area of each tray into five different sections.
Cassava chip samples were picked at random from each
tray every 2 h and weighed using an analytical balance
and the weight was recorded. This operation continued
throughout the 20 h of active drying, after which safe
moisture content was assumed to be achieved in the trays.
Solar radiation was monitored using a solarimeter
(Spektron 100, Tritec Energie GmbH, Freiburg, Germany)
mounted beside the drying chamber. The ambient tempera-
ture and relative humidity were measured using a sensor
(model CR 101, Crecer, Guangzhou Instruments Co.
Ltd., China) throughout the duration of the experiments
and varied between 25 to 32 C and 43.0 to 72.0%, respect- FIG. 5. Plot of solar radiation vs. time.
ively. Measurement of ambient temperature and relative

FIG. 6. Plot of ambient temperature (Ta) and absorber plate

FIG. 4. 3D model of the solar drying system. temperature vs. time.
402
FIG. 7. Plot of tray temperatures vs. time (color figure available online).
FIG. 8. Plot of cassava chip moisture content vs. time for all trays (color
figure available online).
monitored every 2 h. The plate temperature varied between
40 and 79 C (a design value of 60 C was used) and the cor-
responding variation in tray temperature was between 26
and 48 C. The temperature and humidity of the exit air
was also monitored using a Crecer sensor probe placed at
the entrance to the chimney. The weight loss for each tray
was monitored and converted to approximate residual
moisture (wb). These results are presented in Figs. 5–8.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Performance testing of the drying system lasted for a
total of 20 h of active drying. Drying commenced at
8:00 a.m. and stopped at 4 p.m. the next day (about 32 h
total), although the blower was only operated during the
day (from 08.00 to 18.00) when solar radiation was higher.
The initial moisture content of the cassava chips was
74%. Plots of the measured parameters are presented in
Figs. 5–8. As expected, solar radiation increased gradually
from morning toward the afternoon when it peaked at
840 W=m2 on the first day and at 845 W=m2 on the second
ANYANWU ET AL.
day (Fig. 5) before dropping. Ambient and absorber plate
temperatures (shown in Fig. 6) followed a similar trend,
although the top two trays had slightly higher temperatures
due to direct solar radiation. The fast reduction in moisture
content of the cassava chips in most of the trays in the first
few hours of drying was due to the fact that the external
moisture (which is usually high in tuberous crops) was still
available for removal. After this phase, expulsion of the
internal moisture was slower, probably due to poor dif-
fusion rates. The different periods of drying are not clear
from the plots. This could be attributed to the mixed mode
of drying brought about by the combined effect of
entrapped heat and hot air in the drying chamber, as well
as direct solar radiation in the upper trays. From Fig. 8
it can be concluded that tray 3 depended mainly on trapped
heat; hence the wide gap between the moisture content of
crops in this tray and those of trays 4 and 5, which dried
faster (in mixed mode). This is particularly visible between
the 6th and 14th hours of drying. Indeed, Fig. 7 confirms
that tray 3 had the lowest temperature profile, whereas
trays 4 and 5 had the highest temperatures. Cassava chips
in trays 1 and 2 dried very slowly, probably because the
predominant source of heat supply to these trays was from
the blower.
At the end of the testing, the moisture content of the
crops in the lowest tray (tray 1) was reduced from an initial
value of 74 to 12% (the highest of all the trays), whereas
crops placed in other trays had a final moisture content
lower than 10%, which means that they could be stored
safely. Tray 5 (the topmost tray) had the lowest moisture
content of about 6% after drying.
CONCLUSION
An active solar drying system capable of processing
about 50 kg of cassava (as received) or other crops was
designed, constructed with locally derived raw materials,
and successfully tested at the National Centre for Energy
Research and Development, University of Nigeria, Nsukka
(latitude 6.8 N). Results of the evaluation indicated that the
system can be deployed for use by small co-operative asso-
ciations engaged in processing of export-grade agricultural
produce such as cassava in remote and off-grid locations.
The major advantages of the system derive from its indepen-
dence from grid electricity but the overall cost could be
reduced by using a DC blower. In the present article, only
the drying conditions=parameters were evaluated, and no
information was gathered on the fate of the cyanogenic gly-
cosides, which are often found in high concentration in cas-
sava. Increasing the time of ventilation, especially at night
when there is no solar radiation, through the use of rocks
or other heat storage techniques, would ultimately improve
the efficiency of treatment and dehumidification, which
could be a subject of further research work.
 PHOTOVOLTAIC-POWERED SOLAR CASSAVA DRYER
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors are grateful to the management of the
National Centre for Energy Research and Development,
University of Nigeria, Nsukka, which provided funding
for the work. Useful technical contributions made by
C. Udom and other technical staff of the center are highly
appreciated and acknowledged. One of the authors (C.N.
Anyanwu) is grateful to the International Centre for
Theoretical Physics program for Training and Research
in Italian Laboratories (ICTP TRIL) program for the
research fellowship at ENEA Research Centre, Trisaia,
Italy, during the preparation of this article.
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