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Development and Performance Evaluation of Modified Integrated Passive Solar

Grain Dryer

Article · January 2006

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Benjamin A. Ezekoye
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 Development and Performance Evaluation of Modified Integrated
Passive Solar Grain Dryer
B.A. Ezekoye, Ph.D.* and O.M. Enebe, M.Sc.
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
Enugu State, Nigeria
*
E-mail: bezkoye@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT
A domestic solar dryer for agricultural
applications has been successfully designed,
constructed, and characterized. The dryer is an
integral or direct mode type made from locally
available material such as plywood, Perspex®
glass, angle iron, paints, and wire-mesh. The
dimensions of the dryer is 100cm x 50cm x
84cm / 72cm (length width x height). The
optimum temperature of the dryer is 67.00c with
a corresponding ambient temperature of 31.00c.
The dryer was used to dry agricultural products
(pepper and groundnuts). It took a maximum of
five and eight days, respectively, to dry pepper
and groundnuts respectively at average dryer
relative humidity of 43% and average
temperature of 63.0oC.The average collector
efficiency is 10% while the dryer efficiency is
22%, a value above the typical values
(Keywords: solar grain dryer, passive, performance
evaluation, relative humidity, ambient temperature,
dryer efficiency)
INTRODUCTION
Drying crops by solar energy is of great
economic importance the world over, especially
in Nigeria where most of the crops and grain
harvests are lost to fungal and microbial attacks
[1]. These wastages could be easily prevented
by proper drying, which enhances storage of
crops and grains over long periods of time.
Nigeria lies within the equator and is blessed
with abundant solar energy all the year round
[2]. This solar energy can easily be harnessed
by a proper design of solar dryers for crop
drying. This method of drying requires the
transfer of both heat and water vapour [1].
Most of our crops and grain are harvested during
the peak period of rainy season and so
The Pacific Journal of Science and Technology
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preservation proves difficult and most of these
grains and crops perish.
These result in the crops not lasting the year and
subsequent hunger and malnutrition. These
agricultural crops like rice, wheat, tomatoes,
pepper, tea, copra, okro, groundnuts, and so on,
are routinely seen dumped in the villages and
major cities during peak harvest in Nigeria and
other developing countries. This of course,
constitutes an environmental hazard. These
crops can be preserved and stored so that they
can be of economic importance both to the
farmers and the entire populace. Rural farmers
do this by open-air drying. This practice in the
rural areas has some obvious disadvantages [2].
This method is unhygienic since the crops are
easily contaminated by animal droppings and
consequent infestation by fungi and bacteria.
Human health is thus endangered as a result of
food poisoning. This method also prolongs
drying and may result in the deterioration of the
quality of the crops. Moreover, more labour is
involved as the crops are being moved
frequently in and out during the day and night
and from rain. They are also watched in order to
prevent physical attacks birds and other animals.
It is a well known fact that in rural areas,
conventional sources of energy like petrol and
electricity are either totally absent or are not
readily available to develop active dryers, which
have higher rate of performance.
A low temperature passive solar dryer has
therefore been developed, which will be
appropriate for crops and grains during the low
temperature and high relative humidity periods
of the year. The obvious advantage of low
temperature drying is that it enables crops to be
dried without cracking and hence minimizes the
exposure of the crops to fungal and bacterial
infestation and wastage [1]. This is also suitable
for bulk drying for long-term storage.
–185–
Volume 7. Number 2. November 2006 (Fall)
The objective of this work is to design and
construct a modified portable low temperature
dryer solar grain dryer, evaluate the
performance over a low temperature and high
relative humidity period, and optimize the
parameters needed for the optimal performance
of the dryer.
5) Rate of heat flow into the dryer: This is
the sum of the convective heart (qc)
conductive heat (qk), and radiative heat
transfers, (qr) [2, 4]. That is:
q = qc + qk + qr (5)

Ta − Td
DESIGN CALCULATIONS
q
=
A 1 Δx 1
(
+ εσ Τa4 − Τd4 ) (6)
+ +
ha k hd
1) Declination (δ): This is the angle between
the sun’s direction and the equatorial plane
and is given by [1, 2, 3] as, where q/A= rate of heat transfer per unit area, ha
= heat transfer coefficient for the ambient, hd =
heat transfer coefficient for the dryer chamber,
δ = 23.45 sin [0.9863 (284 + n)] (1)
Ta = ambient temperature, Td = chamber
where (n) is the day in the year which varies temperature, σ = Stefan–Boltzman constant, Δx
from n = 1 to n = 365. = thickness of the glass cover, A = effective area
of the collector,  = emissivity.

2) Optimum collector slope (β): The optimum

collector slope, β, is determined from
β=δ + φ (2)
where (δ) is the angle of declination for Nsukka,
Nigeria and (φ) is the Latitude of the location .
3) Collector efficiency: This is computed
from,
6) Heat energy Q needed for crop drying at
moderate temperature: This is given by:
Q = M w L = ρc pV (Τa − Τb ) (7)
where L = latent heat of vaporization of water,
Mw = mass of crop before drying , ρ = density of
water, Ta = ambient temperature, Tb = Dryer
temperature.

ρ Vc p ΔΤ 7) Moisture Content (M.C.): The moisture

η= , (3) content is given as:
AΙ C
⎛ Mi − M f ⎞ (8)
where (ρ) is the density of air (kg/m3), (Ic) is the MC(%) = ⎜ ⎟ ×100%
insolation on the collector, (∆Τ) is the ⎝ Mi ⎠
temperature elevation, (cp) is the specific heat
capacity of air at constant pressure (J/kg K), (V) where Wi = mass of sample before drying and Wf
is the volumetric flow rate (m3/s), and (A) is the = mass of sample after drying.
effective area of the collector facing the sun
(m3).
8) Moisture loss ML: The Moisture Loss is
given as
4) Dryer efficiency: This is given by [2] as,
ML = (Mi – Mf) (g) (9)
ML
ηd = (4)
Ic At where Mi is the mass of the sample before
drying and Mf is the mass of the sample after.
where (L) is the latent heat of vaporization of
water, (M) is the mass of the crop, and (t) is the
time of drying. 9) Length of the day: The length of the day is
given by [2, 3], as:

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N = (2/15)cos-1(-tanφtanδ)
Figure 1a and 1b illustrates the energy flow and
the electrical equivalence of the heat flow in the
designed system.
Figure 1a: Energy flow mechanism
Figure 1b: Electrical Equivalence of the Heat
Flow (adapted from [1]).
CONSTRUCTION DETAILS
The constructed solar dryer is shown in Figure 2.
The materials used in the construction include:
¾ plywood, Perspex® glass, angle iron (for
skeleton), screws, wiremess, black paint, and
hardwood. The Perspex® glass was used as
glazing surface to cover the top and the sides.
The top glazing measures 100.00cm × 50cm
and the two sides each measures 64.00cm by
52.00cm. The plywood 100.00cm × 100.00cm
was used in covering the base while the two
sides were covered by 100.00cm × 20.00cm of
the same wood. The door of the dryer was made
of the wood, 52.00cm by 50.00 cm, while the
opposite side of the door was covered by
84.00cm × 50.00cm of the same wood. The
dryer skeleton was formed with angle iron raised
20.00cm from the ground.
The Pacific Journal of Science and Technology
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(10)
Components
1. Top Glass Cover 6. Tray 1
2. Chimney 7. Tray 2
3. Air Vent (in) 8. Wooden Cover
4. Iron Stand 9. Dryer Door
5. Side Glass Cover 10. Air Flow
Figure 2: Solar Grain Dryer.
All the components were mounted on the
skeleton and screwed such that the various
components are detectable, and can be
dismantled for easy movement from one location
to another. Provisions were made in the upper
part for chimney and lower part air vents for
proper air circulation, which will hasten the
drying of the samples. The two trays were
separated with a gap of 10.00cm. The trays
were made of wiremess and hardwood
measuring 3.00 cm × 3.0cm and the dimension
is 94.00cm × 44.00cm.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Figure 3 is the plot of the temperatures versus
the local time in hours (hr) for performance
evaluation (pepper drying). The ambient
temperature is quite low varying from a minimum
of 25.0oC to a maximum of 31.0oC. This is
followed by the temperature of tray 2 (Td1),
which ranges from 33.0oC minimum to 59.0oC
maximum. The temperature in tray 1 (Td2) is the
highest ranging from 34.50% to 67.00%. There
is a slight difference between temperatures in
tray 1 and tray 2. The rate of moisture loss in
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Volume 7. Number 2. November 2006 (Fall)
tray 1 is more than tray 2 due to the fact that tray
1 receives direct sunlight while tray 2 is
somehow shaded. The crops in tray 2 retained
the quality more than tray 1 due to its moderate
temperatures. Time (hr) for Pepper Drying.

Figure 4 is the plot of moisture loss versus the

days of drying for pepper. The moisture loss for
trays 1 and 2 are almost linear and positive while

Moisture Loss (g)

that of open–air sun dry shows negative values
and rise and fall (curvature). This is as a result of
the crops absorbing water vapour from the
surroundings (re-wetting) instead of loosing
water especially in the morning hours when the
relative humidity of the atmosphere is very high.

The moisture loss in tray 1 is always slightly

higher than tray 2. The two curves met together,
towards the end of the drying period, showing
that the rate of moisture loss is equal within this
period.

Figure 5 is the plot of temperature versus the

local time for groundnut drying. The curves
follow almost the same pattern with the ambient Figure 4: Plot of Moisture Loss vs. Time (days)
temperature being the lowest. However, the for Pepper Drying.
temperature varied steadily with the local time.
Temp (C)

Temp (C)

Figure 3: Temperature Variations with Local Figure 5: Temperature Variations with Local
Time (hr) for Pepper Drying. Time (hr) for Groundnut Drying.

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 Figure 6 is a plot of moisture loss versus the day Table 1: Evaluated Parameter of the Dryer.
of drying. The moisture loss for tray 1 and 2 are
almost linear becoming almost equal as the day Parameter Value obtained
progressed. However the open air-drying
showed a curve, which decreased to negative Heat flow into the 65.584 W/m2
values and then increased gradually to the Dryer (Q/A)
maximum on the last day. The negative part of Rate of Drying (X) 0.198g/day Dryer
0.100g/day Open air
the curve showed that the crop was absorbing
Moisture content 56.70% (pepper)
moisture instead of losing, resulting in a slower (M.C) 40.53% (groundnut)
drying rate. Moisture loss (ML) 2.1128g (pepper)
0.7945 (groundnut)
Table 1 shows the results of the drying Dry efficiency ηd 22% (per day)
parameters and performance evaluation. The
rate of heat flow into the system is 65.584 W/m2. Collector efficiency ---
The drying rate of the dryer for groundnut is
0.198g /day while that of open air is 0.100g/day. Volume of Dryer (V) 0.24m3
This shows that the dryer performance is much
Collector Area (A) 1.255m3
better than open air-drying.
Collector Efficiency 10% (average)
The moisture content (M.C) of pepper is 56.20% ηc
after 8 days drying period and 40.53% for Length of the day N 12.27hv
groundnut for 5 days drying. The moisture loss (24.34hr)
(ML) for pepper is 2.128g while that of groundnut Declination (8) 15.9o
is 0.794g. The dryer efficiency is 22%/day. The
o
volume of air V needed for the drying of the Collector slope (β) 22.6
system is 0.24m3.

The effective collector area is 1.255m3. The

average collector efficiency is 10%. The
declination for the location is 15.9% while the
latitude is 7o. The effective collector slope is
22.9o. The dryer efficiency is 22%, a value
above the typical values [2].

CONCLUSION

A modified passive grain solar dryer has been

Moisture Loss (g)

successfully developed using locally available

Figure 6: Plot of Moisture Loss vs. Time (days)
for Groundnuts.
material in Nigeria and characterized. The dryer
achieved a moderate temperature of 67.00oC,
which is needed for passive solar grain dryers
[2]. Higher temperatures lead to cracking of the
grains and exposure to bacterial and insect
attacks. They also lead to a change in the
natural colour of the produce. The dryer can be
enlarged for large-scale drying and commercial
purposes by increasing the collector size and
adding more number of trays. There is no need
of carrying the crops inside during the nights in
order to avoid re-wetting since the dryer is
sealed with glass and wood to protect the
samples from dew and rain.

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 REFERENCES
1. Itodo, I.N., A.M. Adewole, and S.K. Edemeka.
2002. “Development of Active Solar Crop Dryer:
Design Analysis and Performance Evaluation”.
Nigeria Journal of Renewable Energy. 10 (1 & 2).
2. Twidell, J. and T. Weir. 1986. Renewable Energy
Resources. E&F N. Span Ltd.: London, UK.
3. Duffie, J.A. and W.A. Beckman. 1974. Solar
Energy: Thermal Processes. John Wiley Inc.:
New York, NY.
4. Research & Education Association. 1999. Heat
Transfer Problem Solvers. Research & Education
Association: Princeton, NJ.
O.M. Enebe, M.Sc., is a researcher at the
University of Nigeria, Nsukka with interests in
solar energy and its applications.
SUGGESTED CITATION
Ezekoye, B.A. and O.M. Enebe. 2006.
“Development and Performance Evaluation of
Modified Integrated Passive Solar Grain Dryer”.
Pacific Journal of Science and Technology.
7(2):185-190.
Pacific Journal of Science and Technology

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

B.A. Ezekoye, Ph.D., MSESN, MNIP, is a

faculty member of Faculty of Physical Sciences
of the Solid State, Material Science & Solar
Energy Division, Department of Physics and
Astronomy, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu
State, Nigeria. He currently serves as a lecturer
and researcher in the Department and his
current research interests are primarily in the
thin film physics (growth and characterizations),
nanotechnology, and photovoltaics.

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