Accepted Manuscript: Tectorius

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Accepted Manuscript
Multi-pass solar air heating collector system for drying of screw-pine leaf (Pandanus
tectorius)
M.W. Kareem, Khairul Habib, K. Sopian, M.H. Ruslan
PII: S0960-1481(17)30447-0
DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2017.04.069
Reference: RENE 8824
To appear in: Renewable Energy
Received Date: 6 December 2016

Revised Date: 14 March 2017
Accepted Date: 3 April 2017
Please cite this article as: Kareem MW, Habib K, Sopian K, Ruslan MH, Multi-pass solar air heating
collector system for drying of screw-pine leaf (Pandanus tectorius), Renewable Energy (2017), doi:
10.1016/j.renene.2017.04.069.
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1 Multi-pass solar air heating collector system for drying of screw-pine leaf
2 (Pandanus tectorius)
3 M.W. Kareem1, Khairul Habib2, K. Sopian3,* and M.H. Ruslan4
1,2
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4 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS,
5 32610 Seri Iskandar, Perak, Malaysia
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3,4
6 Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia,
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7 43600 Bangi Selangor, Malaysia
8 Corresponding author, E-mail address: ksopian@ukm.edu.my
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9 Tel: +603 89118023, Fax: +603 89118574
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10
11 Abstract
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12 An experimental investigation of solar drying of screw-pine leaf has been conducted in the open
13 space of the solar research site, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS Malaysia (4.385693o N,
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14 100.979203o E). Screw-pine leaf has been used for handcraft in many villages in Asia and
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15 Africa. A transient state lumped element analysis was developed to determine the thermal
16 performance of the multi-pass solar collector system (MSCS) in accordance with ASHRAE
17 standards. The facility was assessed under the average daily solar irradiance of 412.6 Wm-2 and
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18 ambient temperature of 30oC over an air mass flow rate range from 0.010 kgs-1 to 0.032 kgs-1.
19 Drying kinetics profiles of screw-pine have been obtained and an improved range from 22% to
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20 26% of instantaneous thermal collector efficiency has been recorded over the double pass
21 collector system (DPCS) while thermal energy storage has contributed 5-8% to system
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22 performance. MSCS performance has been determined and achieved the thermal collector,
23 pickup, drying and exergy efficiencies of 58.73%, 66.95%, 36.04% and 27.23-86.82%,
24 respectively. The level of risk on the investment in MSCS has been measured using economic
25 indices to obtain a payback period of 0.75 year. The thermal loss through conventional collector
26 back plate has been prevented by integration of collector unit and the drying cabinet of the
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27 system. There is still need to further improve the system performance efficiency through
28 enhanced energy saving innovation technique.
29 Keyword: Screw-pine; Multi-pass; Solar collector; Drying; Performance; Payback period
30 Abbreviations
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31 ASHRAE American society for heating, refrigerating and air-conditioning engineers
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32 DPCS Double pass collector system
33 EEC European economic community
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34 ISO International organisation for standard
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35 MSCS Multi-pass solar collector system
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36 OSDO Open sun drying operation
37 SDG Sustainable development goals

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38 SPCS Single pass collector system

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39 Nomenclature
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40 A Area, m2
41 a Acceleration, ms-2
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42 C 0 ,C1 ,.. Constants

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43 Ca Newton’s law constant

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44 CE Cost of electricity, US $
45 Cf Fabrication cost, US $
46 C fan Cost of running the system fan, US $
47 CJ Joule constant
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48 Csy Cost of system, US $
49 Cp Specific heat capacity, Jkg-1.K-1
50 CF Cash flow, US $
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51 CRF Capital recovery factor in reference to the lifespan of the MSCS
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52 E System energy, Js-1
53 E xg Rate of exergy, Js-1
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54 F External force, N
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55 fo Shape factor
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56 H Relative humidity, %
hc Convective heat transfer coefficient, Wm-2.K-1

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57
58 hr Radiative heat transfer coefficient, Wm-2.K-1

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59 hl Latent heat of vaporisation, Jkg-1

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60 Solar energy flux, Wm-2

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61 Thermal conductivity, Wm-1.K-1
62 l Characteristic length, m
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63 M Moisture, kg
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64 m Mass, kg
65 m& Air mass flow rate, kgs-1
66 Nc Number of chemical spices
67 Nu Nusselt number
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68 n& Unit vector
69 P Pressure, Pa
70 Pbk Payback period, years
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71 Pr Prandtl number
72 Re Reynolds number
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73 s Specific entropy, Jkg-1.K-1
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74 T Temperature, oC
t Time, s
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75 AN
76 U Uncertainty, %
77 u Internal energy, J
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78 V Volume, m3
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79 v Velocity, ms-1
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80 X 1 , X 2 ,.... Variables
81 x, y, z Distance, m
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82 Greek symbols
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83 α Absorbance
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84 ε Emissivity
85 ∈ Porosity
86 η Efficiency, %
87 θ Angle of absorber inclination, deg. (o)
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88 µ Chemical potential, Jkg-1
89 ρ Density, kgm-3
90 σ Stefan Boltzmann constant, Wm-2.K-4
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91 τ Transmittance
92 Ψ Total uncertainty, %
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93 Subscripts
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94 adbt Adiabatic saturation
95 cs Control surface
cv
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96 Control volume
97 d Day of the year (1, 2, 3, …..365/366)

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98 f0 Ambient air
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99 fj Exit air
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100 g Glass
101 j nth term

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102 mat Porous matrix

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103 op Operation
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104 p Solar collector plate
105 sy System
106 w Wind
107 0 Initial
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108
109 1. Introduction
110 Global warming is a serious problem that needs mitigation if the earth would be a safer place for
111 the unborn generations. European Commission has set “Europe 2020” as a strategy for sustainable
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112 growth to check this ugly trend. Recently, the United Nations has proposed sustainable
113 development goals (SDG) agenda as a means to check the effects of global warming. Immediate
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114 measure of reducing carbon content of the atmosphere is through utilisation of appliances
115 powered by renewable energy while the policy that favours clean energy would be a pragmatic
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116 and long term approach to achieving global environmental sustainability.
117 1.1 Solar drying systems
118
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Solar air heater has been reported as a sustainable appliance that is suitable for space heating and
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119 drying of many agricultural products at relatively low cost when compared to other conventional
120 energy sources such as hydrocarbon, electrical etc. [1] [2] [3]. Drying operation using the hot
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121 smoke of burning firewood to preserve fish and crop is common practice in many villages in Asia
122 and Africa [4]. Enormous amount of carbon is deposited into the environment through this
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123 process. Inaccessibility of sustainable drying appliances for medium and small scale farmers has
124 contributed to the rise in carbon emission from the agricultural sector.
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125 Drying of fruits and vegetable using solar energy gained by air entering the system through both
126 free and forced convective modes have been widely studied but farmers are still relying on the
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127 open sun drying operation due to the level of performance, lack of commercialisation,
128 inaccessibility and high initial cost of the existing solar dryers [2] [5]. Al-Jumily et al. [6] tested
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129 the thermal performance of a forced convective solar air dryer which consists of collector unit and
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130 the drying unit. They achieved a reduced drying time at an optimised air mass flow rate that is
131 sourced from air blower attached to the collector unit. Despite the initial high cost of forced
132 convective solar dryer, it remains the choice for commercial drying purpose.
133 1.2 Solar air collector system for drying
134 Banout et al. [7] designed a forced convective double pass solar collector system to dry chili at 3.6
135 kgm-2 loading density when the mean drying air temperature was 55oC. The double pass solar
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136 dryer was able to dry chili to 10% (wet basis) within 32 h while open sun drying operation
137 (OSDO) was completed after 73 h. Moreover, it produced quality products with 39% cut on
138 drying cost per unit mass of chili and a year reduction payback period when compared to a typical
139 cabinet solar dryer.
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140 Gulcimen et al. [8] developed a mathematical model to predict the operation of a forced
141 convective solar air heater used for drying sweet basil. The heater was made of finned solar
absorber which was operated under air mass flow rates of 0.012 kgs-1, 0.026 kgs-1 and 0.033 kgs-1
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142
143 to achieve collector efficiency range of 29%, 51% and 63%, respectively. In another investigation,
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144 a similar study was conducted in six different modes of arrangement in which the effects of
145 transparent covers, plane absorber, v-grooved absorber, front air stream pass and back pass were
146 tested. The model with air stream flow pass the upper surface of absorber with transparent cover
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147 was reported as the most efficient [1].
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148 Jain and Jain [9] developed a theoretical model of a fixed inclined flat plate multi-pass solar
149 collector for drying application. The system energy balance was analysed based on the
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150 assumptions that the system is perfectly sealed without thermal leakage, negligible heat capacity
151 for system materials and small thickness of absorber. In addition, they proposed a free convective
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152 multi-pass solar air heater that incorporates the performance enhancement units such as reflective
153 plane to increase energy gain through insolation and thermal energy storage for continuity of
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154 drying operation at sunset. It was discovered that the absorber size, angle of collector inclination
155 and grain location in the drying chamber affect the temperature of drying grain. At the daily solar
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156 peak of 1180 Wm-2 and air mass flow rate of 0.028 kgs-1, an average drying rate and grain
157 temperature of 1.8 kgh-1.m-2 and 62oC were obtained, respectively. The thermal energy storage
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158 and reflective mirror have improved the performance of the solar dryer. Although, the drying
159 efficiency of this system could be improved by forced convective mode. Hence, there would be
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160 adequate provision to reduce pressure drop experienced by hot air while flow passes the deep-bed
161 in the drying chamber at increase pumping cost.
162 1.3 Thermal performance of solar dryers
163 Leon et al. [10] presented a comprehensive assessment of solar air heaters that are used to
164 preserve agricultural products. They listed drying temperature, drying time, air mass flow rate,
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165 loading capacity of dryer, loading convenience, energy consumed by drying operation, quality of
166 dried product and payback period as common factors that affect the performance of any solar
167 drying system. Singh and Kumar [11] proposed dimensionless quantity called dryer performance
168 index to test solar drying systems that possessed similar features at both indoor and outdoor
169 experimental platforms using a generalised profile. The advantage of the proposed dimensionless
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170 quantity is that it does not require any feature of the product to be dried in its computation.
171 Furthermore, it was argued that the dryer performance index has been the most rational existing
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172 method of evaluating dryers. In another study, Altobellli et al. [12] presented beam solar
173 irradiation and ambient air as potential indicators of a solar dryer performance to establish solar
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174 drying index potentials. This was accomplished through measured environmental and system
175 parameters such as solar irradiance, humidity, air mass flow rate at 0.1 kgs-1, and solar aperture of
1.0 m2.
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176 AN
177 Fudholi et al. [13] conducted a thermal performance study of a double pass solar air heater that
178 was used to dry 0.4 kg of chili within 33 h of drying operation. The chili dryer was tested under
179 irradiance, drying air temperature, air mass flow rate and relative humidity of 104-820 Wm-2, 28-
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180 55oC, 0.13-2.36 kgs-1, and 18-74%, respectively to achieve thermal collector, pickup, drying and
181 exergy efficiencies of 28%, 45%, 13% and 57% correspondingly. Vijayan et al. [14] developed a
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182 mathematical model to describe the operation of a forced convective solar air collector system
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183 with sensible energy storage material. The collector system was used to reduce the moisture
184 content of bitter gourd from 92% to 9.0% (wet basis) in 7 h under an average daily irradiance,
185 optimum air mass flow rate, maximum value of absorber temperature of 715 Wm-2, 0.0636 kgs-1
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186 and 72.4oC, respectively. They stressed the consistency of the system thermal performance as the
187 contribution of energy storage unit. An overall thermal efficiency of 22% was attained while the
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188 drying efficiency of 19% and specific energy demand 4.44 kWh.kg-1 were achieved. Despite the
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189 achievement recorded in the aforementioned solar air heaters, there is still need for improvement
190 by the inclusion of thermal storage unit to extend the system drying operation, adjustable absorber
191 to optimise solar energy insolation, reduction of initial cost of solar air heaters, integration of both
192 the collector unit and the drying compartment.
193 Many dryers have been designed, constructed, tested, and reported. However, there is a dearth of
194 literature on a solar indirect air heater that specifically addressed the problem of drying screw-
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195 pine which has been a source of income to many small and medium scale farmers in the tropical
196 region. The objective of the present study is to investigate a solar air heating system with multi-
197 pass stream of hot air under a forced convective downward draft to dry screw-pine leaf.
198 Furthermore, the performance of the solar air heater in which the collector unit and the drying
199 compartment are integrated would be determined. Subsequent sections in this investigation are
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200 assumptions, modelling of the solar system, materials and methods, instrumentation with
201 specifications, experimental procedures, results, observations and conclusions.
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202
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203 2. Mathematical modelling of the air heater
204 The mathematical model of MSCS system accounts for the heat transfer between surface to
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205 surface of component parts and convective heat transfer between the components of the system
206 and the stream of air at a resident time. A transient state model has been developed based on the
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207 energy and exergy laws using the thermal library of SIMSCAPETM tool. SIMSCAPE version 3.13
208 (R2015a) of MATLAB has been used to simulate the system output based on the local
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209 meteorological data, system parameters and operational variables. The resolution of this tool is
210 based on the transient lumped element technique. Boundary conditions of the MSCS system are
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211 defined with some assumptions to simplify the mathematical computation. It is assumed that the
212 temperature of the system air is a function of location along the flow path and time. There is no
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213 difference in temperature between the inlet air and the surrounding air at the inlet point. The
214 moisture content and temperature of the product to be dried are uniform. Negligible heat energy
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215 losses at the outer edges except for the top transparent cover. The thickness of the absorber is
216 extremely small compared to other sides, therefore negligible temperature difference exists across
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217 the thickness of the absorber plate.

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218 2.1 Continuum Thermodynamics
219 The system operation as continuum thermodynamics phenomenon has been developed from
220 conservation of mass, momentum and energy principles. These are measured by the inflow and
221 outflow of the system air from the control volume . The system air moves under a defined
222 velocity in resident time . Therefore, the summation of macroscopic air could be
223 determined by Eq. (1).
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224 =
(1)
225 The rate of change of mass of air as it varies with time is given by Eq. (2) while Eq. (3) and
226 Eq. (4) represent mass and momentum conservation of system air [15] [16].
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227
=
=

228 (2)
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=
. +

229 (3)
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=
−

230 (4)
where is the external force while is the pressure on the stream of air.
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231
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232 The molecules of air interact with one another as they flow into the system. The air stream
233 experienced a driving force that translates to the momentum transfer along the flow path. In
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234 addition, the air mass flow rate of a forced convective dryer is enhanced by an air fan attached to
235 the system.
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236 2.2 Dimensionless quantities and correlations

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237 MSCS has been operated in the range of laminar and turbulent regimes as forced convective
238 modes. The dimensionless correlations for system have been described by Eq. (5) [17] and Eq. (6)
[18] to determine Nusselt number for laminar flow !" ≤ 2300 and turbulent flow
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239
240 !" ≥ 2300, respectively.
= 0.0158!" +.,
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241 (5)
8.9
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4
+.+-+-./0123 67
= + 4.9
45
=.>
4
(6)
:;+.+<+<12=.8> ./0123 67
242
45
where 3A 6 is the ratio of characteristic length to the length of absorber plate.

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5
243
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244 In order to model the heat energy flux around the outer cover, the correlation in Eq. (7) has
245 been used to determine the convective heat transfer coefficient induced by surrounding wind
246 ℎC . However, in order to apply this correlation, the wind velocity C must be less or equal to
247 5 m/s [19].
ℎC = 8.55 + 2.56C
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248 (7)
249 The sky temperature as a function of ambient temperature for any flat plate solar air heating
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250 collector system is given by the relationship in Eq. (8) [20]
E F = EG+ − 6H I
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251 (8)
252
Convection heat transfer coefficient is defined by the absorber thermal conductivity and
253
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the characteristic length JK L with respect to the flow distance covered by air stream along the
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254
255 collector plate. The transparent cover and absorber forced convective heat transfer coefficients can
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256 be determined using Eq. (9) [21].
ℎ = .J2.92 + 0.00181!" L"NO 3 6 + J0.0158!"+., L7

F P+.+QR<ST
AM AM
257 (9)
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where K is the characteristic length, N is the distance travelled by the fluid from inlet of the
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258
259 MSCS and U is the nth element under consideration.
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260 Radiative heat transfer coefficient between the glasses has been computed by the Eq. (10) [22]
9 PW 9 LJW PW L
VJWX9
ℎ2 =
X8 X9 X8
8 8
C
. ; P:7
261 (10)
YX8 YX9
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262 where Z[: and Z[\ are the emissivity of first glass cover and second glass cover, respectively.
263 2.3 Computation of Inclination Measures
264 Collector inclination was determined using a method proposed by Bari [23] to estimate the
265 collector orientation and optimum tilt angle of an absorber as given in Eq. (11).
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I+ \ − : + \\ − :\ + \Q − :Q +
\b − :b
`8 `9 `a
]9P8 = ^_ \ Q b
fg\ − : h (11)
+ Sc \S − :S + -d \- − :- + Re \R − :R
266 ` ` `
267 where ] is the angle of tilt, \ − : is the range between two different days of the year under
consideration (1,2, 3, ….., 365 or 366) and I+ , I: , IQ , …, I- are constants.
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268
269 The solar irradiance data was collected with horizontally fixed pyranometer. This is done
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270 to avoid inaccuracy that ground reflection of solar radiation may introduce. However, the value of
271 irradiance collected from horizontally positioned pyranometer is converted to the value received
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272 by the inclined absorber using Eq. (12) [18].
iA0 = jH2ikHlmA n p
:;H o
\
273 (12)
274 2.4 Energy balance for MSCS first transparent glass

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275 Multi-pass solar collector thermal balance around the first transparent cover q1 has been
276 determined by Eq. (13) as proposed [20].
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277
= ℎ2[:P F JE[: − E F L + ℎ[:PG+ JE[: − EG+ L + ℎ[:PG: JE[: − EG: L +
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278
279 ℎ2[:P[\ JE[: − E[\ L (13)

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280 Evaluation of surface to surface radiation energy and the convective heat transfer of second
281 transparent glass cover q2, solar absorber O, and porous matrix r have been determined
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282 by the relationships in Eq. (14), Eq. (15) and Eq. (16), respectively.
s[: t[\ = uℎ[\PG: JE[\ − EG: L + ℎ[\PG\ JE[\ − EG\ L + ℎ2[\Pv JE[\ − Ev L +
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283
284 ℎ2[\P[: JE[\ − E[: Lw[\ (14)

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285
286 s[: s[\ tv = uℎ2vP[\ JEv − E[\ L + ℎ2vPxm JEv − Exm L + ℎvPG\ JEv − EG\ L +
287 ℎvPGQ JEv − EGQ Lwv (15)
288
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1 − yxm JIv L = v ℎ2vPxm JEv − Ex L + xm ℎGPxm JEG − Exm L (16)
Wz{|
xm
289
290 The enthalpy in the air stream has been determined by the product of the air mass flow rate,
291 specific heat capacity and temperature gradient contributed by q1, q2, O and r are given in
292 order by Eq. (17), Eq. (18), Eq. (19) and Eq. (20)
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JW}8 PW}= L
293 Iv
= uℎ[:PG: JE[: − EG: L + ℎ[:PG: JE[\ − EG: Lw[: (17)
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294
JW}9 PW}8 L
Iv = uℎ[\PG\ JE[\ − EG\ L + ℎvPG\ JEv − EG\ Lw[\
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295 (18)
296
Iv
JW}~ PW}9 L
U
= uℎvPGQ JEv − EGQ L + ℎxmPGQ JExm − EGQ Lwv
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297 (19)
298
M
z{| jz{|}M
= JExm − EG L
W
T/kz{| J`5 xL
299
}
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300 (20)
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301 2.5 Performance of MSCS
302 Thermal efficiency

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303 Solar collector efficiency has been computed as the ratio of the energy transferred into the stream
304 of flowing air to the energy harvested by the collector through insolation. This is depicted in Eq.
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305 (21) [8].

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x`5 JW}M PW}= L

v =
5
306 (21)
307 The overall exergy performance of the system has been determined by applying exergy law of
308 thermodynamics as stated in Eq. (22) [24]
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309 T[ =
− + −E+ + +
− + − + + = − + +
9 m 1

\m` `{ `
`
310
l02lmA 0l02[ lj2Hv
il0i 1H0limA CH2F
+ + + 3E − E+ − 4E+ E +

∑ − + + ⋯
b b Q
311 (22)
/mimiHl `j0ximA
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312 However, the Eq. (22) can be simplified by considering the relevant variables to the MSCS to
313 form simplified Eq. (23) [25].
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314
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T[ = Iv nE − E+ − E+ K p
W
W=
315 (23)
The exergy efficiency is the ratio of change in exergy to the exergy in flow JT[,+ L. The
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316
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317 extension of Eq. (23) has been used to determine the exergy efficiency for MSCS facility that is
318 based on drying application is given by Eq. (24) [26].
T[ % =
X,= PX,M
100%
M
X,=
319 (24)
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320 The drying efficiency of MSCS has been computed as the ratio of the latent heat of
321 vaporisation ℎA of moisture content to the summation of input energy to the system as shown in
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322 the relationship stated in Eq. (25).
323
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2il[ =
xj4
}{ ;5
324 (25)
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325
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326 System pickup performance efficiency is the ratio of the actual amount of moisture taken from
327 the drying material to theoretical amount of moisture the air can absorb. This has been determined
328 by applying Eq. (26).
M P=
viFv =
{| P=
329 (26)
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330 Uncertainty propagation of the equipment, devices and sensors has been determined. This is to
331 estimate the error incurred during the process of measuring the required data. Elkhadraoui et al.
332 [27] employed Eq. (27) to assess the total uncertainty in a study on drying of vegetable and it has
333 been used to analyse the accumulated error Ψ in the measurement of MSCS system variables
334 U such as solar irradiance, air mass flow rate and temperature. Evaluation of the accumulated
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335 error was conducted in line with relevant international standards.
Ψ¢\ = n p Ψ£\8 + n p Ψ£\9 + ⋯ + 3 6 Ψ£\M

¢ ¢ ¢
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£8 £9 £M
336 (27)
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337 2.6 Economics of MSCS
338 Techno-economic analysis has been used to study profitability, investment potential and the
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339 risk associated with the investment on the MSCS. This has been carried out by using economic
340 indices such as system total cost, net cash flow generated by the MSCS and simplified cost
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341 analysis to estimate the system payback period.
The cost of running the fan JIGml L attached to the system has been determined by Eq. (28)
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342
343 while the total cost of the MSCS JI L has been evaluated by computing the annual cost of
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344 running the fan and cost of system fabrication as given in Eq. (29).
IGml = I JHv L ¤ ¥
1x
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345 (28)
346 where I is the cost of electricity and Hv is the operation time.
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347
I = I!, uIGml + IG w
C
348 (29)
where I!, is the capital recovery factor with respect to lifespan of dryer and fabrication
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349
350 cost IG
351 The amount of energy gained by MSCS J[mil L is a relevant factor that indicates the rate of
352 drying which has corresponding influence on the cash flow. Therefore, energy gained in a
353 specified period of running the system is determined by the relationship in Eq. (30)
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354 [mil = JIv LJHv LJEG − EG+ L (30)
355 The payback period ¦F is the breakeven point at which the cost of investment on MSCS is
356 recovered. It has been computed as the ratio of total cost of MSCS to the net cash flow I
357 given by Eq. (31).
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`§¨
¦F = ∑
`©
358 (31)
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359 3. Materials and methods
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360 Screw-pine plant is available in abundant in most farm plantations in tropical region. Many
361 villagers in Southeast Asia and Africa depend on the screw-pine leaf for their hand weaving
362 products as a source of income. Percentage of people empowered by screw-pine crafts has been
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363 recognised in tropical countries such as Malaysia which made the government establish the
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364 Malaysian Handicraft Development Corporation attached to the Ministry of Tourism and Culture.
365 The screw-pine product has attracted both local and international tourists. A typical sample of the
366 fresh screw-pine leaf used for testing the MSCS was collected from the Mengkuang Handicraft
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367 Centre in Bota Lampor Kiri, Perak Malaysia.

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368 3.1 Processing of screw-pine

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369 The screw-pine leaf was processed by removing the thorn at the margin. The leaf midrib was also
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370 cut off from the useful part. In addition, the left over fresh leaf was cut into equal length and
371 width of 1.6 m and 9 mm, respectively. Although the choice of size for fresh leaf is not fixed but
372 depends on the product to be crafted. Traditional means of processing the screw-pine leaf starts
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373 with preheating of the cut leaf. This required burning of biomass as energy source. Therefore,
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374 soften of the leaf through preheating contributes to carbon content of the environment. However,
375 the proposed MSCS has eliminated the burning of biomass by preloading of screw-pine into the
376 system for a period of 30 min after the leaf has been cut to the required size. Subsequently, the
377 leaf was soaked in water for 24 h before the commencement of the drying operation. The soaking
378 was conducted to improve the softness and toughness of the leaf.
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379 3.2 Instrumentation and specifications
380 This investigation was conducted with latest instruments and equipment which were calibrated
381 not earlier than three months before the facility was tested. They are characterised by high
precision and accuracy in conformity with the ISO standard and European Economic Community
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382
383 (EEC) regulations. The principal equipment used for the present study are depicted in Table 1.
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384 Table 1. Equipment specifications
SC
Equipment Model / Service Specification Quantity
Manufacturer
U
Pyranometer CMP 11 / Kipp and Solar energy flux It has ±1.3% 1 piece
AN
-2
Zonen density in Wm uncertainty, sensitivity
of 7-14 µV.W-1m2, and
aperture of 180o.
M
Anemometer TAT420 / It measures the It has accuracy of 1 piece

Miltronics velocity of the ±1%, response time is
D
system working with 2 s. The

-1
fluid in ms . instrument can
TE
withstand 100oC.
Hygrometer Sensor TTH-1315 / Texas It quantifies amount It exhibits an accuracy 1 piece

EP
Electronics Inc. of water vapour of ±1.5% and its

present in air in %. repeatability is better
than 0.5%
C
Ambient TTH-1315 / Texas It measures Accuracy of ±0.3oC 1 piece

AC
Temperature Sensor Electronics Inc. environmental air and it displays better

temperature in oC. precision than 0.1oC.
Temperature sensors PT 100 (four wired Measurement of It senses temperature 20 pieces

o
configuration) system temperature to the ±0.001 C
in form of solid, and
17
ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
fluid (air) in oC. accuracy.
Data Logger DT80LM3-3 / Records all the The highest allowable 1 piece
Thermo Fisher system error was ±0.02%.
Scientific meteorological and Data were collected at
PT
system data in excel interval of 30 s and
file can be retrieved online
or through pen drive.
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385
SC
386 3.3 Experimental setup and procedures
387
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The experimental setup was tested in Solar Research Site, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS,
AN
388 Malaysia. Ambient air enters into the system through the inlet point between the low iron
389 transparent glass covers. Subsequently, the air stream flow to the upper and lower surfaces of the
M
390 rotatable inclined absorber facing South hemisphere. Porous matrix deck and drying cabinet are
391 placed directly beneath the system absorber. Granite sample was used as porous matrix based on
D
392 its thermal storage capacity, cost and availability. Preceding investigation on granite as energy
393 storage medium has been reported [28]. The air stream experienced a downward draft from the
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394 centrifugal exhaust fan fixed at the bottom of the drying decks. The fan has automatic control
395 switch that regulates its operation. Fan operation depends on the prevailing condition of ambient
EP
396 temperature and the relative humidity of the MSCS facility location. It switched off when the
397 temperature or humidity condition is not suitable for drying operation. Drying kinetics heavily
398 depended on the solar energy irradiation, air mass flow rate and contribution of the porous matrix
C
399 as sensible energy storage. Air mass flow rate range of 0.010-0.032 kgs-1 was explored but the
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400 MSCS performed best when the air mass flow rate of 0.028 kgs-1 was used.
401 The system absorber was exposed to solar energy irradiance during the repeated full-scale
402 experimental procedures that were conducted within four consecutive months. The collector unit
403 and the drying chamber are integrated together in the design of MSCS. This unified format
404 required no traditional back insulation plate as the heat flow directly into the drying decks.
405 Instantaneous mass measurement of screw-pine was carried out at fixed time interval with a
18
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406 digital mass balance. The drying kinetics of the screw-pine has been assessed by the changes that
407 take place on the mass of screw-pine as a result of change in temperature of air. The experimental
408 procedure is completed when there is no further reduction in mass of the drying product. In
409 addition, the overall dried moisture content range of 67.9-70.5% was removed from the initial
410 mass of screw-pine during repeated drying operations. The dryer system setup is shown in Fig. 1
PT
411 with data logger box hanging on a pole that anchors meteorological sensors. Table 2 shows values
412 of the relevant parameters and variables used.
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413
SC
L
P
W A
U H D
AN
T
T
Glass-1 T
M
T
T Glass-2
Flow meter
Collector T
Data Logger
D
T
Inlet air T Box
T
Matrix
TE
T T
Deck-1 Screw-pine
Rock wool T T
EP
Deck-2 Screw-pine
T T
Deck-3 Screw-pine
C
T T
Weather
Deck-4 Screw-pine sensors pole
AC
T T
H
F
T- Temperature, P-Pyranometer, W-Wind speed, D-Wind direction, H-Relative

humidity, L- Lighting arrestor and A- Ambient temperature
414 A-Ambient temperature, F-Exhaust fan, L-Lighting arrestor
415 Fig. 1. Schematic cross-sectional diagram of the MSCS.
19
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416
417 Table 2. Relevant Parameters and Variables
Quantity Symbol Unit Value
PT
Collector aperture ª« m2 1.65
RI
Characteristic length (inlet) m 0.09
Air mass flow rate kgs-1 0.032
SC
Daily mean relative humidity ® % 79.41
Daily mean air temperature EG+ o

C 30.38
Daily mean speed of

Umi2
AN
ms-1 1.06
surrounding air
Density of Air kgm-3 1.101

M
Daily mean energy flux Wm-2 412.60
Iv
D
Specific heat capacity of air Jkg-1.K-1 1005

TE
Latent heat of evaporation Jkg-1 2257

ℎA
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418
419 3.4 Experimental error analysis

C
AC
420 Uncertainty and error in any measurement may be due to inappropriate selection of instrument,
421 calibration deficiency, improper reading, environmental effects and usage of an instrument
422 beyond the recommended limit. Errors attributed to the measured quantities in the present study
423 have been investigated. Temperature measurement has contributed 3.75% inaccuracy while the
424 error of 1.7% was incurred from solar insolation measurement. Furthermore, the errors of the
425 system air mass flow rate, measurement of the mass of the product and relative humidity have
20
ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
426 been evaluated to be 1.04%, 2.5% and 1.54%, respectively. However, propagation of all errors
427 has accumulated to 4.8%.
428 4 Results and observations
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429 Drying of screw-pine leaf was effectively done within 28 h by using MSCS while open sun
430 drying operation (OSDO) that was conducted simultaneously in the same location took 53 h to
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431 complete with poor colour retention due to direct ultra violet radiation and rehydration at night.
432 However, the MSCS and OSDO were exposed to solar energy flux for periods of 14 h and 25 h,
SC
433 respectively. The South facing solar absorber was inclined at an optimised angle using
434 mathematical model proposed by Bari [23] for Malaysia and tropical solar air heating appliances.
435 Rate of drying of any agricultural product largely depends on the solar insolation, ambient
436
U
temperature and relative humidity of the drying location. Fig. 2 shows the profile of weather
AN
437 situation around the experimental facility. Prevailing average value of solar irradiance, ambient
438 temperature JEG+ L and relative humidity when the sun was at the daily zenith point were 960 Wm-
2
, 35oC and 42%, respectively. The irradiance recorded is similar to the one reported by Vijayan et
M
439
440 al. [14]. However, their investigation is limited to a daylight period of 10 h. The mass of screw-
D
441 pine leaf sample for investigation was dried and reduced to 22.36% (wet basis).
TE
1200
Irradiance Tf0 Humidity I (Vijayan) 100
Temp. [oC] / R. Humidity [%]
1000 90
Solar irradiance [Wm-2]
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800 80
70
600
C
60
400
50
AC
200 40
30
0
20
0 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44 48 52 56 60 64 68 72
442 Time [h]
21
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443 Fig. 2. Profile of meteorological condition of the experimental setup location and solar
444 irradiance used by Vijayan et al. [14].
445 The driving force of drying operation is the system temperature especially the temperature of
446 the solar absorber. At the daily solar noon period of the present study, the absorber temperature of
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447 80.29oC was recorded while the first glass, second glass and porous matrix were 58.78oC, 68.33oC
448 and 56.46oC, respectively. Fig. 3 shows the temperature profile of system constituent and the
RI
449 absorber temperature of a reported solar air heater that enjoyed similar irradiation [14].
450 The system temperature determines the degree of hotness of stream of air that exit the collector
SC
451 unit. Fig. 4 shows the temperature pattern of hot air from the single pass collector system (SPCS),
452 DPCS and MSCS with mean daily temperature of 48.52oC, 57.74oC and 71.18oC, respectively. It
U
453 was observed that the DPCS has achieved an efficiency range of 28-34% over the SPCS, while
454 MSCS has shown an improvement range of 22-26% performance efficiency over the DPCS. The
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455 transient simulation of hot air generated by SPSC, DPSC, MSCS and ambient temperature JEG+ L
456 is displayed on the temperature versus time curve in Fig. 5. The SIMSCAPE simulation has been
M
457 run for 10 h. The system parameters, weather data and operational variables have been used as
458 input. The daily peak simulated temperature of ambient, SPSC, DPSC and MSCS are 36.17oC,
D
459 47.59oC, 58.49oC and 74.59oC, respectively.

TE
80 T (g1)
T (g2)
T (p)
70
EP
T (mat)
Temperature [oC]
Tf0
60
T (Vijayan)
C
50
AC
40
30
20
0 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44 48
460 Time [h]
22
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461 Fig. 3. Temperature of MSCS components vs. time graph in comparison with reported
462 absorber temperature [14].
463
PT
SPCS
70
DPCS
MSCS
Tf0
RI
60
Temperature [oC]
50
SC
40
30
U
AN
20
0 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44 48
M
Time [h]
464
465 Fig. 4. Temperature vs time graph of SPCS, DPCS and MSCS modes under outdoor test
D
466 conditions
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467
C EP
AC
23
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80
SPSC
70 DPSC
Simulated temperature [oC]

MSCS
Tf0
60
50
PT
40
RI
30
20
SC
10
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Time [h]
U
468 AN
469 Fig. 5. Simulated temperature vs. time graph of SPCS, DPCS and MSCS modes between 8:00
470 h and 18:00 h of the daylight period.
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471 Temperature difference between the hot air generated by the system and the ambient
472 temperature is an important factor that determines the performance efficiency of collectors of the
D
473 same size that are exposed to the same solar irradiance. The transient performance efficiency of
474 SPSC, DPSC and MSCS varies with variation in the quantity of insolation harnessed by the
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475 system. The profile of efficiency ratio against time of the systems is presented in Fig. 6. It was
476 observed that the efficiency profile of the systems is not stable throughout the solar hours (9:00 h-
EP
477 17:00 h). This was due to the fluctuation in value of insolation captured by the system aperture.
478 The efficiency of both SPSC and DPSC have gradually dropped at the sunset while MSCS was
479 still progressing because of discharged energy stored in porous media.
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AC
24
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0.9
η (MSCS)
0.8
η (DPSC)
Performance efficiency ratio

0.7 η (SPSC)
0.6
0.5
PT
0.4
0.3
RI
0.2
0.1
SC
0.0
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
Time [h]
U
480 AN
481 Fig. 6. Transient thermal collector efficiency of SPSC, DPSC and MSCS tested under the same
482 irradiance and ambient temperature.
M
483 The temperature of the drying decks was evenly distributed throughout the drying operation. A
484 temperature difference of less than 2oC existed among the drying decks (Fig. 7). In addition, the
average deck temperature range of 3-11oC higher than the ambient temperature at the night due to
D
485
486 energy discharge by the porous matrix.
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55 T (Deck-4)
T (Deck-3)
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50 T (Deck-2)
T (Deck-1)
Temperature [oC]
45 Tf0
C
40
AC
35
30
25
20
0 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44 48
487 Time [h]
25
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488 Fig. 7. Transient decks and ambient temperature profile
489 The instantaneous drying kinetic of the screw-pine using both MSCS and OSDO is presented
490 in Fig. 8. The moisture removal of dried material reached equilibrium with surrounding after the
491 constant drying rate period and the falling drying rate period which occurred between 0-12 h
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492 while the fall drying rate period was taken place in the last 16 h of the operation.
2400
RI
MSCSDeck-4
2200
MSCSDeck-3
2000
MSCSDeck-2
Mass of screw-pine [g]
SC
1800 MSCSDeck-1
1600 OSDO
1400
U
1200
AN
1000
800
600
Day-1
M
400 Day-2
Day-3
8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44 48 52 56 60 64 68
D
493 Time [h]

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494 Fig. 8. Transient mass of screw-pine vs. time profile for comparing of MSCS and OSDO
495 processes.
EP
496 Rate of drying of screw-pine has gradually reduced as the drying operation progressed (Fig. 9).
497 The curve shows the rehydration points at the two nights witnessed when OSDO was used. The
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498 amount of atmospheric moisture added into the drying product represent the negative trend of the
499 curve. Optimum moisture removal rate achieved during the drying operation of MSCS for day-1
AC
500 and day-2 are 229 kgh-1 and 61 kgh-1, respectively.
26
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250
MSCSDeck-4
200 MSCSDeck-3
MSCSDeck-2
Moisture removal [g] MSCSDeck-1
150
OSDO
PT
100
RI
50
SC
Rehydration
8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44 48 52 56 60 64 68
Time [h]
U
501 AN
502 Fig. 9. Moisture removal vs. time curve for screw-pine
503
M
504 Thermal collector efficiency

D
505 The instantaneous thermal collector efficiency of the MSCS has been determined as the ratio
506 of the enthalpy gained by the air stream between the inlet point of the system and the exit of the
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507 collector unit to the heat energy gained through the insolation that is available to the system (Eq.
508 21). The daily average transient energy achieved by using MSCS was 58.73%. This has shown an
EP
509 improvement over reported solar dryer that is assisted by sensible energy storage material [14].
510 The profile of the thermal, pickup, drying and exergy efficiencies of MSCS is presented in Fig.
511 10.
C
AC
512
27
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Thermal efficiency
Irradiance Pickup efficiency
Inlet temp. Drying efficiency
Outlet temp. Exergy efficiency
1200 80 0.8
0.7
1000 70
PT
0.6
Temperature [oC]
800
Efficiency ratio
60 0.5
RI
600 0.4
50
0.3
400
40
SC
0.2
200 0.1
30
0 0.0
U
20
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Time [h]
AN
513
514 Fig. 10. Clear day profile of MSCS performance, solar irradiance and temperature against
515 drying time
M
516
D
517 Exergy efficiency

TE
518 The concept of exergy efficiency has been used to evaluate the degree of efficient thermal
519 consumption in the course of system operation. In other words, exergy efficiency has been used to
EP
520 measure the optimisation of entropy change between the system and the environment (Eq. 24).
521 Exergy efficiency range from 27.23% to a maximum value of 86.82% was achieved using MSCS.
C
522 Pickup efficiency

AC
523 Moisture pickup efficiency has been estimated as a ratio of the actual moisture removal from a
524 drying product by the hot air produced by MSCS to the theoretical ability of air to remove
525 moisture. A pickup efficiency of 66.95% was recorded during the drying operation.
526 Drying efficiency and Porous matrix contribution
28
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527 Drying efficiency is a ratio of the energy required to vaporise the moisture content of a drying
528 product to the energy supplied to the drying decks by the MSCS. The drying efficiency of 36.04%
529 has been attained in the present study. A cloudy day performance of MSCS was analysed during
530 the period of investigation and it is presented in Fig. 11.
PT
Thermal efficiency
Irradiance
Pickup efficiency
Inlet temp.
Drying efficiency
Outlet temp.
RI
Exergy efficiency
700 0.9
55
0.8
600
SC
50 0.7
500
Temperature [oC]
Efficiency ratio
0.6
45
400 0.5
U
40
300 0.4
0.3
AN
200 35
0.2
100 30
0.1
0 25
M
0.0
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
531 Time [h]

D
532 Fig. 11. Graph of a cloudy day indicating the performance of MSCS performance
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533 Granite material was used as porous matrix which has extended the period of drying operation
534 and prevent absorption of moisture by the drying product at night. Porous matrix has enhanced the
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535 system drying performance for a range of 5-8%.
536 System economic evaluation

C
Economic analysis of the system has been accomplished by using economic variables such as
AC
537
538 system fabrication cost, interest rate, net worth, and running cost of the system to determine the
539 overall cost of the system. Cash inflow was predicted based on the amount of enthalpy gained by
540 the stream of air that exit the collector unit to the drying deck. MSCS as good investment with a
541 payback period of 0.75 year. This outcome has shown the MSCS as a cheap and low-risk
542 investment project that would be affordable to small and medium scale farmers in developing
543 countries.
29
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544 5 Conclusions
545 The performance efficiencies of multi-pass solar collector have been investigated. Integration
546 of solar collector unit and drying cabinet has been done to achieve MSCS. Repeated full-scale
547 tests of MSCS for drying purpose have been conducted. Screw-pine has been dried within 28 h
PT
548 and its moisture content has been reduced from 74.5% to 4%. The study has achieved an average
549 thermal collector, pickup, drying and exergy efficiencies of 58.73%, 66.95%, 36.04% and 27.23-
RI
550 86.82%, respectively. In addition, the system operation has been extended with the help of porous
551 matrix that has enhanced the system performance by a range of 5-8%. The performance
SC
552 efficiencies obtained are similar in trend with reported work [29]. Techno-economy of multi-pass
553 collector system has shown its relevance to small and medium scale farmers based on local
554 content recommended [30]. The economic analysis of the system has indicated MSCS as a low-
U
555 risk project with a payback period of 0.75 year. The system has successfully eliminated the
AN
556 burning stage of processing the screw-pine through traditional drying method. This study is open
557 to further study on enhancement of the thermal energy saving capacity.
M
558 6 Acknowledgement
559 The authors seize this medium to appreciate the facilities provided at the Solar Energy
D
560 Research Institute, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia for preliminary laboratory analysis of this
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561 investigation and the financial support received from Yayasan Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS
562 through the cost center: YUTP 015 3AA A93. Similarly, the authors are indebted to the screw-
563 pine sample collected at no cost from the Head, Handcraft Women Association of Kampung Bota
EP
564 Lampor Kiri, Perak Malaysia.
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Highlights
• Thermal performance of MSCS has been tested through drying of screw-pine
• Integration of collector unit and drying cabinet has exposed the drying product to
direct hot air from the absorber and porous matrix.
• Drying kinetics of screw-pine have been determined and compared with open sun
PT
drying approach
• The MSCS has been designed for small and medium scale farmers in the tropical
RI
region
U SC
AN
M
D
TE
C EP
AC

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M.W. Kareem, Khairul Habib, K. Sopian, M.H. Ruslan

To appear in: Renewable Energy

Received Date: 6 December 2016

3 M.W. Kareem1, Khairul Habib2, K. Sopian3,* and M.H. Ruslan4

5 32610 Seri Iskandar, Perak, Malaysia

8 Corresponding author, E-mail address: ksopian@ukm.edu.my

29 Keyword: Screw-pine; Multi-pass; Solar collector; Drying; Performance; Payback period

33 EEC European economic community

37 SDG Sustainable development goals

38 SPCS Single pass collector system

42 C 0 ,C1 ,.. Constants

43 Ca Newton’s law constant

46 C fan Cost of running the system fan, US $

48 Csy Cost of system, US $

49 Cp Specific heat capacity, Jkg-1.K-1

53 E xg Rate of exergy, Js-1

hc Convective heat transfer coefficient, Wm-2.K-1

58 hr Radiative heat transfer coefficient, Wm-2.K-1

59 hl Latent heat of vaporisation, Jkg-1

60 Solar energy flux, Wm-2

61 Thermal conductivity, Wm-1.K-1

65 m& Air mass flow rate, kgs-1

66 Nc Number of chemical spices

68 n& Unit vector

70 Pbk Payback period, years

87 θ Angle of absorber inclination, deg. (o)

88 µ Chemical potential, Jkg-1

90 σ Stefan Boltzmann constant, Wm-2.K-4

97 d Day of the year (1, 2, 3, …..365/366)

101 j nth term

102 mat Porous matrix

104 p Solar collector plate

117 1.1 Solar drying systems

133 1.2 Solar air collector system for drying

162 1.3 Thermal performance of solar dryers

217 the thickness of the absorber plate.

218 2.1 Continuum Thermodynamics

236 2.2 Dimensionless quantities and correlations

where 3A 6 is the ratio of characteristic length to the length of absorber plate.

256 be determined using Eq. (9) [21].

ℎ = .J2.92 + 0.00181!" L"NO 3 6 + J0.0158!"+., L7

263 2.3 Computation of Inclination Measures

274 2.4 Energy balance for MSCS first transparent glass

279 ℎ2[:P[\ JE[: − E[\ L (13)

284 ℎ2[\P[: JE[\ − E[: Lw[\ (14)

301 2.5 Performance of MSCS

302 Thermal efficiency

305 (21) [8].

x`5 JW}M PW}= L

+ + + 3E − E+ − 4E+ E  + 

322 the relationship stated in Eq. (25).

Ψ¢\ = n p Ψ£\8 + n p Ψ£\9 + ⋯ + 3 6 Ψ£\M

354 [mil = JIv LJHv LJEG − EG+ L (30)

367 Centre in Bota Lampor Kiri, Perak Malaysia.

368 3.1 Processing of screw-pine

379 3.2 Instrumentation and specifications

Anemometer TAT420 / It measures the It has accuracy of 1 piece

system working with 2 s. The

Hygrometer Sensor TTH-1315 / Texas It quantifies amount It exhibits an accuracy 1 piece

Electronics Inc. of water vapour of ±1.5% and its

Ambient TTH-1315 / Texas It measures Accuracy of ±0.3oC 1 piece

Temperature Sensor Electronics Inc. environmental air and it displays better

ℎ = .J2.92 + 0.00181!" L"NO 3 6 + J0.0158!"+., L7

279 ℎ2[:P[\ JE[: − E[\ L (13)

284 ℎ2[\P[: JE[\ − E[: Lw[\ (14)

x`5 JW}M PW}= L

+ + + 3E − E+ − 4E+ E +

354 [mil = JIv LJHv LJEG − EG+ L (30)

Air mass flow rate kgs-1 0.032