Accepted Manuscript

Solar PV powered mixed-mode tunnel dryer for drying potato chips

Mohamed A. Eltawil, Mostafa M. Azam, Abdulrahman O. Alghannam

PII: S0960-1481(17)30968-0

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2017.10.007

Reference: RENE 9295

To appear in: Renewable Energy

Received Date: 17 November 2016

Revised Date: 09 August 2017

Accepted Date: 02 October 2017

Please cite this article as: Mohamed A. Eltawil, Mostafa M. Azam, Abdulrahman O. Alghannam,
Solar PV powered mixed-mode tunnel dryer for drying potato chips, Renewable Energy (2017), doi:
10.1016/j.renene.2017.10.007

This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to
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 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

Highlights
 Solar PV powered mixed mode solar tunnel for drying potato chips.
 Effect of using and without using black thermal curtain above potato chips.
 Verification of different drying models for potato chips.
 Effect of different pretreatments and drying conditions on potato chips.
 Enhancing quality and safety of potato chips by solar PV powered tunnel dryer.
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1 Solar PV powered mixed-mode tunnel dryer for drying potato chips

2 Mohamed A. Eltawil1,3; Mostafa M. Azam1,4 and Abdulrahman O. Alghannam2

1Department of Agriculture Systems Engineering, College of Agricultural and Food Sciences, King Faisal
University, P.O.Box 420 Al-Hofuf, Al-Ahsa, 31982, Saudi Arabia.
3 2 Bio-Environmental Engineering, Natural Resources and Environmental Research Institute, King Abdulaziz City for
4 Science and Technology, Saudi Arabia.
3Agriculture Engineering Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Kafrelsheikh University, Kafr ElSheikh Egypt.

4Agriculture Engineering Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Minoufiya University, Shibin El-Kom, Egypt.

5 Abstract: Solar PV system powered mixed-mode solar tunnel dryer (STD) for drying potato chips
6 was studied. The STD was equipped with axial dc fan and flat plate solar air collector to enhance
7 the thermal performance by maintaining a reasonable high temperature inside the drying chamber.
8 The STD performance was evaluated without load and with load; and without and with using
9 thermal curtain above potato slices during sunny days. Different airflow rates (2.1, 3.12 and 4.18
10 m3/min) and pre-treatments for potato slices were investigated. The PV powered STD exhibited
11 the ability to produce chips with safe moisture level within 6 and 7 h for without and with using
12 thermal curtain, respectively at airflow rate of 3.12 m3/min. The frying time of potato chips was
13 shortened to be only 15 s. The best chips color was achieved with 1% sodium meta-bi-sulphite
14 with using black thermal curtain above slices. Predicted and experimental moisture ratio of chips
15 using developed STD were compared through several thin-layer drying models. The highest drying
16 efficiency of 28.49 and 34.29% was recorded at airflow of 0.0786 kg/s in case of without and with
17 using thermal curtain, respectively. The developed STD provides chips in good quality and suitable
18 for rural areas.

19
20 Keywords: drying efficiency, drying tunnel, modeling, photovoltaic system, potato chips, solar
21 air collector.
22
23
24 1. Introduction
25 Drying of agricultural food products by solar energy is cost-effective application. Industrial
26 drying consumes large quantities of traditional fuels for providing hot air. Solar dryer is a simple
27 and cheap device, run by renewable solar energy. Solar dryer has a significant potential in the
28 agricultural sector, where it used for drying vegetables, fruits and medicinal plants. Thereby
29 minimize dependency on sun drying and industrial drying, hence save huge quantities of fossil
30 fuels [1].

31

1Corresponding author: E-mail: meltawil@kfu.edu.sa; Mohamed.eltawil@agr.kfs.edu.eg (M.A. Eltawil). Tel.:

+966558956094; fax: +966 135801778.
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32 Nomenclature
STD solar tunnel dryer
Acoll the solar collector area, m2
Adryer STD area, m2
APV area of solar module, m2
Cpa air specific heat, J/kg. °C
D the moisture dependent diffusivity, m2/s
dM/dt drying rate of potato slices at any time of drying, kg water/ kg dry matter. h
DR drying rate of potato slices, kg water/ kg dry matter. h
Efan dc fan energy consumption, MJ
Einput.coll. insolation input on the collector, MJ
Einput.dryer incident solar energy on the STD, MJ
Inscoll(t) the insolation on the collector at time t, W/m2
Inshor(t) insolation on the horizontal surface at time t, W/m2
Imax maximum PV current (A) for power
InsPV insolation in the same plane of PV module, W/m2
Isc current of short circuit, A
k drying constant, 1/s
Lv vaporization latent heat of moisture, kJ/kg
m (t) airflow rate at t time, kg/s
M the moisture content, kg water/kg dry solids
M0 initial moisture content of potato, kg water/kg dry matter
Me equilibrium moisture content of potato slices, kg water/kg dry matter
Mf final moisture content of dried potato, kg water/kg dry matter
Mi mass of potato slices before drying
Mp initial mass of potato slices to be dried, kg
mr moisture removed from potato slices, kg
MRexp,i moisture ratio measured experimentally, dimensionless
MRpre,i predicted moisture ratio, dimensionless
Mt moisture content of potato at any time of drying, kg water/kg dry matter
N observations number
Outputcoll collector output, MJ
Outputdryer dryer output, MJ
Pfan dc fan power, W
r the diffusion path, m
t time, s
Tcoll air temperature at the outlet of solar collector, °C
Tin air temperature at the inlet of solar collector, °C.
Vmax PV voltage (V) for maximum power
Voc voltage of open circuit, V
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W0 mass of potato sample at t = 0, kg

Wd mass of potato dry matter, kg
Wwet mass of wet potato slices after drying in a STD, kg
z constants number
33
34
35 Drying is a method used for food preservation, since it provides an extension of shelf life,
36 compact (less space) and easy for transportation because of lighter weight [2-4]. The purpose of
37 drying process is to produce dried products in good quality with minimum with minimum cost and
38 maximum throughput, and to optimize these factors consistently [3]. Drying process improves the
39 food stability, because it reduces moisture content to a safe level, reduces microbiological activity
40 and keeps chemical and physical changes of the dried materials at minimum level during storage
41 [5]. However, the long drying time is undesirable for economic reasons and because of the danger
42 of contamination and spoilage of the product exposed to the open environment [6;7].

43 The pretreatments of agricultural products before drying led to reduce undesired changes in
44 color and texture, reduce drying time and produce good quality dried food. The commercially used
45 pretreatments are potassium-metabisulphate, potassium carbonate, potassium and sodium
46 hydroxide, ascorbic acid, methyl and ethyl ester emulsions [7; 8-11]. Blanching of fruits and
47 vegetables by steam or hot water is used before thermal processing, drying and freezing in order
48 to prevent changes in flavor during storage [11-14].

49 Many solar drying systems have been developed, designed and evaluated as alternatives to the
50 open sun drying in tropical and subtropical climates. These dryers are classified in a variety of
51 ways such as [15]: direct dryers (natural convection), indirect dryers, forced circulation dryers and
52 mixed mode. Greenhouse dryer is classified as direct solar drying and also sometimes mixed mode
53 drying. Greenhouse crop drying have been reported by several studies [16-18].

54 Potatoes ranks the fourth important vegetable product for human nutrition in the world [19].
55 Drying potato is considered a suitable method for storage, since it reduces the microbiological and
56 physicochemical degradative reactions [20].

57 Total potato production in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is about 404679 Ton from total area of 16296
58 ha [21]. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is characterized by hot-dry weather, therefore potato tubers
59 either produced or imported is deteriorating fast. Hence drying plays an important role in keeping
60 the tubers in the form of dried chips.

61

62 Deep-fat frying that followed in preparation of food in either industries or home, should be
63 avoid to get healthy fried snacks. During frying, the oil replaces the evaporated water from raw
64 material and constitutes about 40% of fried product. The acrylamides that formed during frying is
65 harmful and can be avoid by lowering the frying temperature [22].
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66 To optimize the drying process, mathematical modeling and simulation were carried out on
67 agricultural products by several investigators to obtain the drying curves such as okra, carrot, pea,
68 mushroom, jujubes, strawberry, white radish, apple pomace and red pepper [4;7; 13; 23-29].
69 Several researches are investigated the modeling of potato drying [19-20;30], blanching [11;31],
70 and drying and rehydration characteristics [5;12].

71 This study is devoted to develop, construction and evaluate the performance of an active mixed
72 mode solar tunnel dryer (STD) powered by stand-alone solar photovoltaic (PV) system for small
73 scale farms. The performance of dehydration system is evaluated without load (without product)
74 and with load (single layer potato slices), different of airflow rates, and without and with using
75 black thermal curtain above potato slices. The pretreatments, moisture content and color
76 parameters of potato slices were used to evaluate the effect of various drying conditions on potato
77 chips. The drying constant for potato chips was determine through several thin-layer drying
78 models.

79 2. Materials and Methods

80 The experimental work was done at College of Agricultural and Food Sciences, King Faisal
81 University, Al Ahsa (25°18' N Latitude, 49° 29' E Longitude), Saudi Arabia. The elevation is
82 about 179 m above sea level. The climate of Al Ahsa is arid mostly characterized by hot and dry
83 summer with cool and slightly wet winter. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia lies entirely within arid
84 and semi-arid dry land, with an annual rainfall ranging from 0 to 100 mm/annum.

85 The solar PV system was used to operate active mixed mode STD for drying potato chips under
86 different treatments and operating conditions.
87 2.1. Description of solar tunnel dryer
88 The experimental setup consists of the following components: solar PV module, charge
89 controller, battery, speed controller, DC axial fan, solar tunnel and flat plate solar collector. The
90 design concept of the STD is to collect the solar thermal energy by a solar collector and direct
91 insolation into the drying tunnel. The forced convection is used to pass the hot mass of air from
92 solar collector into drying chamber. The potato slices (Diamont potato tubers) are heated up by
93 direct and indirect absorption of insolation. The PV system is used to force the hot mass of air
94 from the flat plate solar collector to the SDT through an insulated tube, hence the indirect heat is
95 transferred to the potato slices to be dried. The experimental setup of PV powered STD is sketched
96 as shown in Fig. 1.
97 The PV module of ASEM (100 W, 18 V, 5.55 A) was mounted on inclined metal frame with
98 30º from the horizontal plane (Near by the latitude angle of the location). The PV module was used
99 to charge a 12 V battery of 17 A.h through a charge controller (model: KT1220, 12 V/24 V, and
100 rated charge & load currents 20 A). The charge controller was used to protect battery from over
101 charging or deep discharging rate. The PV generated energy was stored to the battery in order to
102 meet the load requirements. The battery was connected to a DC fan (12 V, 80 W) through a DC
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103 speed controller to control the drying airflow rate. Fig. 2a and b shows the complete experimental
104 setup of solar PV powered STD.

105 The DC fan was connected to one side of the even span type greenhouse which used as drying
106 chamber. The drying tunnel (1 m x 2 m) has a perforated stainless-steel mesh which mounted at
107 25 cm from the bottom to carry the product to be dried.

108 The even span tunnel dryer was made of transparent plexiglas sheets of 2 mm thick. The two roof
109 slopes are of equal pitch and width. The longitudinal axis of tunnel dryer was oriented North-South
110 and the roof slopes (equal pitch and width) were about 30 towards East and 30 towards West.

111

54

58
0
12
3

0
20

25
50

15
10

10
0

120

30

112
113 Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the PV powered tunnel dryer.
114
115 To investigate the effect of direct solar radiation on the drying time and quality of dried chips,
116 a black thermal curtain was installed under the roof and above the product mesh to make a shade
117 on potato slices throughout the drying tunnel as shown in Fig. 2b.

118 The developed tunnel dryer is loaded by about 5 kg of raw potato slices. The initial total mass
119 of potato tubers used in the experiments were divided between different treatments as 833 ±6 g.
120 Potato slices covered about 92% of the perforated tray. The perforated tray porosity is 5.45mm
121 and the space between slices is about 10 ± 5 mm. It should be noted that, there are some gapes
122 kept between different treatments to avoid overlaps. By selecting the best treatment for drying
123 these gapes can be reduced and the tunnel dryer can carry upto 6 kg of fresh peeled potato slices.
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124 To enhance the tunnel dryer performance a flat plate solar collector (1.2 m × 1.0 m × 0.20 m)
125 was constructed and connected to the tunnel dryer to assist the drying air with an auxiliary heat.
126 The absorber was made of galvanized corrugated sheet (1.5 mm thick) and painted with matt black
127 paint. Wood shavings of 10 cm thickness was used to insulate the absorber plate from backside.
128 A colorless glass sheet of 4 mm thickness was used to cover the absorber plate.

129 A gap of 10 cm was kept between the absorber plate and glass cover to allow the air passage.
130 The collector was inclined with 30º on horizontal and oriented towards south. The air intake into
131 the solar collector through circular holes of 1.0 cm each formed in the front side casing of the
132 collector. The heated air in the solar collector was passed to the tunnel dryer through an insulated
133 tube of 15 cm diameter which connected to the tunnel dryer from backside. The DC fan was used
134 to assist the forced convection between solar collector and drying tunnel. The PV module and solar
135 collector were oriented due south to get the highest solar radiation. The tunnel dryer works as a
136 mixed mode type, since solar radiation fall on the drying tunnel (direct heating) and hot air coming
137 from solar collector (indirect heating). It should be mentioned that, the inlet air to the drying tunnel
138 comes from solar collector through one circular opening made above the product drying net, while
139 the suction fan was kept below the drying net. Therefore, the drying air flow mostly in one
140 direction from inlet through drying net to suction fan.

141 Drying of the potato chips was done in batch mode. The dehydration process starts at 8.00 am
142 and continued until the reduction in weight of labeled samples had almost ceased. Three labeled
143 samples were used to monitor the drying data.
144

Temp. sensors

PV module
Potato slices on
the drying net

Solar air collector

DC fan Solar tunnel dryer

Battery Speed controller

(a)
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PV module Temp. sensors

Potato slices on
the drying net
Black thermal curtain Solar air collector
DC fan
(b) Battery
Speed controller Solar tunnel dryer

145 Fig. 2. Experimental setup of solar PV powered enhanced tunnel dryer for potato chips. a) without
146 shading the potato chips, b) with shading the potato chips (black thermal curtain).

147 2.2. Tunnel dryer performance (Experimental parameters)

148 The developed experimental set up was placed outdoors to evaluate its performance. The STD
149 was tested during sunny days without potato slices and with potato slices, without using thermal
150 curtain and with using curtain above potato chips, three different air flow rates (2.1, 3.12 and
151 4.18m3/min) and different pre-treatments for potato slices.
152
153 2.3. Preparation of potato slices
154 The freshly potato cultivar (Diamont) was manually peeled and sliced into 1.2 ± 0.1 mm using an
155 industrial slicer and treated as follows (Adapted from Eltawil et al.[32]):
156 i. Treat. A: Blanching in boiling water containing 0.5% salt for 4 min, then dipping in cold water.
157 ii. Treat. B: Blanching in plain boiling water for 4 min, then dipping in 1% sodium meta-bi-
158 sulphite for 10 min.
159 iii. Treat. C: Dipping in 1% sodium meta-bi-sulphite for 30 min.
160 iv. Treat. D: Blanching in boiling water containing 2% vinegar for 4 min, then dipping in cold
161 water.
162 v. Treat. E: Blanching in plain boiling water for 4 min, then dipping in cold water.
163 vi. Treat. Control: Washing with cold water thrice.
164
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165 To avoid error, all potato treatments were dried inside the dryer at the same conditions and in
166 the same time. After dehydration process and to avoid rehydration before frying, all dried slices
167 were kept in tightly closed polyethylene plastic sacks.

168
169 2.4. Measurements
170 All measurements were recorded at hourly interval.
171 2.4.1. Insolation (W/m2): it was measured by pyranometer with handheld read-out unit (LP02 -
172 LI19) which set horizontally (INSh) on the same plane of tunnel dryer and incline in the same plane
173 of PV module (INSPV) as well as solar collector.
174 2.4.2. Temperature (ºC): it was measured by LM35 precision centigrade temperature sensors with
175 the help of digital temperature indicators. The measured temperatures were as follow: ambient air
176 temperature, Tamb (inlet to solar collector); collector outlet, Tcoll.exit (inlet to tunnel dryer); air below
177 product mesh, Tbpm (average of three points); air above product mesh, Tapm (average of three
178 points); product mesh, Tpm (average of three points) and tunnel dryer exit, Td.exit. Wet bulb
179 temperatures were measured by calibrated copper-constantan thermocouples covered with wet
180 cotton cloth outside the tunnel dryer, rhamb; inlet of dryer, rh d.in and outlet of the dryer, rhd.exit. Wet
181 and dry bulb temperatures were measured and used to calculate the air relative humidity with the
182 help of psychrometric chart.
183 2.4.3. Air flow rate (m3/min): it was measured with the help of Kane KM4003 airflow meter/Hot
184 wire anemometer), also it was used to measure ambient wind speed (m/s).
185
186 2.4.4. Massing and moisture content of potato slices:
187 The moisture content of the of potato slices during drying process was determined at 60min
188 /30 min time interval by the difference in mass resulting from the weighing sample. Weighing the
189 sample was performed using an electronic balance (1 kg capacity with resolution of 0.001g),
190 reducing the moisture content was recorded by measuring weight during the drying process. The
191 moisture content was expressed as percent wet basis, and then converted to gram water per gram
192 of dry matter. Determination of initial and final water balance is achieved by using an electric air
193 convection oven at 70 ±1°C until a constant mass [33].

194 The moisture content was calculated on dry bases as follows:

𝑊0 ‒ 𝑊𝑑
195 Initial moisture content 𝑀0 = 𝑊𝑑 (1)

𝑊𝑤𝑒𝑡 ‒ 𝑊𝑑
196 Final moisture content 𝑀𝑓 = 𝑊𝑑 (2)

197 At time interval 't', the moisture content 'Mt' of potato slices on wet bases is expressed as follows
198 [34]:
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(𝑊𝑡 ‒ 𝑊𝑑)
199 𝑀𝑡 = 𝑊𝑡 (3)

200

201 2.5. Drying rate of potato slices and overall efficiency of the developed dryer

202 The difference in moisture content between potato slices and the equilibrium moisture content is
203 an indicator to drying rate [35;36]. Experiments were conducted in single layer drying as expressed
204 in the following equation.
𝑑𝑀
205 𝐷𝑅 = 𝑑𝑡 = ‒ 𝑘(𝑀𝑡 ‒ 𝑀𝑒) (4)

206 Energy input on the solar air collector is computed as [37;38]:

207
𝑡
208 𝐸𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡.𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑙 = 10 ‒ 6 × 𝐴𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑙∫0𝐼𝑛𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑙(𝑡)𝑑𝑡 (5)
209
210 Energy output from solar air collector (MJ) is given as:
𝑡
211 𝑂𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑙 = 10 ‒ 6 × ∫ 𝑚(𝑡) × 𝐶𝑝𝑎(𝑇𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑙 ‒ 𝑇𝑖𝑛)𝑑𝑡
0
(6)
212 Thus, collector efficiency (ηcoll) is given as:
213
𝑂𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑙
214 𝜂𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑙 = 𝐸𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡.𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑙 (7)
215
216 Solar energy input on the tunnel drying is given by:
𝑡
217 𝐸𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡.𝑑𝑟𝑦𝑒𝑟 = 10 ‒ 6 × 𝐴𝑑𝑟𝑦𝑒𝑟∫ 𝐼𝑛𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑟(𝑡)𝑑𝑡0
(8)
218
219 Energy output from tunnel dryer is:
220
221 𝑂𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡𝑑𝑟𝑦𝑒𝑟 = 10 ‒ 3 × 𝑚𝑟 × 𝐿𝑣 (9)
222 The amount of moisture (kg) removed (mr) from the potato slices were calculated by:
𝑀𝑝(𝑀𝑖 ‒ 𝑀𝑓)
223 𝑚𝑟 = (100 ‒ 𝑀𝑓) (10)

224 The efficiency of the dryer (ηdryer) is

225
𝑂𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡𝑑𝑟𝑦𝑒𝑟
226 𝜂𝑑𝑟𝑦𝑒𝑟 = 𝐸𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡.𝑑𝑟𝑦𝑒𝑟 + 𝑂𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑙 (11)
227
228 The energy consumed by the DC fan is given by:
229 Efan = 10-6 x Pfan x t (12)
230 The overall efficiency (ηoverall) of PV powered solar tunnel dryer is expressed as follows:
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231
𝑂𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡𝑑𝑟𝑦𝑒𝑟
232 𝜂𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑙 = 𝐸𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡.𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑙 + 𝐸𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡.𝑑𝑟𝑦𝑒𝑟 + 𝐸𝑓𝑎𝑛 (13)
233
234 The PV conversion efficiency (ηPV, %) is expressed as the ratio of PV maximum power (Pmax,
235 W) to the total input solar power (Pin, W) at a given panel temperature.
𝑃𝑚𝑎𝑥
[
𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝑥 𝑉𝑚𝑎𝑥
236 𝜂𝑃𝑉 = 𝑃𝑖𝑛 = 𝐼𝑛𝑠𝑃𝑉 𝑥 𝐴𝑃𝑉 ]x 100 (14)

237
238 The power output (Poutput, W) of PV module is given by:
239 𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 = 𝑉𝑜𝑐 × 𝐼𝑠𝑐 (15)

240 The PV power output (Voc, V and Isc, A), as well as power consumption of DC fan [load voltage
241 (VL, V) and load current (IL, A)] were measured by digital multimeter, Model of M890C+.

242 2.6. Thin-layer drying models

243 The kinetics of the drying process is described by thin-layer drying models. These models are
244 presented in Table 1. The coefficients of the selected models are estimated by nonlinear estimation
245 package (Statistica 6.0, Statsoft Inc., Tulsa, OK). The different models are verified by experimental
246 data through determination coefficient (R2), mean relative percent error (P), reduced chi-square
247 (χ2) and root means square error (RMSE). These statistic criteria are expressed as:
Table 1
The studied models for thin layer drying curve.
Model name Mathematical expression Reference
Newton MR = exp(-kt) [39]
Henderson and Pabis MR = a exp(-kt) [40]
Page MR = exp(-ktn) [41;42]
Logarithmic MR = a exp(-kt) + c [6;43]
Two-term MR = a exp(-k0t) + b exp(-k1t) [25;44]
Wang and Singh MR = 1 + at + bt2 [26]
Parabolic MR = a + bt + ct2 [45]
248

 MR  MRexp,i 
N
2
pre ,i
249 R2  1 i 1
2
(16)
N
 _____ 
  MR pre  MRexp,i 
i 1  

100 N MRexp,i  MR pre,i

250 P  MR
N i 1
(17)
exp,i
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 MR  MR pre,i 
N
2
exp,i
251 2  i 1
(18)
Nz
1
1 
 MR 
N 2
2
252 RMSE   pre ,i  MRexp,i  (19)
N i 1 
253
254 Based on highest R2, the least P, reduced χ2 and RMSE, the best model describing the drying
255 behavior was selected.
256
257 2.7. Frying chips and color measurements
258 The dried slices were fried for 15s in hot oil at 180 °C ±1 [46]. The Minolta colorimeter model
259 of CR320 was used to determine and calculate the color parameters of chips with the help of CIE
260 Lab (L*, a*, b* and h*). Where L* is the degree of slices lightness (black = 0, white = 100). The
261 a* value is the chromatic redness parameter [ Positive (+) = red color, negative (-) = green color].
262 The b* value is yellowness chromatic parameter [Positive (+) = yellow color, negative (-) = blue
263 color]. Hue angle h* is the angle in theta that a line joining the point in the hunter space with the
264 origin makes with the horizontal axis and its value equal to 0, 90 and 180 would be red, yellow
265 and green, respectively [47]. A hue value shift from 0 to 90 shows color change from red into
266 yellow whilst a shift from 90 to 180 shows a color change from yellow into green. Values in
267 between these represent blends of colors.

268 The potato slices were placed in a standard light and the color parameters of chips (L*, a*,
269 and b*) values were recorded. The Minolta colorimeter was standardized using a white calibration
270 plate. Three sample slices of each treatment were taken and three observations were recorded at
271 different positions of each chip, then the average value was considered.

272 The hue angle (h*) value, chroma (C*) value, and the total color difference (ΔE) were calculated
273 as:

 b* 
274 h  tan  * 
* 1
(20)
a 

275 
C *  a *  b*
2 2
1
2
(21)

276   2
E  L*  L*o  a *  ao*  b*  bo*  
2
 2
1
2
(22)

277 2.8. Experimental uncertainty:

278 During the experiments, several parameters were measured in order to evaluate the developed
279 drying system performance. Typical measuring errors were considered which may affect the
280 accuracy of results. Errors and uncertainties in the experiments can arise from instrument selection,
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281 condition, calibration, environment, observation, reading and test planning. In drying experiments
282 in solar dryer of the potato slices, the temperatures, velocity of drying air, relative humidity of
283 drying air, the initial and final moisture content of potato slices, mass losses and solar radiation
284 were measured with appropriate instruments. During the measurements of the parameters, the
285 uncertainties that occurred by considering the individual factors were estimated according to [48]
286 and presented in Table 2.

287 Table 2.

288 Uncertainties of the parameters during drying experiment of potato chips.

Parameter Unit Value

Solar Dryer
Uncertainty in the temperature measurement
Solar collector inlet temperature (Arises from LM35, digital ±0.38 to ±0.58
°C
temperature indicators, thermocouples and reading errors)
Solar collector temperature (Arises from LM35, digital ±0.38 to ±0.58
°C
temperature indicators, thermocouples and reading errors)
Solar drying tunnel inlet temperature (Arises from LM35, ±0.38 to ±0.58
digital temperature indicators, thermocouples and reading °C
errors)
Solar drying tunnel outlet temperature (Arises from LM35, ±0.38 to ±0.58
digital temperature indicators, thermocouples and reading °C
errors)
Ambient air temperature °C ±0.38
Uncertainty in the time measurement

Mass loss values min ±0.1

Temperature values min ±0.1
Uncertainty in the mass loss measurement (Digital balance g ±0.14
and reading)
Uncertainty in the air velocity measurement (Anemometer ms-1 ±0.14
and reading)
Uncertainty of the measurement of relative humidity of air RH ±0.14
(thermocouples and reading)
Uncertainty in the measurement of insolation (pyranometer V/(W/m2 ) ±0.24 x 10-6
and reading)
PV module tolerance % ±0.3
Volts % 0.011
Amps % 0.01
Uncertainty in PV module temperature % ±3.11
Uncertainty in PV module efficiency % 3.8
289

290 Data analyses were carried out using SPSS (statistical package). Mathematical modeling of
291 drying rates was calculated by the computer program (Data-Fit 8.1).

292 3. Results and discussion

293 3.1. PV performance
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294 The PV module performance in the field (outdoor) is quite different from the performance at
295 standard conditions. Fig. 3 shows the effect of ambient conditions on the PV module power output,
296 PVoutput and its conversion efficiency with respect to time of the day during April 2014. It was
297 found that, the PV power output and module temperature was directly proportional to incident
298 solar radiation and ambient temperature. The daily average solar intensity on horizontal surface,
299 Ins Hor, and on the PV module surface, Ins 30 deg, were 5.58 and 6.034 kWh/m2/d, respectively. The
300 daily average PV module temperature and ambient temperature were 51.2 and 34.4 ºC,
301 respectively.
PV output
140 100
Load power at 2.10 m3/min Fan P.cons 1
air flow rates 3.12 m3/min Fan P.cons 2 90
120 4.18 m3/min

Fan power consumption, W

Fan P.cons 3
80
PV power output, W

100 70
60
80
50
60
40

40 30
20
20
10
0 0
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

T amb T PV PV efficiency

70 18

60 16
14
50
Temperature, 0C

PV efficiency, %
12
40 10
30 8
6
20
4
10 2
0 0
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Ins. Hor Ins. 30 deg W.S

1000 1.4

1.2
800
Insolation, W/m2

Wind speed, m/s

1.0
600 0.8

400 0.6

0.4
200
0.2

0 0.0
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Time of the day, h
302
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303 Fig. 3. Variation of PV module input, output, its conversion efficiency; and power needed to
304 run the DC fan at three air flow rates during sunny days in April 2014.
305 The daily average energy output of PV module was 0.803 kWh/d, while daily average energy
306 required to operate the DC fan was 0.274, 0.353 and 0.452 kWh/d at flow rates of 2.1, 3.12 and
307 4.18 m3/min, respectively.

308 The maximum power generated by PV module was recorded at noon time, and this may be due
309 to increase of short circuit current with high rate and small drop in voltage. It should be noticed
310 that, increasing PV module temperature causes an increase in the short circuit current, Isc and a
311 decrease in the open circuit voltage, VOC. This increase in PV module temperature may occur due
312 to high solar radiation heating, high ambient temperature and low wind speed; and consequently,
313 low heat transfer from the PV module to the ambient.

314 Due to thermal effect, the PV conversion efficiency (ηPV) is relatively high in the morning and
315 afternoon compared to midday as shown in Fig. 3. This means, the ηPV is inversely proportional to
316 module temperature. The daily average PV efficiency (ηPV) of 9.67% at average TPV of 51.2ºC was
317 recorded for tested days. It was found that the energy generated by solar module was sufficient to
318 operate the load (dc fan) during day time, and the excess energy saved in the battery to run the fan
319 at little insolation.

320 3.2. Experimental drying curves and drying rate

321
322 Fig. 4 shows the moisture content of potato slices versus drying time. It is clear that, moisture
323 content (drying rate) decreases by increasing time. Results of drying and data analysis indicated
324 that, the drying process of potato slices takes place in two different stages. In the first stage
325 (constant drying rate), the moisture removal is rapid because of the excess of moisture on the
326 surface of the potato chips. Some of the heat transferred from the flowing drying air to the chips
327 surface is used to evaporate the moisture from the surface of the chips. The other remaining heat
328 is transferred to the interior of the chips causing an increase in temperature. The moisture from the
329 interior of chips is transferred to their surface to replace the losses of moisture there. In the second
330 stage (falling drying rate), after a specific drying time, the drying rate is reduced and the
331 temperature of the chips is thereby increases. This behaviour strongly suggested an internal mass
332 transfer type drying with moisture diffusion as the controlling phenomenon. The obtained results
333 are in agreement with Akpinar et al. [30]. Hence, the experimental results can be interpreted by
334 using Ficks diffusion model;
𝑑𝑀 𝑑2𝑀
335 𝑑𝑡 =𝐷 (23)
𝑑𝑟2

336 For potato chips, the first boundary condition indicated that the moisture is initially uniformly
337 throughout the potato slices. The second implies that the mass transfer is symmetric with respect
338 to the center of the slices. The third condition indicated that, the surface moisture content of the
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339 chips instantaneously reaches equilibrium with the conditions of the surrounding air. Similar
340 results were obtained by several authors during drying various agricultural products [6;23;29;30].

341 The initial moisture content values based on w.b. (d.b) of potato slices which dried with black
342 curtain were 80.11% (402.76%), 80.56% (414.40%), 83.30% (498.80%), 82.40% (468.18%),
343 81.44% (438.79%) and 82.80 % (481.39%) for treatments A, B, C, D, E and control, respectively
344 (Fig.4). While values of initial moisture content of potato slices which dried without black curtain
345 were 82.89% (488.23%), 80.44% (411.25%), 80.17% (404.28%), 83.17% (494.17%), 81.87%
346 (451.57%) and 83.00% (488.24%) for treatments A, B, C, D, E and control, respectively.

347 The differences in initial moisture content of potato slices may refer to absorption of moisture
348 during pretreatment process. The moisture content of potato slices decreased by increasing drying
349 time and the dehydration process terminated when the moisture loss ceased.
350 The final moisture content values based on w.b. (d.b) of potato slices which dried with black
351 curtain were 8.3% (9.05%), 8.0% (8.7%), 8.85% (9.71%), 9.08% (9.99%), 8.2% (8.93%) and
352 9.04% (9.94%) for treatments A, B, C, D, E and control, respectively (Fig.4). While values of final
353 moisture content of potato slices which dried without black curtain were 8.52% (9.31%), 7.21%
354 (7.8%), 8% (8.7), 8.5% (9.29%), 8.28% (9.03%) and 9.12% (10.03%) for treatments A, B, C, D,
355 E and control, respectively.

356
90 90
With black thermal curtain Without black thermal curtain
80 80
Treat. A Treat. A
Moisture content (w.b), %

Moisture content (w.b) %

70 70
Treat. B Treat. B
60 60
Treat. C Treat. C
50 50
Treat. D
40 40 Treat. D
Treat. E
30 30 Treat. E
Control
20 20 Control
10 10
0 0
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Drying time, h Drying time, h

Fig. 4. Effect of different treatments of potato slices and drying modes on the moisture
content.
357
358 The average drying time required for potato slices in the developed drier was varied from 300
359 to 390 min to reach safe moisture content (equilibrium moisture content) in case of without and
360 with using thermal curtain.
361 As shown in Fig. 4, the Treat. B was reached the equilibrium moisture content (EMC) at 300
362 min from the beginning of the system operation; treatments A, D and E were reached the EMC at
363 330 min, while treatments C and control were reached the EMC at 360 min in case of drying
364 without using black thermal curtain. The same trend was followed in case of using black thermal
365 curtain, but the EMC was varied from 330 min to 390 min. It should be mentioned that, there is
366 no specific set point, because the drying behaviour inside the drying tunnel varied according to
367 several parameters such as ambient weather conditions and pretreatments of potato slices etc.
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368

369 Fig. 5 indicated that when the moisture content was high the drying rate was highest for all
370 treatments, then decreased rapidly until all reached similar rate after 300 min of drying. This was
371 due to the unbound moisture near the surface of potato slices which removed early in the
372 dehydration process. The initial drying rate of slices blanched treatment was higher than that of
373 the un blanched slices. This indicates that blanching has effect on the drying rate of potatoes due
374 to the effect of starch gelatinization during blanching. Therefore, blanching treatment caused a
375 reduction in the drying time when compared with the untreated or control samples.
376 According to the results in Figs. 4 and 5, pretreatments have a dominant effect on the drying
377 time. The samples of treatment B were found to have a shorter drying time compared to another
378 samples and control. The longest drying time was recorded for treatments C and control (un
379 blanched samples). This behavior may be because blanching treatment leads softening the potato
380 slices, which facilitated the moisture removed. Similar findings were reported in the dehydration
381 process of potatoes by Severini et al. [49].
382
383
With black curtain 22 Without black curtain
22
20
20 Treat. A Treat. A
Treat. B 18
Drying rate, (kg/kg.h)

18 Treat. B
Treat. C 16
Drying rate, (kg/kg.h)

16
Treat. D Treat. C
14
14 Treat. E
12 Treat. D
12 Control

10 Treat. E
10
8
8 Control

6 6

4 4

2 2

0 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Drying time, h
Drying time, h

Fig. 5. Drying rate of potato slices versus solar drying time in case of with and without black
thermal curtain.
384

385 3.3. Drying rate modeling

386 The computer program of Data-Fit 8.1 was used to calculate coefficient of determination (R2)
387 and root mean square error (RMER) and the results are given in Table 3. Data of moisture content
388 for the different pretreated potato slices were converted to a moisture ratio then fitted against the
389 drying time. As shown in Table, the Two Term model, Henderson & Papis and Page models
390 provided the best R2 value and lower 2 for potato slices. Therefore, they were selected to represent
391 the solar drying behavior for thin-layer drying of potato slices.
392 Multiple regression analysis was carried out using Data-Fit 8.1 and SPSS to study the effect
393 of drying variables on the Two Term and Henderson & Papis models constants. The constants k
394 (min-1) and n (dimensionless) were regressed against both of drying air temperature and air
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395 velocity. Different combinations of drying variables (parameters) were tested through regression
396 analysis, and the best combinations which gave the highest R2 were finally included in the model.
397
398
399
400 Table 3
401 Empirical models, coefficients, determination coefficient (R2), chi-square (2) and root mean
402 square error (RMSE) for different treatments of dried potato.
Coefficients
Modal Pretreatment R2 2 RMSE
n a b c k K0 K1
A 0.2092 0.992 0.0006 0.0224
B 0.2488 0.974 0.0020 0.0422
C 0.1817 0.981 0.0013 0.0343
Newton
D 0.1985 0.981 0.0013 0.0349
E 0.1750 0.997 0.0018 0.0400
Control 0.2016 0.996 0.0003 0.0161
A 0.9395 0.2304 0.994 0.0005 0.0202
B 0.7826 0.3442 0.995 0.0004 0.0191
C 0.8464 0.2345 0.992 0.0006 0.0228
Page
D 0.8410 0.2567 0.992 0.0006 0.0223
E 0.9336 0.1958 0.999 0.0020 0.0405
Control 1.0311 0.1916 0.997 0.0003 0.0153
A 0.9900 0.2068 0.993 0.0006 0.0221
B 0.9520 0.2350 0.978 0.0018 0.0383
Henderson &
C 0.9714 0.1751 0.983 0.0013 0.0324
Pabis
D 0.9695 0.1911 0.983 0.0013 0.0328
E 0.9858 0.1719 0.998 0.0019 0.0396
Control 1.0067 0.2031 0.997 0.0003 0.0158
A 1.0039 0.0004 0.2202 -0.5005 0.998 0.0002 0.0265
B 0.2842 0.7216 0.0724 0.4286 0.999 0.0001 0.0077
Two term C 0.6663 0.3481 0.3222 0.0627 0.995 0.0004 0.0167
D 0.1277 0.8834 -0.0124 0.2807 0.997 0.0002 0.0123
E 0.1351 0.8675 0.5038 0.1534 0.999 0.0030 0.0439
Control 0.5034 0.5030 0.2034 0.2031 0.997 0.0004 0.0158
A -0.1862 0.0105 0.996 0.0003 0.0148
B -0.2147 0.0135 0.969 0.0025 0.0458
Wang and
C -0.1724 0.0097 0.985 0.0011 0.0299
Singh
D -0.1852 0.0108 0.987 0.0010 0.0283
E -0.1579 0.0079 0.994 0.0027 0.0470
Control -0.1695 0.0084 0.995 0.0004 0.0190
A 0.9845 -0.1803 0.01006 0.997 0.0003 0.0135
B 0.9388 -0.1915 0.0117 0.977 0.0053 0.0623
C 0.9762 -0.1634 0.0090 0.987 0.0011 0.0284
Parabolic
D 0.9730 -0.1750 0.0100 0.989 0.0009 0.0262
E 0.9761 -0.1489 0.0072 0.995 0.0029 0.0461
Control 0.9832 -0.1632 0.0079 0.996 0.0004 0.0178
A -49.89 50.73 -0.0016 0.886 0.0112 0.0904
B 0.8697 0.1316 0.3573 0.999 0.0001 0.0093
C 0.8544 0.1567 0.2642 0.995 0.0004 0.0171
Logarithmic
D 0.8635 0.1481 0.2872 0.998 0.0002 0.0123
E 0.9355 0.0618 0.1971 0.999 0.0026 0.0438
Control 1.0290 -0.0273 0.1916 0.996 0.0003 0.0153
403
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404 Based on the multiple regression analysis done, the accepted model constants of Two Term
405 and Henderson & Papis were as follows:
406
407 MR (TT) = a. exp (-k0.t) + b exp (-k1 t) R2=0.989 (24)
408 MR (HP) = a. exp (-k. t) 2
R =0.997 (25)
409 The Two Term, Henderson & Papis and Page models were validated by comparing the
410 estimated and predicted moisture ratio (MR) at any particular drying condition. The validation of
411 the Two Term, Henderson & Papis and Page models for different treatment are shown in Fig. 6.
412 As shown, the predicted data banded around the straight line which indicate the suitability of the
413 Two Term, Henderson & Papis and Page models in describing the dehydration behavior of the
414 potato chips.
415
416 The effect of pretreatments of slices on the models’ constants were analyzed using multiple
417 regression and included in Table 3. The different parameters (configurations) that gave the higher
418 R2 were included in the best models. Therefore, with the help of experimental boundary conditions,
419 the moisture content of the potato chips at any time during the dehydration process could be
420 estimated.
421 The non-linear regressions were used to fit drying curves to the data based on the seven drying
422 models, namely, the simple (Newton); Page; Henderson & Pabis; Logarithmic; the Two-Term;
423 Wang & Singh and Parabolic models. Table 3 represents the coefficients R2, the RMSE and the 2
424 for the seven models.
425 Except Newton, logarithmic and Wang & Singh models, all fitted curves matched well with
426 the experimental data and R2 values were higher than 0.97. However, the R2, RMSE and 2 for
427 these models were always significantly different to the corresponding values for the other models.
428 Hence, these models were not suitable to describe the drying curves of chips for all treatments.
429 Based on these results, the Two-Term, Henderson & Pabis and page were chosen as the best
430 models to represent the dehydration process of potato chips. Mathematical modeling of drying is
431 crucial for the optimization of operating variables and performance enhancements of the drying
432 systems. For all treatments, Henderson & Pabis, Two-Term and Page models predicted moisture
433 contents well and matched the experimental values. These results were similar to those of Ceylan
434 et al. [51] for tropical fruits.
435
436 3.4. Thermal and drying efficiencies
437 Fig. 6 shows the variations of thermal and drying efficiencies of the collector and tunnel dryer
438 with air mass flow rate in case of without and with using black thermal curtain. The highest values
439 of air temperature inside the drying tunnel and at outlet of solar collector were recorded with lower
440 airflow rate of 0.0572 kg/s, while minimum values of temperature were recorded with the higher
441 airflow rate of 0.0998 kg/s. It is clear that the efficiency of the collector and tunnel dryer are
442 dependent on the airflow rate and this refer to decrease of thermal losses to the environment. The
443 best drying efficiency was recorded at 0.0786 kg/s in case of using and without thermal curtain.
444
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Thermal efficiency Drying efficiency

60

50

40
Efficiency, %

30

20

10

0
0.0572 0.0786 0.0998 0.0572 0.0786 0.0998
Without black thermal curtain With black thermal curtain
Air flow rate, kgs -1
445
446
447 Fig. 6. Variations of thermal and drying efficiencies with airflow rate.
448
449 Table 4 shows the thermal, drying and overall efficiencies of the developed drying system at
450 different airflow rates. The highest drying efficiency of 28.49 and 34.29% was recorded at 0.0786
451 kg/s in case of without and with using thermal curtain, respectively. While, the highest overall
452 efficiency of the developed drying system was 16.71 and 19.07% at the same mentioned
453 conditions.
454
455 Table 4
456 The calculated thermal efficiency, drying efficiency and overall efficiency of developed dying
457 system at different airflow rates.
Collector Dryer
Overall
Air flow
Treatment Energy Energy Energy Energy Efficiency
rate (kgs-1) Efficiency Efficiency (%)
input output input output
(%) (%)
(MJ) (MJ) (MJ) (MJ)
0.0572 15.12 6.23 41.20 22.32 6.77 30.33 17.82
Without
thermal
curtain

0.0786 17.71 8.57 48.39 23.04 7.90 34.29 19.07

0.0998 18.14 9.43 51.98 24.84 7.97 32.08 18.16

0.0572 15.03 5.40 35.93 22.46 5.87 26.14 15.65

thermal
curtain
With

0.0786 15.94 7.14 44.79 23.76 6.77 28.49 16.71

0.0998 20.22 11.60 52.20 28.51 7.00 24.55 14.05

458
459
460
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461 3.5. Appearance and Color

462 Color is a dominant quality attribute in dried potato chips. In order to facilitate the comparison
463 of color and appearances of the chips, a digital picture was taken for each dried chip. Fig. 7 shows
464 the pictures of different treatments after drying. The quality of the potato slices dried by using
465 black thermal curtain is higher than that dried without black curtain as the natural color and the
466 appearance are maintained more under shading. The slices treated with sodium meta-bi-sulphite
467 solution (treat. B) provided better color for drying. Generally, the appearance and color of the dried
468 chips were preserved by treating with sodium meta-bi-sulphite solution in comparison with the
469 other treatments.
470 For measuring color of foods, the L*, a*, b*, h* color space was used because of the uniform
471 distribution of colors as well as very close to human perception of color [51]. The values of L* for
472 all dried potato treatments before frying ranged between 43.65 (Treat. B) to 51.19 (Control), but
473 after frying the values showed a large changing comparing before frying treatment for all drying
474 treatments where ranged between 43.08 (Treat. B) to 57.45 (Control) in case of using black curtain.
475 Control samples were recorded the highest value of L* at all drying conditions, while samples of
476 treatment B recorded the lowest value at all drying conditions as shown in Table 5.
477 The a* values for potato chips under different treatments were low which indicating a
478 tendency of slices to have more of a greenish color rather than red. The overcooked potato chips
479 had a red color. The higher values of a* mean that more Maillard reactions are occurring [52].
480

With using black thermal curtain

Without using black thermal curtain

Fig. 7. Color differences referred to different treatments of potato slices after drying with and
without using black thermal curtain.
481
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482 The yellowness of potato chips is desirable after frying and is specified by the parameter b*
483 in color measurement. The higher b* values give more yellow potato chips [53]. Table 5 shows
484 that all values of b* after frying were higher than before frying. These results are in agreement
485 with those obtained by Abdulla et al. [54]. The treatment B recorded the highest values of b* (more
486 yellowness) before and after drying as well as before and after frying compared to other treatments
487 under the two drying modes.
488 Table 5
489 Variation of potato chips color parameters which dried in the tunnel dryer with and without using
490 thermal curtain.
Drying with black thermal curtain Drying without black thermal curtain
Treatment Before frying After frying Before frying After frying
L* a* b* h* L* a* b* h* L* a* b* h* L* a* b* h*
A 46.96 7.76 19.05 68.41 45.78 10.46 25.89 71.52 42.04 4.62 19.71 69.75 56.63 9.08 27.42 70.76
B 43.65 7.01 20.03 69.75 43.08 12.51 29.30 68.43 35.57 6.81 22.19 75.48 51.70 7.49 29.74 69.72
C 47.03 7.54 16.66 68.13 57.21 9.75 23.47 67.46 49.78 10.89 15.02 67.58 64.56 7.79 22.22 72.02
D 43.7 6.66 18.68 68.93 48.81 8.24 24.72 71.77 43.97 5.28 17.38 69.48 60.03 8.72 26.97 72.64
E 44.65 6.46 19.72 68.96 45.71 10.32 26.11 67.88 39.53 12.55 20.77 68.63 52.03 8.76 28.52 72.70
Control 51.19 7.33 15.87 67.30 57.45 7.78 23.06 66.88 50.70 7.28 13.30 65.33 77.61 9.49 25.68 76.06

491 Hue angle (h*) values, of all the potato chips samples were above 67o, showing a very clear
492 transition from red into yellow. This indicates the development of golden brown color which is
493 highly preferred by fried potato chips consumers [55].
494
495 4. Conclusions
496 The tunnel dryer performance was enhanced by using solar PV power and flat plate solar
497 collector. Adding a small dc fan powered by a PV system improved the airflow which enhanced
498 drying rates. The developed dehydration system was used for drying potato chips in order to
499 improve the chips quality and stability, since it reduces the moisture content, reduces
500 microbiological activity; and reduces chemical and physical changes during its storage.
501 Different pretreatments were carried out on potato slices before drying process. Blanched potato
502 slices had higher drying rate compared to un blanched samples and control. The dehydration
503 process carried out with and without (mixed mode) using black thermal curtain above potato slices.
504 The quality of the dried potato chips with using black curtain and sodium meta-bi-sulphite solution
505 is high in terms of color and appearance as compared to chips dried without using black curtain
506 and other treatments. The highest drying efficiency of 28.49 and 34.29% was recorded at air flow
507 rate of 0.0786 kg/s in case of without and with using thermal curtain, respectively.
508 A suitable drying model was developed by combining the effect of studied variables on potato
509 dehydration process. To interpret the drying behavior of potato chips, seven different thin-layer
510 dehydration models were compared according to their R2, 2 and RMSE values. According to the
511 results of thin-layer modeling, Henderson and Pabis, page, two-term and logarithmic models have
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512 shown a better fit to the practical data as compared with the other models and it would be a useful
513 engineering application in designing and optimization of the PV powered tunnel dryers.
514 The PV system operated solar tunnel dryer has the advantage that it can be operated independent
515 of electrical grid. Such kind of dryer can be used for a small-scale industrial production of quality
516 dried chips. Also, it can be used to dry fruits, vegetables and medicinal plants. The physico-
517 chemical properties of potato chips under different pretreatments, drying mode, packaging and
518 storability will be discussed in another publication.
519
520 Acknowledgement
521 The authors acknowledge the Deanship of scientific research at King Faisal University for the
522 financial support under grant 150018.
523
524 References
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