Solar Dryers and its types

Solar energy has become a viable

alternative energy because it is a clean
type of energy that converts solar
radiation into heat energy for various
applications such as heating water,
power generation, cooking, and food
drying.
Solar energy transforms solar radiation
into heat energy to dry food and
plants. In many nations, agricultural
products, particularly vegetables and
fruits, are lost for over 40% of
postharvest through spoilage. It is
therefore inevitable that solar dryers
are used for dry agricultural products
Drying is one of the important posthandling
processes of agricultural production. It has been
applied since immemorial times to preserve
agricultural products. It is known as the process
of removing moisture from a product and can be
implemented in two steps.
In the first step, the moisture inside the product
is brought to the surface and dried in air at a
constant rate as water vapor. The second step
involves a slow drying rate, and this process is
related to the properties of the product to be
dried
The common drying systems are open sun
and controlled solar dryer. Open sun
drying is a common way to preserve food
that involves putting crops on mats, roofs,
or drying floors in the sun and is an
inexpensive way to dry out. However, due
to dust, dirt, fungi, bacteria, and animal
attacks, the product may be spoiled. The
controlled drying system involves the use
of active and passive solar dryers.
Thus, the active solar dryer is an efficient solar
dryer used in small firms for drying products for
a brief time period, but the technology is still
expensive for farmers. Likewise, the passive
solar dryer is commonly used because it is an
inexpensive technology, but the dryer fails to
operate when there is no active sunlight. It is
therefore essential to integrate a thermal
storage system into the solar dryers, which can
allow heat collection during sunlight to be used
later when there is no sunlight, thus improving
efficiency. Many recent studies investigate solar
dryers that integrated with heat storage systems
using different techniques.
Controlled drying is applied generally in industrial
drying process. Warm air in such processes is usually
provided by burning of fossil fuels, and large
quantities of fuels are used around the world for this
objective. The high cost of fossil fuels and the
environmental impacts of their use have put severe
constraints on their consumption. Most rural
locations of developing countries suffer from
nonaccess to grid electricity. In such places, crop-
drying systems that make use of electrically operated
heaters, fans, and other accessories are inconvenient
Solar Drying Applications The application of solar
drying in industrial sectors can be investigated for
different materials, such as brick, biomass, cement,
polymers, textile, paper and allied products, and
timber as well as for different processes such as drying
of porous materials, pharmaceutical processes, and
waste water treatment.
In this time, the use of solar dryers in wastewater treatment reduces the
duration and the expenses of the conventional drying process . Solar dryers
can be proved to be very useful devices from the energy preservation point
of view. They circumvent some of the major dis advantages of classical
drying.
Solar dryers have one of the most promising
applications of solar energy technology. In solar
dryers, solar energy was used as supplemental
sources or as the sole sources of the needed heat, and
the air flow can be generated by natural or forced
convection.
 The technical directions in the development of solar
dryers are integrated storage, compact collec-
tor design, high-efficiency and long-life drying system.
Therefore, innovative applications of photovoltaic
system for simultaneous production of electricity and
heat are suitable as standalone applica-
tions and totally operated on solar energy.
Direct Solar Dryer. In direct solar dryers, product
is exposed directly to the sunlight, so that it can
be simply dehydrated. In this type of solar
dryers, a black-painted heat absorbing plate is
provided that can collect and absorb the
sunlight and convert it into heat. The product to
be dried is placed directly on the absorber
plate. This dryer may have glass lid covers and
vents in order to increase the thermal efficiency
• Indirect Solar Dryer. Indirect solar dryers are
consisted of a solar collector and a drying
chamber. In the solar collector, the black-
painted heat absorbing surface heats the
ambient air, instead of direct exposure of a
product to the sunlight. The heated
air is subsequently passed through the
product that is placed inside a drying room,
takes the product moisture, and exits
through the chimney
• Mixed-Mode Solar Dryer. The mixed
mode solar dryer is a combination of the
indirect and the direct solar dryer. This
works under the combined action of the
solar intensity incident on the product to
be dried, and the air preheated in a solar
collector provides the heat needed for the
drying process
Hybrid Solar Dryer. In the hybrid solar dryer, several
sources of energy can be used along with solar energy
to ensure suitable drying conditions. Moreover, the
drying process is not dependable only on the solar
intensity. The blower can be used for proper air
movement in hybrid solar dryer, which can be run on
by a photovoltaic system. Hybrid solar drying system
can control drying of any agricultural product
efficiently and also helps to preserve the suitable
quality of the product
• Advantages of solar drying
• The rate of drying increases with higher
temperature and movement of air in the chamber.
• Food is enclosed in the dryer and therefore
protected from dust, insects, birds, and animals.
• Higher temperature prevents insect infestation and
the faster drying rate reduces the risk of spoilage by
microorganisms.
• The dryers are waterproof, therefore, the food does
not need to be moved during the rainy season.
• A dryer can be constructed from locally available
materials at a relatively low cost.
• Solar dryers last longer. A typical dryer can last 15-
20 years and will need minimum maintenance.
• Limitations with solar drying
• Can be only used during day time when an
adequate amount of solar energy is present.
• Lack of skilled personnel for operation and
maintenance.
• Takes longer as compared to the modern type
of electric dryers.
• A backup heating system is necessary for
products requiring continuous drying.
• Uses of solar dryer
• Solar dryers can be utilized for various
domestic purposes. They also find numerous
applications in industries such as textiles,
wood, fruit and food processing, paper,
pharmaceutical, and agro-industries. Solar
driers have the following advantages.
• Solar dryers are more economical compared
to dryers that run on conventional
fuel/electricity.
• The drying process is completed in the most
hygienic and eco-friendly way.
• Solar drying systems have low operation and
maintenance costs.
• Solar dryers last longer. A typical dryer can
last 15-20 years with minimum maintenance.
Solar Still
• There is a great need to find ways to supply
water for the Earth’s population. Many countries
are facing water shortages and/or have residents
who use and drink contaminated water. Finding
different ways to use our renewable resources
(for example, solar power) has become an
interest. Solar water distillation is the process of
using energy from the sunlight to separate
freshwater from salts or other contaminants. The
untreated water absorbs heat, slowly reaching
high temperatures. The heat causes the water to
evaporate, cool, and condense into vapour,
leaving the contaminants behind. Solar stills can
be used for low capacity and self-reliant water
supplying systems.
• Solar water distillers or solar stills are usually
used in remote areas where there is limited
access to freshwater. The basic principles of
solar water distillation are simple, yet
effective, as distillation replicates the way
nature makes rain. A solar still works on two
scientific principles: evaporation and
condensation. The salts and minerals do not
evaporate with the water.
• Most stills are simple black bottomed vessels
filled with water and topped with clear glass
or plastic. Sunlight that is absorbed by the
black material speeds the rate of evaporation.
The evaporation is then trapped by the clear
topping and funneled away. Most pollutants
do not evaporate, so they are left behind.
Most stills need to be about six square meters
in size to produce enough water for a single
person for a day. Multiple solar distillation
systems are required to produce a large
quantity of distilled water.
• Advantages:
• It is a relatively cheap and low-maintenance
system.
• It can be used at the household level and
scaled up through programmatic approaches.
• There are climate change adaptation and
mitigation benefits.
• There are no energy costs.
• There are no moving parts.
• Disadvantages:
• Rate of distillation is usually very slow (6 litres of
water per sunny day).
• It is not suitable for larger consumptive needs.
• The materials required for the distiller may be
difficult to obtain in some areas.
• If not correctly disposed of, the distillation
process waste stream can be a potential source
of environmental pollution (high concentrations
of salts and pollutants).
• Solar energy is only available during the day.
• Types of Solar Water Distillers
• Solar distillation systems can be classified as passive and
active. Solar radiation is the input energy of the passive
solar stills, but the efficiency of the system is low. Attempts
have been made to increase the efficiency and productivity
by preheating the saline water in solar stills. This method is
called active solar distillation. In the case of active solar
distillation, an additional source of thermal energy is
required for faster evaporation inside the same passive
solar still. The additional source may be a solar-energy-
based system or thermal energy contained in hot water
which is discharged by other industries. There are many
different ways to make a solar still and different materials
that can be used. A crucial design challenge is making sure
that the stills are airtight. If they are not airtight, efficiency
drops severely. Listed are the different types of passive
solar water distillers.
• Single-effect Stills: These are the most common
and simplest stills. Only one interface is
necessary to convey the energy and collect the
condensate.
• Multi-effect Stills: They require double the effort
in regards to ensuring tight seals and can be
more difficult to clean, but they can significantly
increase the production of distilled water.

• Basin-type Stills: They contain the water in an

impervious material that is a component of the
entire enclosure and these are the most common
type.
• Wick Stills: Use cloth-like materials that use
capillary action to propagate the water through
the system.
• Multi-wick Stills: These stills, like wick and multi-
effect stills, greatly increase the productivity by
increasing the influenced surface area
exponentially.
• Diffusion Stills: They use the ideas introduced by
the multi-effect and wick stills and are a further
advancement of both. They consist of a series of
closely space parallel partitions in contact with
saline-soaked wicks and they have great potential
because of their high productivity and simplicity.