Exergy Efficiency and Energy Efficiency of Double Air Pass Solar Tunnel Air Dryer: A CFD Analysis
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: This work presents, the computational fluid dynamics simulation of a forced convection double air pass solar tunnel drying system to study the temperature distribution, the flow behaviour of the air stream, and the exergy performance. Realizable k-epsilon non-equilibrium wall function turbulence model, discrete ordinate radiation model, and species transport were used. The average temperature, thermal efficiency, and exergy efficiency were found to 59.2 oC, 30%, and 9.41%, respectively. The result revealed that the uniform temperature and velocity distribution throughout the heating and drying chamber. Therefore, the newly developed double air pass solar tunnel dryer enhances the air temperature and the exergy performance leads to the increment of drying rate and reduction of drying period.
Source: CFD letters
Institutions: Jimma University, Prince Mohammad bin Fahd University
Language: English
Topic: Food Drying and Modeling
Subfield: Food Science
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4404328225