scholarly journals Performance of solar dryer chamber used for convective drying of sponge-cotton

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (suppl.2) ◽  
pp. 451-462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walid Aissa ◽  
Mostafa El-Sallak ◽  
Ahmed Elhakem

Solar dryer chamber is designed and operated for five days of July 2008. Drying experiments are conducted for sponge-cotton; as a reference drying material in the ranges between 35.0 to 49.5?C of ambient air temperature, 35.2 to 69.8 ?C drying air temperature, 30 to 1258 W/m2 solar radiation and 0.016 to 0.08 kg/s drying air flow rate. For each experiment, the mass flow rate of the air remained constant throughout the day. The variation of moisture ratio, drying rate, overall dryer efficiency, and temperature distribution along the dryer chamber for various drying air temperatures and air flow rates are discussed. The results indicated that drying air temperature is the main factor in controlling the drying process and that air mass flow rate has remarkable influence on overall drying performance. For the period of operation, the dryer attained an average temperature of 53.68?C with a standard deviation of 8.49?C within a 12-h period from 7:00 h to 19:00 h. The results of this study indicated that the present drying system has overall efficiency between 1.85 and 18.6 % during drying experiments. Empirical correlations of temperature lapse and moisture ratio in the dryer chamber are found to satisfactorily describe the drying curves of sponge-cotton material which may form the basis for the development of solar dryer design charts.

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 1105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlo Carcasci ◽  
Lapo Cheli ◽  
Pietro Lubello ◽  
Lorenzo Winchler

This paper presents an off-design analysis of a gas turbine Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) combined cycle. Combustion turbine performances are significantly affected by fluctuations in ambient conditions, leading to relevant variations in the exhaust gases’ mass flow rate and temperature. The effects of the variation of ambient air temperature have been considered in the simulation of the topper cycle and of the condenser in the bottomer one. Analyses have been performed for different working fluids (toluene, benzene and cyclopentane) and control systems have been introduced on critical parameters, such as oil temperature and air mass flow rate at the condenser fan. Results have highlighted similar power outputs for cycles based on benzene and toluene, while differences as high as 34% have been found for cyclopentane. The power output trend with ambient temperature has been found to be influenced by slope discontinuities in gas turbine exhaust mass flow rate and temperature and by the upper limit imposed on the air mass flow rate at the condenser as well, suggesting the importance of a correct sizing of the component in the design phase. Overall, benzene-based cycle power output has been found to vary between 4518 kW and 3346 kW in the ambient air temperature range considered.


The convective drying process is used to dry onion-slices. The drying experiments are conducted at a drying temperature of 50oC, 60oC, 70oC, and at an air velocity of 1.99, 3.54, 5.66, and 7.52 m/s. The objective is to study the influence of tray position on drying of dark red onion. The work diverges in analyzing drying constants at air velocity beyond 2 m/s. The moisture ratio for the middle tray is greater compared to the top and bottom tray. A smaller moisture ratio is observed for 60°C compared to 50 and 70°C. Moisture removal per unit mass flow rate ratio is lowest observed for bottom tray with 60°C. The ratio of moisture content and mass flow rate for 60 and 70 °C, displays a downward trend with drying time. The randomness in the drying rate at 60 °C and 70 °C is comparatively lesser than 50 °C.


Author(s):  
Andrea V Mahn ◽  
Paola Antoine ◽  
Alejandro Reyes

Drying kinetics of broccoli florets in a tunnel dryer was studied. Effective moisture diffusivity (Deff) and activation energy for moisture diffusion (E0) were estimated. The effect of air temperature, air flow rate and particle size on antioxidant capacity, greenness and texture were calculated through a 23 factorial design. Air flow rate and temperature significantly affected drying time. Deff fluctuated between 2.82 x 10-10 and 2.00 x 10-9 (m2/s), and E0 was around 42 KJ/mol, agreeing with values reported in literature. The maximum antioxidant activity was obtained at 60°C, air flow rate of 4 m/s and 1.5 cm particle diameter, resulting in a 70 percent reduction in free radical scavenging ability and a 29 percent increase in total reductive capability. Air temperature had significant effect on greenness, and air flow rate significantly affected texture. The optimization of convective drying of broccoli allows maximizing antioxidant activity and minimizing cost by saving energy and time.


Author(s):  
Prithvi Raj Kokkula ◽  
Shashank Bhojappa ◽  
Selin Arslan ◽  
Badih A. Jawad

Formula SAE is a student competition organized by SAE International. The team of students design, manufacture and race a car. Restrictions are imposed by the Formula SAE rules committee to restrict the air flow into the intake manifold by putting a single restrictor of 20 mm. This rule limits the maximum engine power by reducing the mass flow rate flowing to the engine. The pull is greater at higher rpms and the pressure created inside the cylinder is low. As the diameter of the flow path is reduced, the cross sectional area for flow reduces. For cars running at low rpm when the engine requires less air, the reduction in area is compensated by accelerated flow of air through the restrictor. Since this is for racing purpose cars here are designed to run at very high rpms where the flow at the throat section reach sonic velocities. Due to these restrictions the teams are challenged to come up with improved restrictor designs that allow maximum pressure drop across the restrictor’s inlet and outlet. The design considered for optimizing a flow restrictor is a venturi type having 20 mm restriction between the inlet and the outlet complying with the rules set by Formula SAE committee. The primary objective of this work is to optimize the flow restriction device that achieves maximum mass flow and minimum pull from the engine. This implies the pressure difference created due to the cylinder pressure and the atmospheric pressure at the inlet should be minimum. An optimum flow restrictor is designed by conducting analysis on various converging and diverging angles and coming up with an optimum value. Venturi type is a tubular pipe with varying diameter along its length, through which the fluid flows. Law of governing fluid dynamics states that the “Velocity of the fluid increases as it passes through the constriction to satisfy the principle of continuity”. An equation can be derived from the combination of Bernoulli’s equation and Continuity equation for the pressure drop due to venturi effect. [1]. A Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tool is used to calculate the minimum pressure drop across the restrictor by running a series of analysis on various converging and diverging angles and calculating the pressure drop. As a result, an optimum air flow restrictor is achieved that maximizes the mass flow rate and minimizes the engine pull.


Author(s):  
Souheyla Khaldi ◽  
A. Nabil Korti ◽  
Said Abboudi

AbstractThis article provides numerical study of the solar chimney (SC) assembled with a reversed absorber and packed bed for the indirect-mode solar dryer. The present study was designed to determine the effects of using the SC in three configuration and physical proprieties of the packed (thickness and porosity) on the dynamic and thermal behavior of airflow. The results reveal that (1) using SC without storage material can increase the maximum mass flow rate up to 5%. However, integrating a storage material in the SC can improve the mass flow rate up to 32% during nighttime; (2) the use of a packed bed can decrease the crops temperature fluctuation until about 76% and increase the operating time of the solar dryer up to 12.5 hours rather than 10 hours in the case without packed bed; (3) increasing the porosity from 0.1 to 0.8 can increase the maximum temperature by about 10°C.


Author(s):  
Pedro Dinis Gaspar ◽  
L. C. Carrilho Gonc¸alves ◽  
R. A. Pitarma

This study presents a three-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation of the air flow pattern and the temperature distribution in a refrigerated display cabinet. The thermal entrainment is evaluated by the variations of the mass flow rate and thermal power along and across the air curtain considering the numerical predictions of abovementioned properties. The evaluation on the ambient air velocity for the three-dimensional (3D) effects in the pattern of this type of turbulent air flow is obtained. Additionally, it is verified that the longitudinal air flow oscillations and the length extremity effects have a considerable influence in the overall thermal performance of the equipment. The non uniform distribution of the air temperature and velocity throughout the re-circulated air curtain determine the temperature differences in the linear display space and inside the food products, affecting the refrigeration power of display cabinets. The numerical predictions have been validated by comparison with experimental tests performed in accordance with the climatic class n.° 3 of EN 441 Standard (Tamb = 25 °C, φamb = 60%; νamb = 0,2 m s−1). These tests were conducted using the point measuring technique for the air temperature, air relative humidity and air velocity throughout the air curtain, the display area of conservation of food products and nearby the inlets/outlets of the air mass flow.


Author(s):  
Xinran (William) Tao ◽  
John Wagner

Lithium-Ion (Li-ion) batteries are widely used in electric and hybrid electric vehicles for energy storage. However, a Li-ion battery’s lifespan and performance is reduced if it’s overheated during operation. To maintain the battery’s temperature below established thresholds, the heat generated during charge/discharge must be removed and this requires an effective cooling system. This paper introduces a battery thermal management system (BTMS) based on a dynamic thermal-electric model of a cylindrical battery. The heat generation rate estimated by this model helps to actively control the air mass flow rate. A nonlinear back-stepping controller and a linear optimal controller are developed to identify the ideal cooling air temperature which stabilizes the battery core temperature. The simulation of two different operating scenarios and three control strategies has been conducted. Simulation results indicate that the proposed controllers can stabilize the battery core temperature with peak tracking errors smaller than 2.4°C by regulating the cooling air temperature and mass flow rate. Overall the controllers developed for the battery thermal management system show improvements in both temperature tracking and cooling system power conservation, in comparison to the classical controller. The next step in this study is to integrate these elements into a holistic cooling configuration with AC system compressor control to minimize the cooling power consumption.


This study involves the analysis of the performance improvement of the air-cooled SI engine by controlling the charge temperature. The insulated intake manifold has been used to maintaining the charge temperature at the atmospheric temperature level. The effect of variation in intake air temperature coming from atmospheric temperature on the engine performance in terms of brake mean effective pressure, engine power, engine torque are investigated. The result indicated that the mass flow rate of air is increased after using cold and insulated air intake system with average air density of 1.174 kg/m3. This improved air intake mass flow rate increased the brake torque and a reduction in exhaust gas emission. The result shows when the air-fuel mixture allowed for combustion at atmospheric intake air temperature (30ºC), the engine produces 1.2003 kW power and 5.7314 N-m torque at 2000 rpm. The engine performance calculated at an engine speed of 1000, 1500 and 2000 rpm.


2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 1117-1122
Author(s):  
Win Eng Ewe ◽  
Ahmad Fudholi ◽  
Kamaruzzaman Sopian ◽  
Nilofar Asim

This research demonstrates how to develop a novel energy balance equation to investigate heat transmission between the components of a bifacial photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) air heater with a jet plate. The temperature output and efficiency of the system are shown. A greater mass flow rate reduces the exit air temperature and increases the thermal efficiency of the thermal component. Increased sun irradiation raises the output air temperature and thermal efficiency. In terms of electrical efficiency, a greater mass flow rate reduces the temperature of the PV panel while increasing electrical efficiency. On the other hand, higher solar irradiation raises the temperature of the PV panel, lowering its electrical efficiency. The maximum thermal efficiency of BPVTJPR is 51.09% under the circumstances of 12 PV cells with a packing factor of 0.66, a jet plate reflector with 36 holes, 900 W/m2 solar irradiances, and a mass flow rate of 0.035 kg/s. The maximum electrical efficiency of BPVTJPR is 10.73% under the circumstances of 12 PV cells with a packing factor of 0.66, a jet plate reflector with 36 holes, 700 W/m2 solar irradiances, and a mass flow rate of 0.035 kg/s.


2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (7A) ◽  
pp. 1001-1015
Author(s):  
Jalal M. Jalil ◽  
Ahmed A. Hussein ◽  
Anwar J. Faisal

The solar energy system is environmentally friendly and the utilization of photovoltaic thermal collectors, (PV/T) has attracted more attention, which directly converts solar radiation into electricity and thermal energy simultaneously. This study investigated the air biased Photovoltaic thermal hybrid solar collectors, (PV/T) trend for two cases, denominate case one (PV/T system fully covered with PV modules), and case tow (PV/T system partially covered with glass). The studied parameters were solar irradiance and the air mass flow rate. The investigation has been performed in terms of outlet air temperature, electrical power, thermal and electrical efficiencies. A numerical model was developed using the computational fluid dynamic program (CFD) and the results were compared with the experimental measurements that carried out from indoor conditions using a solar simulator. A good agreement has been achieved between experimental and numerical results. The performance of both cases one and case two concluded that the PV/T system should be operating at a moderate air flow rate of 0.013 kg/s, which is the best mass flow rate. In addition, it has been observed that for case tow the maximum outlet air temperature and electric powers were 44.3 oC and 26.6 W, respectively. For case one, thermal and electrical efficiencies were found 34% and 10%, respectively, based on the experimental data, while for case 2, the maximum thermal and electrical efficiencies were found to be 48.9 and 9.1%, respectively.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document