Abstract
The solar dryer was an effective choice for drying agriculture products because it is cost-effective and requires no external energy for process drying. The fluctuation in drying temperature due to irregular radiation availability influences the food product quality and drying time significantly during the drying process using a solar dryer. In this study, the solar dryer integrated with a solar collector is experimentally studied using phase change material (PCM-Paraffin wax) embedded with a fin collector absorber. The drying products such as banana (DP1), and potato (DP2) slices are used in the thickness of 2 mm. The resulting absorber with PCM and fins configuration in the collector's absorber leads to a superior thermal performance than conventional, and PCM absorber. The peak air temperature is about 61.5 and 58.1 °C, collector efficiency of about 73.4 and 75.4 %, moisture ratio of about 0.92 and 0.95, and finally, drying rate of about 0.88, and 0.91 kg/h recorded for DP1, and DP1. Hence, the dryer with PCM and fins-integrated solar collector absorber was an optimum choice for drying agriculture products in solar technologies.
