Experimental Investigation Of Pcm Integrated Solar Dryer For Fish Drying

Abstract

Ethiopia Has A Huge Potential For Fish Production But Loses One Third Of Its Annual Production Due To Post-Harvest Losses. Drying Is An Effective Means Of Reducing Post-Harvest Losses Which Increases The Shelf Life Of Products By Reducing The Moisture Content To A Safe Storage Level. Solar Energy Is The Most Widely Used Form Of Energy For Drying But The Intermittent Nature And Uncertainty In The Availability Of Solar Energy Are The Major Drawbacks. These Drawbacks Can Be Eliminated With The Integration Of Thermal Energy Storages. In This Study, An Indirect Mode Solar Dryer Integrated With A Pcm Is Designed, Developed And Experimentally Tested By Drying Fish. The Dryer Is Designed Based On The Daily Fish Losses From A Single Fisherman Which Is Determined To Be 5 Kg. The Components Of The Dryer Are A Solar Air Heater (Sah), A Paraffin Wax-Based Shell And Tube Latent Heat Storage (Lhs), Drying Chamber And A Blower. The Double Pass Sah Is Used To Raise The Temperature Of The Air To The Desired Level And To Reduce The Fluctuations In The Outlet Temperature Of The Sah Due To The Fluctuations And Inconsistency In Solar Radiation, The Lhs With A 3 Mj Heat Storing Capacity Is Integrated Between The Outlet Of The Sah And The Inlet Of The Drying Chamber. The Blower Is Used To Circulate The Air Inside The Dryer And The Performance Of The Components Of The Dryer And The Drying System Is Evaluated Using Energy And Exergy Analysis. A No-Load Test Is Performed To Know The Trend Of The Inlet And Outlet Temperatures Of The Sah And The Lhs And To Evaluate Their Performance. The Drying Chamber Is Loaded With 5 Kg Fresh Fish During The Load Test To Evaluate The Performance Of The Drying System. A Maximum Temperature Of 69 ??? Is Obtained At The Outlet Of The Sah And The Energy And Exergy Efficiencies Are 25% And 1.5%, Respectively. A Temperature Of 5 To 10 ??? Higher Than The Single Pass Is Achieved By Circulating The Air In The Second Air Channel Since The Air Is Further Heated As It Passes Through The Second Air Channel. The Lhs Reduces The Fluctuations In The Outlet Temperature Of The Sah And Extends The Drying Process For Two Extra Hours A Day. 5 Kg Fresh Fish Is Effectively Dried In The Dryer Within 21hrs Reducing The Moisture Content Of The Fish From 75% To 12.5% By Removing 3.57 Kg Of Moisture. The Specific Energy Consumption Of The Dryer Is 7.3 Kwh Per Kilogram Of Moisture And The Power Consumed By The Blower Is 0.6 Kwh Per Kilogram Of Moisture Which Is 8.3% Of The Total Energy Consumption. The Remaining 91.7% Energy Is Harvested From The Sun And The Overall Efficiency Of The Drying System Is 9.4%. Finally, Economic Analysis Is Carried Out And The Payback Period Is 1.39 Years.