In this research, the thermodynamic analysis of a solar cabinet dryer was examined by drying tendu leaves using a V-groove air heater. The experiment was performed in the summer season at Bhubaneswar, India (20.2961°N, 85.8245°E). The main objective of this research is to reduce the drying time by increasing the rate of production. We have adopted rotation of tray approach to solve the problem of non-uniform drying. Supplementary baffles have also been added to the V-groove air heater to enhance surface area and smoothen the air flow. The findings show that the necessary moisture content of the tendu leaves was attained in 4 hr 40 min using the V-groove air heater, but it took 6 hr using the flat plate air heater whereas it required more than 2 to 3 sunny days in open sun drying. According to the data, utilizing of V-groove air heater increased the average air heater output temperature by 3.87% while increasing the average exergy efficiency value by 11.69%. The average energy efficiencies of the air heater and drying chamber were found to be 76.37% and 28.37% in case of V-groove air heater and 61.62% and 21.12% in case of flat plate air heater, respectively. The total efficiency of the system was determined to be 16.32% when utilizing the V-groove air heater, but it was 15.55% when using a flat plate air heater.

tendu leaves, cabinet dryer, V-groove air heater, exergy, tray rotation.

Received: November 7, 2023; Revised: November 17, 2023; Accepted: December 13, 2023

How to cite this article: Chandan Kumar Sethi, Saroj Kumar Mishra, Saroj Kumar Acharya and Pragyan Parimita Patnaik, Enhancing the drying performance of tendu leaves using a solar cabinet dryer integrated with V-groove type air heater, JP Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 37(1) (2024), 35-54. http://dx.doi.org/10.17654/0973576324003

This Open Access Article is Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

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