Process evaluation in hybrid photovoltaic solar dryer: application for drying of food

• Grant number: 18/23762-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Effective date (Start): April 01, 2019
• Effective date (End): February 28, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Chemical Engineering - Industrial Operations and Equipment for Chemical Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Jose Teixeira Freire
• Grantee: Letícia Ferraresi Hidalgo
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Exatas e de Tecnologia (CCET). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Among the thermal sources that can be used for drying food, solar energy has as its main advantage being abundant, renewable and not monopolized. In solar drying, the product is heated directly or indirectly by solar rays and the water is removed by the processes of simultaneous heat and mass transfer. There may be an improvement in the drying process by the simultaneous use of solar radiation and forced convection, in which heated air flows through the material into the dryer. For this purpose, simple and low-power fans, powered by alternative sources of electric energy, such as solar energy, may be used. Thus, solar energy can be used as thermal and electrical source, making this hybrid photovoltaic solar dryer independent of the energy supply by transmission lines. This project has as main objective to develop a hybrid photovoltaic solar dryer and evaluate its performance in drying food products, aiming at the possibility of application in the context of family farming. Moisture and colorimetric parameters will be monitored in the drying of plants such as chives, since they are related to quality criteria of the dehydrated product and acceptance by the final consumer. The process of solar drying conducted in the absence and presence of forced convection of the drying air will also be evaluated, in order to compare its efficiency in the two situations. It will be analyzed the possibility of proposing a physical-mathematical model that describes the drying process in this material, based on mass and energy balances and the processes of heat and mass transfer. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

HIDALGO, LETICIA FERRARESI; CANDIDO, MARIANA NASCIMENTO; NISHIOKA, KARINA; FREIRE, JOSE TEIXEIRA; ALVES VIEIRA, GUSTAVO NAKAMURA. Natural and forced air convection operation in a direct solar dryer assisted by photovoltaic module for drying of green onion. Solar Energy, v. 220, p. 24-34, MAY 15 2021. (17/21890-5, 18/24132-7, 18/23762-7, 19/17654-0)