Evaluation of Agricultural Solar Dryer Performance With Radiation Intensity
Abstract
The moisture content in the production of agricultural plant products impacts the durability during storage, transportation costs and complexity of any subsequent industrialization process. Several techniques are used in the drying process. Due to the environmental and economic impact, the use of renewable energy sources such as solar energy is being prioritized. It is important to develop metrics that validate and guide improvements in this process and estimate the drying time of the input until reaching tolerable moisture levels, in different locations and times of the year for various products. This work proposes a methodology that correlates the solar radiation incident on an agricultural drying unit with the speed of moisture reduction of the items in process, based on values obtained from continuous moisture measurements.
Keywords
Solar Dryer, Agricultural purpose, relationship between moisture content and solar radiation