Study of orange peels dryings kinetics and development of a solar dryer by forced convection

The solar drier project aims at using solar energy as heat source, frequent in the area, for the drying of perishable products. Solar drier does not degrade any more the dried products with the manner of the products dried at the natural sun. The drying unit is composed mainly of a solar air collector and a drying chamber. The transformation of the solar radiation into heat is done thanks to the solar collector whose effectiveness is increased by the addition of suitable baffles in the mobile air vein. The efficiency of the collector reaches then 80%. The hot air on the outlet side of the collector arrives in the drying chamber where the heat transfer with the product to be dried is done by convection. The drying kinetics study shows that in addition to the dependence of the temperature and air velocity of drying, the rate of drying also depends on sectioning on the product to dry, and mainly, of the product surface in contact with the drying air. Thus, the moisture content in wet basis is reduced from 76 to 13% in one day. Then, we obtains dried products in a healthy way, and the so frequent sand wind in the area does not degrade any more the dried products quality at the manner of the products dried with the free air. The total efficiency of the drier reached 28%. Published by Elsevier Ltd.