Incorporation of Two Columns of Desiccant Beds into a Solar Drying System: Evaluation of Drying System Performances

摘要

The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of a solar assisted dehumidification system. This system as incorporation of two columns of desiccant beds into a solar drying system. The main components of the a solar assisted dehumidification system consist of a solar collector, an energy storage tank, an auxiliary heater, two blowers, two columns of desiccant beds (adsorber columns), two water-air heat exchanger, two water circulating pumps, a drying chamber and other ancillary equipment. Silica gel was selected as the desiccant material due to low temperature regeneration. The performance of this system has been investigated under the meteorological condition of Malaysia. A computer program was developed in MATLAB software to calculate the performance of the drying system. The performance indices considered to calculate the performance of the drying system are: Pick up efficiency (η_P), Solar Fraction (SF) and Coefficient of Performance (COP). The results indicated that the maximum values of the pick up efficiency (η_P), solar fraction (SF) and coefficient of performance (COP) was found 70%, 97% and 0.3, respectively with initial and final wet basis moisture content of Centella Asiatica L 88% and 15%, respectively at an air velocity is 3.25 m/s.