Development and Performance Evaluation of a Box-type Absorber Solar Air Collector for Crop Drying

摘要

A box-type absorber solar air collector was designed for use in Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria on latitude 7.5? N and constructed with materials that are readily available in the local market. The performance of solar collector with the dryer was evaluated in the month of August. The results show that high temperature can be achieved in the dryer with the use of the box-type absorber collector. The maximum average temperature obtained (during the daylight) inside the collector and drying chamber were 64.0 and 57.0?C, respectively, while the maximum ambient temperature observed was 33.5?C. The heating temperature inside the dryer was higher than the ambient temperature by an average of 15.3?C (50.7%) throughout the daylight. Comparison between the performance of this system and that of the other systems with different types of absorber shows that this system is more efficient. During the test a maximum collector efficiency of 60.5% was obtained in the system.