SIZING OF SOLAR SUPPLEMENTED LIQUID AND AIR HEATING SYSTEMS FOR THE TREATMENT OF VANILLA

摘要

We study three different configurations of solar supplemented systems for simultaneous production of hot air and hot water needed during the processing of vanilla. Correlations for the monthly solar fraction versus two dimensionless factors defined in terms of physical characteristics of the system have been developed. Not only have the various solar systems been evaluated against each other from a techno-economic point of view, but we have also proposed correlations for the optimal system which directly relate the mass of the product to be dried with the area of the solar collector.