Hydrodynamic Analysis of a Solar-Fuel Dryer of the Cradle-Conveyor Type Combined with Infrared Radiation

摘要

Abstract— The results of numerical simulation for investigating and estimating heat efficiency of a combined solar-fuel dryer of the cradle-conveyor type heated by direct solar radiation and by infra-red irradiation (IR?lamps) are presented in the paper. All calculations are performed for the case of the “empty” condition of the drying chamber and “inoperative” mode of IR lamps. In these cases, the amount of heat received from solar radiation (the solar radiation flux is constant and equal to 800 W/m2) is investigated and established at various values of the volumetric flow rate of the drying agent (air flow with a constant input temperature of 20°C) ranging from 100 to 1200 m3/h. The heat efficiency of a solar-fuel dryer under the same solar radiation fluxes and ambient temperature and at the input of drying agent is increased by 5 times when the volumetric flow rate of the drying agent is increased by 12 times. According to the obtained data the main growth of heat efficiency, i.e., the optimal heat efficiency, takes place under a volumetric flow rate of drying agent of 700 and 800 m3/h under the mentioned ambient parameters. We perform hydrodynamic analysis for clarifying how turbulence influences thermal performances of the dryer.