Indirect-Passive Solar Dryer for Grapes

Experiments for grapes drying using Indirect-Passive solar dryer were conducted at Tehran, Iran. Indirect-Passive solar dryer consisting of a solar air collector, a drying chamber in a series to supply hot air directly into the drying chamber using a dc fan and hiter. This drier has loading capacity of 10-12 kg of grapes. The design is based on energy balances and on an hourly-average radiation data reduction procedure for tilted surfaces. The analysis showed that the traditional drying, i.e. open sun drying, dried the grapes in 6-7 days, while the solar dryer took 2-4 days and produced better quality raisins. A major advantage this dryer is that loading and unloading is done cotemporaneous.

Keywords:

Solar Dryer , Mixed-Mode Solar Dryer , Solar air Collector , Grape