Solar Energy 80 (2006) 1135–1144

www.elsevier.com/locate/solener

Thermal modeling of a natural convection greenhouse drying

system for jaggery: An experimental validation
Anil Kumar a, G.N. Tiwari b,*

a
Department of Industrial & Production, Rajiv Gandhi Technological University, Bhopal 462 036, India
b
Centre for Energy Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi 110 016, India

Received 18 October 2004; received in revised form 16 May 2005; accepted 28 September 2005
Available online 20 December 2005

Communicated by: Associate Editor Istvan Farkas

Abstract

The aim of this work is to develop a thermal model so as to predict the jaggery temperature, the greenhouse air tem-
perature and the moisture evaporated (jaggery mass during drying), during the drying of jaggery under natural convection
conditions. The experiment was conducted separately for 0.75 kg and 2.0 kg of jaggery pieces having dimensions of
0.03 · 0.03 · 0.01 m3 for complete drying. The jaggery was dried in a roof-type even span greenhouse with floor area of
1.20 · 0.78 m2. Experiment was carried out during February 5–8, 2004 at IIT Delhi (2835 0 N 7212 0 E) from 10 am to 5
pm. A computer program was developed in MATLAB software so as to calculate the jaggery temperature, the greenhouse
air temperature and the moisture evaporated and was also used to predict the thermal performance of the greenhouse on
the basis of solar intensity and ambient temperature. The software developed was experimentally validated. It was shown
that the analytical and experimental results for jaggery drying are in good agreement.
 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Thermal modeling; Drying of jaggery; Greenhouse

1. Introduction sector in India. Compared to 99.9% sucrose content

Jaggery or ‘‘Gur’’ is one of the traditional, unre-
fined, whole sugars made by the concentration of
sugarcane juice without the use of any chemicals/
synthetic additives or preservatives and most impor-
tant agro-processing industries under decentralised
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 11 2659 1258; fax: +91 11
2658 1121/2686 2037.
E-mail addresses: anilkumar76@gmail.com (A. Kumar),
gntiwari@ces.iitd.ernet.in (G.N. Tiwari).
of sugar, jaggery contains 70–85% sucrose, 10–15%
reducing sugar, 1–2% minerals like calcium, iron
and phosphorous, vitamins A and B, protein and
fats (Rao and Lakshminarayana, 1999). The indus-
try is meeting about 40% of the total requirement of
sweeteners and giving employment to 25 lakhs peo-
ple in rural areas (Alam, 1999). Manufacturing of
jaggery starts by September/October and continues
till March/April in most of the areas.
It has been reported that jaggery losses to the
extent of 25% occurs in normal storage process.

0038-092X/$ - see front matter  2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.solener.2005.09.011
1136 A. Kumar, G.N. Tiwari / Solar Energy 80 (2006) 1135–1144
Nomenclature
A area (m2), coefficient in Eq. (7)
a derivative of Eq. (8), coefficient of the lin-
ear expression in Eq. (11)
B coefficient in Eq. (7)
b coefficient of the linear expression in Eq.
(11)
C specific heat (J/kg C), coefficient in Eq.
(7)
Cd coefficient of discharge
D coefficient in Eq. (7)
E root mean square of percent deviation
F fraction of solar radiation
f(t) time dependent derivative in Eq. (8)
g acceleration due to gravity (m/s2)
DH difference in pressure head (m)
hc convective heat transfer coefficient of
crop (W/m2 C)
hr radiative heat transfer coefficient (W/
m2 C)
I(t) solar intensity on horizontal surface (W/
m 2)
Ii solar intensity on greenhouse wall/roof i
(W/m2)
Lg thickness (m)
Kg thermal conductivity (W/m C)
M mass (kg)
mev moisture evaporated (kg)
P(T) vapor pressure at temperature T (N/m2)
DP difference in vapor pressure (N/m2)
R coefficients of the linear expression in Eq.
(6) and coefficient of correlation
t time (s) and drying time (h) in Eq. (11)
This loss is mainly due to the moisture present in the
jaggery which triggers on biochemical activity—
thus converting sucrose into reducing sugars (glu-
cose and fructose) which further make jaggery more
hygroscopic attracting more moisture and the pro-
cess continues like chain reaction untill jaggery liq-
uidifies. It is thus necessary to dry jaggery up to
certain moisture content before storage (Uppal
and Sharma, 1999a).
Recently, the concept of jaggery packaging for
ease in handling, transport and distribution, besides
hygiene has also received considerable attention in
industry. Drying of jaggery up to an optimum mois-
ture content thus becomes a pre-requisite for the
effective packaging. Freshly prepared jaggery has
T temperature (C)
U over all heat loss (W/m2 C)
V volume of greenhouse (m3)
v velocity of air
Greek letters
a absorptivity of crop surface
b coefficient of volumetric expansion (1/C)
c relative humidity of air (%)
e emissivity
r Stefan–Boltzmann constant (W/m2 K4)
k latent heat of vaporization (J/kg)
l dynamic viscosity of air (kg/m)
q density of air (kg/m3)
s transmissivity
Subscripts
0 initial value
a ambient or air
j jaggery
e above the crop (jaggery) surface
g ground or greenhouse floor
i greenhouse wall/roof (i = 1, 2, . . ., 6)
m mass
n north wall
r greenhouse air
v humid air or vent
ce crop (jaggery) to environment
gr greenhouse floor to room
g1 greenhouse floor to underground
jy=0 surface of floor of greenhouse
moisture content in the range of 10–12% which is
not desired and hence should be removed by the
process of drying (Uppal and Sharma, 1999b).
The jaggery drying can be done by several meth-
ods namely open sun drying, cabinet drying and
greenhouse drying. In open sun drying, humidity
cannot be controlled and hence it takes considerably
a longer time to dry due to the hygroscopic nature
of jaggery. The drying can also be done with the
help of a solar cabinet dryer but the high tempera-
ture inside the cabinet dryer may melt the jaggery
which is not desirable. Another constraint is cost,
as it is economic to dry the same volume of jaggery
inside the greenhouse as compared to the cabinet
dryer. However, the greenhouse dryer provides con-
 A. Kumar, G.N. Tiwari / Solar Energy 80 (2006) 1135–1144
Sun
Ta γ a I (t )
I (d)
Outlet
Air
Tr
Fj
Te
Inlet Air
hgr Tr
Jaggery
0.78 m
hg∞
Fig. 1. Working principle of greenhouse jaggery drying under natural convection mode.
trolled environment in terms of moderate tempera-
ture and humidity which is benificial for the jaggery
drying more effectively thus reducing the drying
time (Prakash, 2004). The greenhouse drier is a sys-
tem that uses the regular structure of a greenhouse,
when the greenhouse is not used. This double func-
tion, greenhouse and drier, improves the return rate
of the initial investment (Farkas, 1998; Condorı́
et al., 2001).
Rachmat and Horibe (1999) presented a mathe-
matical model to predict the air temperature inside
the greenhouse on the basis of ambient conditions.
An optimal model for post-harvesting is developed
for alfalfa drying considering the differences in dry-
ing behavior between stems and leaves of alfalfa, the
heat and mass balances of the drying air and a
model for a solar energy system. The complete
model is used to calculate the dynamic optimal
operation for alfalfa drying in a thin layer (Boxtel
et al., 1996; Farkas, 2003). The performance of the
solar tunnel drier for drying of pineapple slices
under Bangladesh conditions was studied and
proximate analysis indicated that the pineapple
dried in a solar tunnel drier was a good quality
dried product for human consumption (Bala et al.,
2003).
Recently, mathematical models were presented to
study the thermal behavior of crops (cabbage and
1137
Ui
0.60 m
Outlet
Air
0.40 m
Tj
hc
Tr
γr
Fn
Inlet Air W
m
Balance S N
2
1.
E
peas) for open sun drying (natural convection) and
inside the greenhouse under both natural and forced
convection. The predicted crop temperature and
crop mass during drying showed fair agreement
with experimental values within the root mean
square of percent error of 2.98% and 16.55%,
respectively (Jain and Tiwari, 2004).
The present work focuses on the development of
a thermal model for prediction of hourly jaggery
temperature, greenhouse air temperature and mois-
ture evaporation under natural convection mode of
jaggery drying (Fig. 1).
2. Experimental observation
Jaggery pieces of either 0.75 or 2.0 kg having
dimensions of 0.03 · 0.03 · 0.01 m3 were kept as
thin layers in wire mesh tray of dimensions
0.4 · 0.24 m2 under the east–west oriented green-
house for experimentation. A roof-type even span
greenhouse with 1.20 · 0.78 m2 effective floor cover-
ing area having the central height and height of the
walls as 0.60 and 0.40 m, respectively, was made of
PVC pipe and UV film covering. An air vent with an
effective opening of 0.0722 m2 was provided at the
roof for natural draft.
A six-channel digital temperature indicator with
least count of 0.1 C (accuracy ±0.1%) having
1138 A. Kumar, G.N. Tiwari / Solar Energy 80 (2006) 1135–1144

Table 1
Experimental observation for greenhouse jaggery drying under natural mode during February 5–8, 2004, Delhi (2835 0 N 7212 0 E) (Fig. 1)
Day drying Time I(t) (W/m2) I(d) (W/m2) Ta (C) Tj (C) Te (C) Mj · 103 kg cr (%) ca (%)
1st 10 am 340 80 14 38.5 30.5 2000.0 55.2 56.0
11 am 520 80 18 44.2 33.8 1993.2 45.8 45.4
12 noon 560 100 19 54.7 43.5 1987.0 37.7 36.1
1 pm 480 100 20 55.6 45.9 1982.4 35.6 35.1
2 pm 560 100 23 58.6 49.3 1978.5 34.0 33.8
3 pm 360 80 23 54.9 46.2 1975.5 33.1 32.3
4 pm 220 60 21 50.6 43.3 1973.6 34.2 33.5
5 pm 60 20 20 45.5 40.3 1971.9 38.9 38.3
2nd 10 am 380 80 14 42.2 39.5 1971.9 55.3 55.6
11 am 520 100 16 46.4 42.1 1968.8 53.7 55.2
12 noon 580 120 18 45.5 41.8 1966.0 48.0 47.4
1 pm 620 140 19 48.0 44.3 1963.6 45.8 46.9
2 pm 580 120 22 54.3 47.3 1961.8 45.0 46.5
3 pm 340 80 21 51.7 42.3 1960.1 42.2 43.0
4 pm 200 40 20 43.5 38.7 1959.3 44.4 43.5
5 pm 60 20 19 36.4 35.3 1959.1 43.2 42.5
3rd 10 am 420 60 14 40.2 35.0 1959.1 60.0 60.5
11 am 600 100 17 46.2 39.3 1957.1 40.0 40.2
12 noon 620 100 20 50.0 45.6 1954.8 33.5 31.3
1 pm 680 100 21 49.4 43.8 1952.6 34.1 33.1
2 pm 580 100 24 51.3 49.3 1950.6 32.3 32.7
3 pm 440 60 24 49.3 45.2 1949.1 29.8 29.5
4 pm 260 40 22 50.2 41.9 1948.4 33.1 32.6
5 pm 60 20 21 46.4 38.7 1947.4 33.8 33.6
4th 10 am 340 80 12 43.7 41.5 1947.4 55.8 56.4
11 am 500 100 19 45.9 43.9 1946.2 42.0 41.2
12 noon 640 100 20 51.9 47.7 1944.3 36.6 36.2
1 pm 620 100 22 49.9 48.1 1942.5 35.3 35.2
2 pm 560 100 24 51.9 47.1 1940.8 30.8 29.5
3 pm 300 80 24 48.9 43.9 1939.7 36.9 36.7
4 pm 200 60 22 44.3 40.1 1938.9 42.3 42.5
5 pm 60 20 20 40.2 37.3 1938.5 44.8 45.0

125 C range with copper constantan thermocouples 3. Thermal modeling

was used to measure the jaggery and air tempera-
ture. To measure the relative humidity a digital
humidity meter (model Lutron HT-3003) was used.
It had a least count of 0.1% relative humidity with
accuracy of ±3% on the full-scale range of 5–
99.9% of relative humidity. A top loading digital bal-
ance of 6 kg weighing capacity, having a least count
of 0.1 g with ±2% on the full scale was used to weigh
the sample during drying. The solar intensity was
measured with a calibrated solarimeter, locally
named Suryamapi (Central Electronics Ltd., India),
having a least count of 2 mW/cm2 with ±2% accu-
racy on the full-scale range of 0–120 mW/cm2.
The data of the experimental observations for the
natural convection greenhouse drying for 2.0 kg of
jaggery is presented in Table 1. With the help of
the experimental observations, the complete drying
behavior of the jaggery is as shown in Fig. 3.
3.1. Working principle
The working principle of the greenhouse jaggery
drying under natural convection condition is illus-
trated in Fig. 2. The plastic covered greenhouse traps
the solar energy
P in the form of thermal heat within
the cover ð I i Ai si Þ and reduces the convective heat
P The fraction of trapped energy ð1  F n ÞF j
loss.
ð I i Ai si Þ will be received
Ppartly by the jaggery and
partly ð1  F n Þð1  F j Þð I i Ai si Þ by the floor and
exposed tray area and the P remaining solar radiation
ðð1  F n Þð1  F j Þð1  ag Þð I i Ai si ÞÞ will heat the
enclosed air inside the greenhouse. The temperature
difference between the greenhouse air and ambient
air and the vapor pressure difference between the
jaggery and the greenhouse air, respectively, are
responsible for the natural draft and the moisture
 A. Kumar, G.N. Tiwari / Solar Energy 80 (2006) 1135–1144 1139

Cd Av 2 gΔ H ΔP
Sun
I(t)
Σ U i Ai (Tr – Ta ) W
(1 – Fn )(1 – F j )(1– α g ) Σ I i Ai τi Canopy
Σ I i Ai τi S N
(1 – Fn )F j α j Σ I i Ai τi
E
hc (T j – Tr )A j

[
0.016hc P (T j ) – γ r P(Tr ) A j ] Fn Σ I i Ai τi

hgr (T x =0 – Tr )(Ag – A j ) (1 – Fn )(1 – F j )αg Σ I i Ai τi

Tray (Jaggery)
hg∞ (T x =0 – T∞ )Ag

Fig. 2. Thermal energy flow for greenhouse jaggery dryer under natural convection mode.

evaporation from the interior of the jaggery. The (b) Energy balance equation at ground surface
desired difference in vapor pressure may be obtained (Jain and Tiwari, 2004; Tiwari, 2004)
either by increasing the vapor pressure of the jaggery X
surface or by decreasing the vapor pressure of the ð1  F n Þð1  F j Þag I i A i si
surroundings or by both (Tiwari, 2004). ¼ hg1 ðT jy¼0  T 1 ÞAg þ hgr ðT jy¼0  T r ÞðAg  Aj Þ
ð2Þ
3.2. Energy balance
½The rate of thermal energy received
Thermal model for prediction of jaggery temper- at the floor surface
ature and moisture evaporation was developed with
¼ ½The rate of thermal energy lost inside
the energy balance equations for greenhouse drying
under natural mode. The energy balance equations the ground due to conduction loss
were written with following assumptions. þ ½The rate of thermal energy lost from
floor to greenhouse air due to
(i) Heat capacity of cover and wall material is
convection and radiation losses
neglected.
(ii) There is no stratification in greenhouse air (c) Energy balance equation at greenhouse cham-
temperature. ber, using the coefficient of diffusion and dif-
(iii) Absorptivity and heat capacity of the enclosed ference in vapor pressure due to temperature
air is neglected. difference of greenhouse chamber and ambient
(a) Energy balance equation at jaggery surface air (Jain and Tiwari, 2004; Tiwari, 2004)
(Jain and Tiwari, 2004; Tiwari, 2004) X
X dT j ð1  F n Þð1  F j Þð1  ag Þ I i Ai s i
ð1  F n ÞF j aj I i Ai si ¼ M j C j þ hc ðT j  T r ÞAj
dt þ hc ðT j  T r ÞAj þ 0:016hc ½P ðT j Þ  cr P ðT r ÞAj
þ 0:016hc ½P ðT j Þ  cr P ðT r ÞAj
þ hgr ðT jy¼0  T r ÞðAg  Aj Þ
ð1Þ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi X
¼ C d Av 2gDH  DP þ U i Ai ðT r  T a Þ
½The rate of thermal energy received
at the jaggery surface ð3Þ
¼ ½The rate of thermal energy stored ½The rate of thermal energy received to
by the jaggery greenhouse air
þ ½The rate of thermal energy lost þ ½The rate of thermal energy received
due to convection loss from jaggery due to convection loss
þ ½The rate of thermal energy lost þ ½The rate of thermal energy received due
due to evaporation loss to evaporation loss from jaggery
1140 A. Kumar, G.N. Tiwari / Solar Energy 80 (2006) 1135–1144
 
þ ½The rate of thermal energy received from 2 2 3
D¼ ðC d Av Þ ½R2  ca ðR1 T a þ R2 Þ
greenhouse floor due to convection and qr
h
radiation losses  I eff R þ I eff G H G þ T j ðhc Aj þ 0:016hc Aj R1 Þ
¼ ½The rate of thermal energy lost to the X i2
þ T a ðUAÞg1 þ T a U i Ai þ 0:016hc Aj R2 ð1  cr Þ
ambient air by natural ventilation
þ ½The rate of overall heat loss from Using the known value of greenhouse air tempera-
greenhouse air to ambient air through ture (Tr) in Eq. (1), the jaggery temperature (Tj)
canopy cover can be determined from the first order differential
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi equation
The term C d Av 2gDH  DP represented (Daugh-
erty et al., 1989) the rate of heat loss through natu- dT j
þ aT j ¼ f ðtÞ ð8Þ
ral vent. The value of Cd was experimentally dt
evaluated and its value is given in Table 3, where, The solution of Eq. (8) for the average f ðtÞ for the
DP time 0–1 is
DH ¼ ð4Þ
qr g f ðtÞ
Tj ¼ ð1  eat Þ þ T j0 eat ð9Þ
DP ¼ P ðT r Þ  ca P ðT a Þ ð5Þ a
where,
3.3. Solution of thermal model hj Aj ð1 þ 0:016R1 Þ
a¼
M j Cj
To simplify the above equations, the vapor pres-
sure has been linearised for the small range of tem- and
perature between 25 and 55 C, which mostly occurs I eff j þ hc Aj ½T r  0:016fR2  cr ðR1 T r þ R2 Þg
in solar drying, as f ðtÞ ¼
M jCj
P ðT Þ ¼ R1 T þ R2 ð6Þ
Once the temperatures of the jaggery and green-
The linear regression analysis has been used to
house air are known, the moisture evaporation
calculate the vapor pressure of vapor at Tr and Ta.
can be evaluated with the expression
With the help of Eqs. (2), (4), (5) and (6), Eq. (3)
has been simplified in the form of a third order poly- hc
mev ¼ 0:016 ½ðR1 T j þ R2 Þ  cr ðR1 T r þ R2 ÞAj t
nomial equation to determine the greenhouse air k
temperature (Tr) for initial values of jaggery temper- ð10Þ
ature and ambient temperature as
AT 3r þ BT 2r þ CT r þ D ¼ 0 ð7Þ 4. Input values and computational procedure
where,
Computer programs based on Matlab software
 
2 2 were used to solve the mathematical models. The
A¼ ðC d Av Þ R31 average hourly solar radiation on the different walls
qr
  and roofs of the greenhouse was evaluated from the
2 2
B¼ ðC d Av Þ 3R21 ½R2  ca ðR1 T a þ R2 Þ average hourly solar radiation on a horizontal sur-
qr
h X i2 face with the help of Liu and Jordan formula
 hc Aj þ 0:016hc Aj cr R1 þ ðUAÞg1 þ U i Ai (1962). Then, the average hourly total radiation
  received by the greenhouse is the sum of the average
2
C¼ ðC d Av Þ2 3R1 ½R2  ca ðR1 T a þ R2 Þ2 hourly radiations of the walls and roofs of the
qr
h X i greenhouse. Thus, the average hourly total radia-
þ 2 hc Aj þ 0:016hc Aj cr R1 þ ðUAÞg1 þ U i Ai tion received by the greenhouse and the average
h hourly ambient air temperature was used as input
 I eff R þ I eff G H G þ T j ðhc Aj þ 0:016hc Aj R1 Þ data to compute the hourly jaggery and greenhouse
X i
air temperatures and the hourly moisture evapo-
þ T a ðUAÞg1 þ T a U i Ai þ 0:016hc Aj R2 ð1  cr Þ
rated (jaggery mass during drying). The hourly
 A. Kumar, G.N. Tiwari / Solar Energy 80 (2006) 1135–1144 1141

moisture evaporation was calculated with the help 5. Results and discussion
of Eq. (10). The convective heat transfer coefficient
for jaggery drying was calculated using experimen- The solar drying inside greenhouse was con-
tal data given in Table 1, following the method ducted in the month of February 2004. Each exper-
given in Tiwari et al. (2004). iment was started at 10 am and continued till 5 pm.
As the convective heat transfer coefficient calcu- The thermal model developed for greenhouse jag-
lated by the above method varies linearly, hence gery drying under natural convection was solved
the linear curve fitting was used to represent the for experimental data given in Table 1. The green-
convective heat transfer coefficient as a function of house air temperature (Tr) was calculated for initial
drying time given by the expression values of jaggery and ambient air temperature by
using Eq. (7). Then this value of Tr was used to cal-
hc ¼ at þ b ð11Þ culate the jaggery temperature Tj by using Eq. (9).
The coefficient of the linear expression for the Further, these calculated values of Tr and Tj were
natural convection jaggery drying is presented in used to calculate the hourly moisture evaporation
Table 2. The other design parameters and the con- from Eq. (10).
stants used for computation are given in Table 3. From Fig. 3a, it can be observed that during the
The agreement between the predicted and the first day of drying of 2.0 kg of jaggery, the moisture
experimental values is presented in terms of coeffi- is evaporated from the surface of the jaggery
cient of correlation (R) and root mean square of (28.1 g). However, for the second and third day of
percent deviation (E) for jaggery temperature, drying, the moisture removal is 12.8 and 11.7 g,
greenhouse air temperature and mass of jaggery respectively and occurs from the interior of the jag-
during drying. gery due to diffusion from inner to outer surface. On
the fourth day, about 9 g of moisture is evaporated
and it is observed in the last hours of drying that
Table 2 only a negligible amount of moisture is evaporated
Coefficients of linear expression for convective heat transfer hence resulting in the complete drying of jaggery.
coefficient Similar behavior of drying is observed for the case
Day a b of 0.75 kg of jaggery as shown in Fig. 3b.
1st 0.002 0.9779 The thermal behavior of greenhouse jaggery dry-
2nd 0.0049 1.4645 ing is shown in Figs. 4 and 5. It is observed that the
3rd 0.0089 1.6672 jaggery temperature always exceeded greenhouse air
4th 0.0018 2.0298 temperature due to direct absorption of solar energy
as shown in Fig. 4. These figures show good agree-
ment between predicted and experimental jaggery
Table 3 temperature. This agreement is presented in the
Design parameters and the constants used in modeling of same figures in terms of coefficient of correlation
greenhouse natural convection jaggery drying
Parameters Values
At 0.096 m2 2020
Ca 1012 J/kg C
2000 2nd day
Cj 2509.9 J/kg C
Mass in 10-3 x kg

Cd 0.0036 1980
Fc 0.10 4th day
1960
g 9.81 m/s2 1st day
hgr 8.0 W/m2 C 1940
R1 397.52 1920 3rd day
R2 7926.90 1900
t 3600 s
2.26 ·106 J/kg
pm

pm

pm

pm

k
am

am

am

am
00

00

00

00

5.67 · 108 W/m2 K4

00

00

00

r
:0
2:

2:

2:

2:
:

:
10

10

10

10

ag 0.6
ac 0.7 Drying time (hours)
e 0.9
Fig. 3a. Greenhouse drying curve for jaggery under natural
s 0.9
convection mode (2.0 kg).
1142 A. Kumar, G.N. Tiwari / Solar Energy 80 (2006) 1135–1144

0.755 Ambient temp. Exptl. jaggery temp.

0.75 Exptl. greenhouse temp. Predicted jaggery temp.
1st day 2nd day
Predicted greenhouse temp.
0.745
Mass in 10-3 x kg

Ej = 3.55%
60

Temperature (°C)
0.74 50 Rj = 0.98
40 Ee = 6.35%
0.735 Re = 0.90
30
0.73 20
10
0.725 0
0.72

am

on

pm

pm

pm

pm

pm
no
1

-1

5
-1

1-

2-

3-

4-
2
pm

pm

pm

pm

12
on

on
am

am

-1
10
no

no

11
00

00

00

00
0

Drying time (hours)

:0

:0
12

12
2:

4:

2:

4:
10

10

Drying time (hours) Fig. 4c. Jaggery and greenhouse air temperature under natural
convection greenhouse drying for third day (2.0 kg).
Fig. 3b. Greenhouse drying curve for jaggery under natural
convection mode (0.75 kg).

Ambient temp. Exptl. jaggery temp.

Exptl. greenhouse temp. Predicted jaggery temp.
Ambient temp. Exptl. jaggery temp. Predicted greenhouse temp.

Temperature (°C)
Exptl. greenhouse temp. Predicted jaggery temp. 60 Ej = 2.68%
50
Predicted greenhouse temp. 40 Rj = 0.96
Ej = 2.47% 30 Ee = 5.97%
Temperature (°C)

60 20
Rj = 0.98 Re = 0.90
50 10
40 Ee = 7.69% 0
30 Re = 0.98
am

on

pm

pm

pm

pm

pm
20
no
1

-1

5
-1

1-

2-

3-

4-
2

12

10
-1
10

11

0 Drying time (hours)

am

on

pm

pm

pm

pm

pm
no
1

Fig. 4d. Jaggery and greenhouse air temperature under natural

-1

5
-1

1-

2-

3-

4-
2

12
-1
10

convection greenhouse drying for fourth day (2.0 kg).

11

Drying time (hours)

Fig. 4a. Jaggery and greenhouse air temperature under natural

convection greenhouse drying for first day (2.0 kg). Experimental (1st day) Predicted (1st day)
Predicted (2nd day) Experimental (3rd day)
Experimental(4th day) Predicted (4th day)
Experimental (2nd day) Predicted (3rd day)
Ambient temp. Exptl. jaggery temp.
2.1 Em = 2.27% (1st day)
Jaggery mass (kg)

Exptl. greenhouse temp. Predicted jaggery temp. 2 Rm = 0.96 (1st day)

Predicted greenhouse temp. 1.9 Em = 4.12% (2nd day)
Ej = 3.60% 1.8 Rm = 0.98 (2nd day)
60 Rj = 0.93
Temperature (°C)

1.7 Em = 4.69% (3rd day)

50
Ee = 7.07% 1.6 Rm = 0.98 (3rd day)
40 Re = 0.90 1.5 Em = 5.68% (4th day)
30 1.4 Rm = 0.99 (4th day)
20 am on pm pm pm pm pm
1 no 1 2 3 4 5
10 -1 12 2- 1- 2- 3- 4-
10 - 1
0 11
Drying time (hours)
am

on

pm

pm

pm

pm

pm
no
1

-1

Fig. 5. Experimental and predicted jaggery mass under natural

-1

1-

2-

3-

4-
2

12
-1
10

convection greenhouse drying (2.0 kg).

11

Drying time (hours)

Fig. 4b. Jaggery and greenhouse air temperature under natural

convection greenhouse drying for second day (2.0 kg).
correlation is in the range of 0.93–0.98 for the com-
plete drying of 2.0 kg of jaggery.
From Fig. 5 it is observed that the hourly moisture
(R) and root mean square of percent (E) deviation. removal remained steady during the experiments.
The values of root mean square of percent error lie This may be referred to as first stage drying, which
in the range of 2.47–3.60% while the coefficient of can be seen from the linear variation in the jaggery
 A. Kumar, G.N. Tiwari / Solar Energy 80 (2006) 1135–1144 1143

mass for all four days of drying. From the values of The result of greenhouse drying of 0.75 kg jag-
root mean square of percent error (2.27–5.68%) and gery is shown in Figs. 6 and 7. It can be concluded
the coefficient of correlation (0.96–0.99) as given in from Fig. 3 that the drying time required for 2.0 kg
Fig. 5, it is inferred that the predicted values of mass jaggery is 2 days more than that for 0.75 kg of jag-
of the jaggery during drying is in harmony with the gery. Hence, it can be inferred that the drying time
observed values in all four days. depends mainly on total mass of jaggery to be dried
for a given volume of greenhouse.
Ambient temp. Exptl. jaggery temp.
Exptl. greenhouse temp. Predicted jaggery temp. 6. Conclusions
Predicted greenhouse temp.
60 Ej = 5.86% The thermal model developed in this paper was
Temperature (°C)

50 Rj = 0.91
Ee = 4.48%
validated with the experimental observations for
40
30 Re = 0.92 the complete drying of jaggery under natural con-
20 vection conditions. The predicted values and exper-
10 imental observations were in good agreement with
0 coefficient of correlation ranging between 0.90 and
am

on

pm

pm

pm

pm

pm

0.98 for jaggery and greenhouse air temperature

no
1

-1

5
-1

1-

2-

3-

4-

and 0.96–1.00 for the jaggery mass during drying.

2

12
-1
10

11

Drying time (hours) The present model will be beneficial to design green-
Fig. 6a. Jaggery and greenhouse air temperature under natural house dryer for a given mass of jaggery with thin
convection greenhouse drying for first day (0.75 kg). layer.

Appendix A. Expression used in thermal modeling

Ambient temp. Exptl. jaggery temp.
Exptl. greenhouse temp. Predicted jaggery temp.
X
Predicted greenhouse temp. I eff J ¼ ð1  F n ÞF j aj I i Ai s i ðA:1Þ
60 Ej = 4.03% X
Temperature (°C)

50 Rj = 0.96 I eff G ¼ ð1  F n Þð1  F j Þag I i A i si ðA:2Þ

40 Ee = 4.94% X
30 Re = 0.93 I eff R ¼ ð1  F n Þð1  F j Þð1  ag Þ I i Ai s i ðA:3Þ
20  1
10 hg1
0
Hg ¼ 1 þ ðA:4Þ
hgr ðAg  Aj Þ
 
am

on

pm

pm

pm

pm

pm

1 1
no
1

-1

ðUAÞg1 ¼ þ ðA:5Þ
-1

1-

2-

3-

4-
2

12
-1
10

hgr ðAg  Aj Þ hg1 Ag

11

Drying time (hours)  

5144
Fig. 6b. Jaggery and greenhouse air temperature under natural P ðT Þ ¼ exp 25:317  ðA:6Þ
convection greenhouse drying for second day (0.75 kg). T i þ 273:15
hce ¼ hc þ hr ðA:7Þ
4 4
Experimental (1st day) Predicted (1st day)
re½ðT j þ 273:15Þ  ðT e þ 273:15Þ 
hr ¼ ðA:8Þ
Experimental (2nd day) Predicted (2nd day) ðT j  T e Þ
     
0.8 1 1 lg 1
0.7 ¼ þ þ ðA:9Þ
Jaggery mass (kg)

Em = 13.43% (1st day)

0.6 Rm = 1.00 (1st day)
U h1 Kg h2
0.5
0.4
Em = 24.80% (2nd day) h1 ¼ hc þ hr þ he ðA:10Þ
0.3 Rm = 0.98 (2nd day)
0.2
h2 ¼ 5:7 þ 3:8v ðA:11Þ
0.1
0
Appendix B. Statistical tools used in thermal
pm

pm

pm
pm
n
am

m
o

4p
no

5
-1
11

modeling (Chapra and Canale, 1989)

1-

2-

3-

4-
2

12
-

-1
10

11

Drying time (hours)

Fig. 7. Experimental and predicted jaggery mass under natural Root mean square of percent deviation is given
convection greenhouse drying (0.75 kg). by
1144 A. Kumar, G.N. Tiwari / Solar Energy 80 (2006) 1135–1144
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
P 2 Farkas, I., 1998. Modelling, Control and optimization. Green-
ðei Þ house, Drying and Farm Energy System. Gödöll} o University
E¼ ðB:1Þ
N of Agricultural Sciences, Textbook, Gödöll} o, Hungary.
h i Farkas, I., 2003. Control Aspects of Post Harvest Technologies.
where, ei ¼ X iXYi i  100. In: Chakraverty, A., Mujumdar, A.S., Raghavan, G.S.V.,
Ramaswamy, H.S. (Eds.), Handbook of Post-harvest Tech-
Coefficient of correlation is given by nology. Marcel Dekker, New York, Basel, pp. 845–866.
P P P Jain, D., Tiwari, G.N., 2004. Effect of greenhouse on crop drying
N X i Y i  ð X i Þð Y i Þ
R ¼ qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
P P qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
P P
under natural and forced convection II. Thermal modeling
N X 2i  ð X i Þ2 N Y 2i  ð Y i Þ2 and experimental validation. Energy Conversion Manage-
ment 45, 765–783.
ðB:2Þ Liu, B.Y.H., Jordan, R.C., 1962. Daily insolation on surfaces
tilted towards equator. ASHRAE Journal 3 (10), 53.
Prakash, O., 2004. Heat and Mass Transfer for Production of
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