Solar Energy 230 (2021) 721–731

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Solar Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/solener

Analysis of drying kinetics, energy and microstructural properties of turnips

using a solar drying system
Decheng Kong a, b, Yunfeng Wang a, b, *, Ming Li a, b, Xianglong Liu a, Mengxiao Huang a,
Xuejuan Li a
a
Solar Energy Research Institute, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650500, China
b
Key Laboratory of Solar Heating and Cooling Technology of Yunnan Provincial Universities, Kunming 650500, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: This study proposes an indirect solar drying system containing a solar photovoltaic/thermal air collector, a
Solar drying monocrystalline silicon photovoltaic system, a drying oven and two batteries. The drying kinetics and drying
Turnip quality of turnip slices obtained using the proposed solar drying equipment and via natural drying were
Drying kinetics
compared and analyzed along with the energy provided and required for turnip drying using a solar dryer. The
Colour analysis
results reveal that the turnip drying time is shorter when using the solar dryer than when using natural drying.
SEM
The moisture content on dry basis of the turnips decreased to 0.197 from 20.370 using the solar dryer. However,
when subjected to natural drying, the moisture content on dry basis took more time to dry from a moistire
content of 21.320 to 0.250. The Midilli and Kucuk model was deemed appropriate for depicting the turnip slices’
drying using solar drying equipment and via natural sunlight. Furthermore, the dried turnips obtained via
natural drying and using the solar drying system exhibited the highest and lowest values of total colour dif­
ference, respectively. Following open sun drying, scanning electron microscopy revealed some obvious molds on
the surface of the turnip cells, and the turnip cells were subsequently destroyed. The drying quality of turnips
attained via open sun drying was severely reduced. The drying method using the solar drying equipment was
thus better than natural drying, particularly in cloudy weather.

1. Introduction
Turnips (Raphanus sativus L.), also called as the Chinese radish and
panicled fameflower root, native to Europe, is an annual or biennial
rhizome plant belonging to the Brassicaceae family (Huang et al., 2017).
Turnips have been widely used in food and traditional Chinese medicine
for thousands of years. Turnip is widely known for its high nutritional
value: it contains substantial carbohydrates, proteins, beta-carotene,
dietary fiber, vitamin E, vitamin C, iron, calcium and zinc (Yu et al.,
2020). Moreover, the turnip is widely used as a medicinal component
because it can inhibit coronary heart diseases, hyperlipidemia and
cancer. Currently, turnip is a very important vegetable crop worldwide,
particularly in China, Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia because of its
high yield and wide adaptation to the environment (Peng et al., 2017).
In 2017, the turnip-planting area in China was 1.271 million hm2,
constituting nearly 5.6% of the total planting area of vegetables, with an
approximate turnip yield of 45 million tonnes. Recently, the turnip-
planting area in China has reached ~ 1.332 million hm2, and the
harvesting area and total turnip yield of China rank first in the world
(Zhang and Fan, 2021). Turnip can be processed through various
methods into fresh, dehydrated, pickled, salted and fermented products.
Recently, the dehydrated fruit and vegetable processing industry has
rapidly grown and is in great demand in the agricultural market.
The moisture content of fresh turnips can exceed 95% (Lv et al.,
2015). Therefore, turnips are perishable during storage and trans­
portation. Drying is an important method used for preserving turnips
worldwide. Drying reduces moisture content and micro-organism
growth, thereby improving turnip stability and extending its shelf life.
Additionally, some physical, biological and chemical reactions that may
adversely affect turnip quality could be prevented through drying. The
package, storage and transportation costs also decrease with reduction
in weight and volume (Badaoui et al., 2019). Traditional drying methods
may change some of the physical, chemical and biological properties of
turnips. Moreover, current drying technology, such as infrared, vacuum,
freeze, microwave and convective hot air drying require considerable
energy (Wang et al., 2015).
With increasing fossil fuel consumption, energy shortages and

* Corresponding author at: Solar Energy Research Institute, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650500, China.
E-mail address: wangyf@ynnu.edu.cn (Y. Wang).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2021.10.073
Received 8 March 2021; Received in revised form 2 October 2021; Accepted 24 October 2021
Available online 1 November 2021
0038-092X/© 2021 International Solar Energy Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
D. Kong et al.
Nomenclature
A0, A1 coefficients of the mathematical models
a* chromatic redness parameter of the dried samples
a*0 chromatic redness parameter of the fresh samples
b* yellowness chromatic parameter of dried samples
b*0 yellowness chromatic parameter of fresh samples
cap specific heat of air (J⋅kg− 1⋅◦ C− 1)
I output current (A)
k0, k1 constants of the mathematical models (s− 1)
L* degree of lightness of the dried samples
L*0 degree of lightness of the fresh samples
m mass of the material at any stage (kg)
ṁ mass flow rate (kg⋅s− 1)
md mass of the dried material (kg)
mf mass of the material after drying (kg)
mi original mass of the material (kg)
M moisture content (kg water⋅kg− 1 dry product)
Me equilibrium moisture content (kg water⋅kg− 1 dry product)
Mo moisture content of the fresh sample (kg water⋅kg− 1 dry
product)
MR moisture ratio
MRexp experimental value
pollution are continuously growing (Koşan et al., 2020). Thus, the sig­
nificance of using renewable energy has been drawing extensive
research attention. Solar energy was used in many aspects as an
environment-friendly, limitless and economic energy source (Yu et al.,
2021).
An important application is the use of solar energy to dry agricultural
and associated products. Solar drying is the oldest and most economical
drying method. However, traditional solar drying has some disadvan­
tages associated with food pollution caused by dust, insect, rain and
other factors (Erick César et al., 2020). Numerous solar dryers have been
proposed to fulfill the increasing requirements for drying food. Badaoui
et al. (2019) designed an innovative greenhouse dryer to dry tomato
pomace waste, wherein five fans of 55 W were powered by a 1 kW
photovoltaic module for hot air circulation. For the drying system, the
drying temperature varied between 40 ◦ C and 50 ◦ C, and the tomato
pomace drying process was completed in 5 h. An indirect-mode solar
drying system for mint and thymus was proposed and fabricated by El-
Sebaii and Shalaby (2013). In that system, the drying chamber was
connected by a double pass plate air collector to force the heated air into
the oven using a fan. They determined that the thymus and mint attained
the final moisture content after 34 and 5 h, respectively. Furthermore,
the results showed that the Midili and Kucuk model is appropriate for
depicting the drying of the thymus, whereas the Page and Modified Page
model are the most appropriate for mint. Gupta et al. (2021) developed a
stand-alone solar photovoltaic thermal (PVT) dryer for drying green
chili. The electricity generated by the photovoltaic panel was used to
drive the blower making the solar drying system self-sustained. The
mathematical models are also used to investigate the drying kinetics of
dried green chilli using the solar dryer and open sun. In addition, many
solar dryers are combined with auxiliary equipment or energy such as
heat pumps (Hao et al., 2021), phase change material (Madhankumar
et al., 2021) and biomass (Manrique et al., 2020).
Some researchers have focused on studying various types of dryers
for drying turnips owing to the high demand for turnips. Fresh turnips
are typically subjected to various drying techniques such as vacuum,
freeze, infrared, microwave, hot air and multiple modes of coupled
drying. Lee and Kim (2009) introduced a laboratory-scale vacuum dryer
for Asian turnip slice drying. In that experiment, turnip was cut into 4
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Solar Energy 230 (2021) 721–731
MRpre predicted value
n number constant
N number of observations
N1 number of DC fans used
P output power (W)
Q useful heat (J)
Qe required heat to evaporate water (J)
Ql losses of heat energy (J)
Qs total provided heat (J)
Qt total required heat (J)
R2 correlation coefficient
t time (h)
Tain inlet temperature (◦ C)
Taout outlet temperature (◦ C)
U output voltage (V)
wR total uncertainty
w1, w2,…, wn uncertainties in independent variables
Wp total provided electricity (kWh)
Wr required electricity (kWh)
χ2 reduced chi-square
γ latent heat of vapourisation (kJ⋅kg− 1)
ΔE* total colour change
and 6 mm pieces, and the drying temperature varied between 40 ◦ C and
60 ◦ C. They studied drying characteristics, the mathematical model, the
effective moisture diffusivity and the activation energy. Results showed
that the logarithmic model can describe turnip slice drying, with the
effective moisture diffusivity varying between 6.92 × 10− 9 and 14.59 ×
10− 9 m2⋅s− 1. In addition, the activation energy is 16.49 and 20.26
kJ⋅mol− 1 when the turnips are sliced into 4 and 6 mm pieces, respec­
tively. Liu et al. (2018) proposed a low-pressure superheated steam
dryer (LPSSD) for green turnips. Studying the effect of steam conden­
sation on the vitamin C (VC) content within the turnip, they found that
the VC content decreases during the drying process because of the steam
condensation occurring on the surface of the green turnip. Notably, the
amount of steam condensation could be reduced through vacuum pre­
heating. Hence, a substantial amount of VC can be retained. Further­
more, a microwave combined with a hot air dryer was designed and
built by Peng et al. (2017). They analyzed the drying characteristics of
turnips with different intermittent pulse rations and air conditions.
Wang et al. (2015) also proposed an intelligent far infrared-vacuum
dryer for drying turnips. The turnip drying quality and drying process
were investigated and optimized. They found that the best turnip drying
quality was achieved when the drying temperature, vacuum and turnip
slice thickness were 70 ◦ C, 3000 Pa and 7 mm, respectively. Addition­
ally, the dried turnip was observed via scanning electron microscopy
(SEM).
Several experimental studies have been conducted on turnip drying
using methods such as vacuum, microwave, infrared and hot air drying.
However, the dryers used therein typically require commercial power to
drive, thus increasing energy consumption and drying costs. In many
rural areas, the drying cost of such drying equipment is too high for
small farmers. Thus, designing and developing a low cost and low energy
consumption drying equipment is necessary, and the drying quality of
materials must also be considered as an important factor. Solar drying is
deemed an efficient drying method for agricultural and associated
products. Several solar dryers have been developed and used to dry
tomatoes (Dufera et al., 2021), red chili (Ekka and Palanisamy, 2020),
ghost chili (Rabha et al., 2017), turmeric (Karthikeyan and Murugavelh,
2018), natural rubber (Ortiz-Rodríguez et al., 2021) and cabya (Hawa
et al., 2021). The drying kinetics of these products using solar dryers
D. Kong et al. Solar Energy 230 (2021) 721–731

were also investigated. Currently, reports on turnips dried using a solar
dryer are limited. Studies on the drying kinetics of turnips dried using a
solar dryer are also few. Furthermore, quality studies of the dried turnips
are crucial for the design and optimization of solar dryers.
With the development of solar photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) tech­
nology, many scholars are focusing on the research of solar PV/T col­
lector, which can generate electricity and heat energy simultaneously.
At present, various types of solar PV/T collector have been developed to
improve the utilization of solar energy, as well as further improve the
performance of PV/T collector. The thermal and electrical efficiencies of
a solar PV/T air collector designed by Solanki et al. (2009) were tested at
the indoor condition, which can achieve 42% and 8.4%, respectively.
Furthermore, to enhance the heat transfer performance, fins were wel­
ded to the absorber plate. Fan et al. (2017) established a dynamic model
to evaluate the performance of a high temperature PV/T collector sys­
tem with longitudinal fins under dynamic boundary conditions. And
they studied the effect of fin number and fin height on the thermal and
electrical performance of the PV/T system as well. In addition, a multi-
objective design optimization strategy for this PV/T collector system
with fins was also proposed by Fan et al. (2018). A vertical PV/T col­
lector with fins for drying was introduced by Çiftçi et al. (2021). The
performance of the two vertical PV/T collectors with and without fins by
utilizing numerical and experimental approaches, meanwhile the per­
formance of the dryers with different types of PV/T collectors was also
investigated. The results showed that the thermal efficiencies of the
finless and finned PV/T collectors ranged from 47.46 to 54.86%, and
50.25 to 58.16%, respectively. The duration of drying would be
decreased significantly when a finned PV/T collector was used. Based on
the above researches, solar PV/T air collector are still used to generate
heat and electricity required for drying process in this paper.
This study develops a solar drying system based on PV/T collector
that uses indirect forced convection and is fully driven by solar energy,
achieving zero energy cost. In this study, the drying kinetics of turnips
are investigated using an indirect solar dryer and natural sunlight. Ten
thin layers of drying mathematical models are also used to depict the
turnip’s drying curves. Moreover, the quality of dried turnips using the
drying system and natural sunlight is compared and analyzed based on
colour parameters and microstructural properties. Finally, the amount
of heat and electricity consumed in the system’s drying turnip process is
analyzed.
2. System description
The forced convection solar drying equipment comprises PV/T col­
lectors, a monocrystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV) system, a drying
chamber, two batteries, solar controllers, control devices and some fit­
tings. The construction of the experimental system is presented in Fig. 1.
Ambient air enters the PV/T collectors from the bottom entrance,
passes through the absorber plate’s surface and is heated. Subsequently,
the hot air flows into the drying oven via inlet fans of the drying oven
forced circulation. The electricity generated by PV cells in the PV/T
collectors and auxiliary monocrystalline silicon PV system drive the
fans, and the extra power is directed into the two batteries. The technical
parameter of the amorphous silicon and monocrystalline silicon PV/T
collectors has been listed in Table 1. The related parameter of the
monocrystalline silicon PV modules has been listed in Table 2.
Fig. 2 depicts the illustration of PV/T collectors along with structural
diagrams of monocrystalline silicon and amorphous silicon types. They
all primarily comprise a glass cover, solar cells, absorber plate, air flow
channel and an insulation layer. However, the solar cells used and the
structure of the collectors are different. The solar cells used are mono­
crystalline silicon and amorphous silicon, respectively. For the amor­
phous silicon type, the upper air flow channel is sealed at a height of ~
30 mm, and the lower air flow channel is opened at both ends with a
height of 30 mm. Further, 23 aluminium fins (thickness: 0.0005 m;
height: 0.027 m; length: 1.8 m; spacing of the two fins: 0.04 m; thermal
conductivity: 236 W⋅m− 1⋅K− 1) are welded to the lower air flow channel
to strengthen convective heat transfer. In contrast, the glass cover, solar
cells and absorber plate are close together and have a higher air flow
channel without fins, of ~ 60 mm height, in the monocrystalline silicon
type. Although two different types of PV/T collectors with and without
fins were used in the solar drying system, the thermal performance of the
collectors are not the focus of this paper, the relevant research results on
the PV/T collectors used in the system have been published (Huang,
2021; Huang et al., 2021; Kong et al., 2020). Two different types of PV/T
collectors were used in the solar drying system just for previous
research, and would not affect the research results of this paper.
The energy and exergy properties of the amorphous silicon PV/T
collector have been studied in the previous study (Huang et al., 2021;
Kong et al., 2020). Further, a theoretical model of the energy balance
equation of solar PV/T air collector was also established including en­
ergy balance equation of the glass cover, PV cells, heating absorber
plate, air in the airflow channel, as well as insulation layer (Huang,
2021). These theoretical models were verified by the experiments. The
outlet air temperature and the thermal efficiency of the amorphous sil­
icon PV/T collector with fins can exceed 60 ◦ C and 45%, respectively.
The structural diagram and illustration of the drying chamber,
temperature and relative humidity measurement position are presented
in Fig. 3. The drying chamber mainly contains inlet and internal circu­
lation fans, air outlets and material trays. The drying oven has two air
Table 1
Technical parameters of the two solar PV/T collectors.
Parts Parameters Amorphous Monocrystalline
silicon collector silicon collector

PV cell Area/m2 0.936 1.28

Drying chamber Nominal power/W 130 230.2
Open circuit 101.6 33.5
voltage/V
Short circuit 1.76 9.1
Monocrystalline current/A
silicon PV modules Voltage at 81.8 26.58
maximum power/V
Monocrystalline silicon
Current at 1.59 8.66
PV/T collector
maximum power/A
Battery
Glass cover Area/m2 1.85 1.85
DC sensor
Amorphous silicon Transmittance 0.92 0.92
PV/T collector Absorber Area/m2 1.85 1.85
plate
Control cabinet Absorptivity 0.9 0.9
Pyranometer Charge and discharge Thickness/mm 0.4 0.4
controller Air flow Size/mm 1960 × 960 × 27 1960 × 960 × 60
Ambient temperature channel
Fin pitch 23 0
Insulation Thickness/mm 50 50
Fig. 1. Schematic of the experimental system.

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Table 2 auxiliary monocrystalline silicon PV system. The drying oven is covered

Technical parameters of monocrystalline silicon PV modules. with an insulating layer to reduce heat loss. Furthermore, the drying
Parameter value oven contains a 1.05 × 1.05 × 1.05 m stainless steel layer together with
three stainless steel layers of 0.8-m-diameter circular trays, wherein the
Geometric size/cm 159 × 96
Nominal power/W 330 internal distance between each layer is 0.25 m.
Open circuit voltage/V 42
Short circuit current/A 10.24 3. Materials and methods
Voltage at maximum power/V 36
Current at maximum power/A 9.28
3.1. Raw materials

outlets on both sides of the upper to pass the wet air out of the oven
during drying. Seven DC fans are placed at the oven entrance, intro­
ducing high-temperature and low-humidity air into the oven for drying
materials. Additionally, the drying chamber is specially designed with
12 fans in the drying oven. The advantage of this design is that it
effectively eliminates the stagnant hot airflow zones. Thus, temperature
and relative humidity are uniformly distributed. The inlet and internal
circulation fans are driven by PV cells welded the absorber plate and
Fresh turnips were obtained from a market in Kunming, China. The
turnips were nearly uniform in colour, maturity, shape and other
physical characteristics. They were sliced into circular chips with a
thickness of 3 mm. Subsequently, the turnip chips were weighed to be
5.5 kg and selected as drying materials.

Fig. 2. (a) Illustration of two PV/T collectors, (b) structural diagram of a monocrystalline silicon type and (c) construction of an amorphous silicon type.

Temperature sensors Relative humidity sensors

Internal circulation fans

Air outlet
Material tray
Samples

Inlet fans

Material shelf
Door

(a) (b)
Fig. 3. (a) Construction of the drying oven, and (b) image of the drying oven.

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3.2. Experimental procedure Table 3

Commonly studied thin-layer drying models.
The analysis of the turnip’s drying kinetics, energy and microstruc­ Models Expressions References
tural properties using the proposed solar drying system was performed n
Page MR = exp ( − k0 t ) (Vega et al., 2007)
through experimental studies at Yunnan Normal University, Kunming,
Modified Page MR = exp ( − (k0 t)n ) (El-Sebaii and Shalaby,
between September and October 2020. During the drying process, 1.5 kg 2013)
of the turnip slices were uniformly placed on each of the three trays. In Lewis/Newton MR = exp ( − k0 t) (Kumar et al., 2016)
addition, 0.25 kg of the turnip slices were placed on each tray of the Henderson and MR = A0 exp (− k0 t) (Prakash et al., 2016)
drying oven and beneath the natural sun, to weigh every hour. The Pabis
samples were returned to the drying chamber to continue drying after Logarithmic MR = A0 exp (− k0 t) + A1 (Lee and Kim, 2009)

weighing, and the operation was stopped when the mass of each layer Two term MR = A0 exp (− k0 t) + A1 exp (Sacilik et al., 2006)
(− k1 t)
stabilised. In the experiments, the outlet air velocity of the fan was
Two-term MR = A0 exp (− k0 t) + (1 − A0 )exp (Sharaf-Eldeen et al.,
constant at 6.3 m⋅s− 1, and the drying air velocity at the center of the
exponential (− k0 A0 t) 1980)
upper, middle and lower layers is ~1.5 m⋅s− 1.
Wang and Singh MR = 1 + A0 t + A1 t2 (Fudholi et al., 2015)
The samples’ moisture content was measured using a moisture meter
Midilli and Kucuk MR = A0 exp (− k0 tn ) + A1 t (Midilli et al., 2002)
(model: QL-100A, accuracy 0.001%) when the drying was completed to
Diffusion MR = A0 exp (− k0 t) + (1 − A0 )exp (Septembre-Malaterre
determine the final moisture content. A pyranometer (model: TBQ-2, approach (− k0 A1 t) et al., 2016)
accuracy ± 2%) was used to monitor the irradiance on the collector
and monocrystalline silicon PV module surface, which was installed next
to the PV/T collector and on the same plane. Weight variations of turnip Here, MRpre,i and MRexp,i represent the predicted and experimental
slices during the experiments were measured using an electronic scale values, respectively; N and n represent the number of observation and
(model: TCS-6, accuracy ±2 g). Three humidity sensors (model: TH2OR, constant, respectively.
accuracy ± 2% RH) were used to monitor the relative humidity in the
oven. Six thermocouples (model: type T, accuracy ± 0.2 ◦ C) installed in 3.3.2. Energy analysis
the air outlet of the PV/T collector, 12 thermocouples installed in the Solar PV/T air collectors receive solar irradiance and convert it into
drying chamber and two thermocouples installed in the air outlet of the heat energy and electricity for drying. Similarly, monocrystalline silicon
oven were used to monitor the outlet temperature of the PV/T collectors, PV modules convert solar irradiance into electricity to drive DC fans.
the drying oven temperature and the outlet temperature of the drying The overall heat required has two parts, including the heat required to
oven, respectively. Additionally, the ambient temperature was evaporate water and the heat lost.
measured. The air speeds at the outlet of the PV/T collectors were The heat energy required to evaporate water is given as (Rani and
determined using an anemometer (model: SUMMIT-565, accuracy ± Tripathy, 2021)
5%). Simultaneously, the output current of the PV cells was measured ( )
using a DC sensor (model: WBI342U05-S, range: 0–2 A, 0–20 A, accu­ Qe = γ × mi − mf (6)
racy: ±0.2%, ±0.5%). Finally, data logger (HIOKI, model: LR8401-21)
where γ represents the latent heat of vapourisation (J⋅kg− 1), and mi and
was used to record data every 10 min.
mf denote the original and final mass of the turnips (kg), respectively.
Assuming that the heat lost in the whole drying process is 0.1 of the
3.3. Theoretical analysis
total heat energy required to dry, as shown in Eq. (7) (Qiu et al., 2016;
Wang et al., 2018)
3.3.1. Drying kinetics
The moisture content (M) of the turnip during the drying periods is Ql = Qe × 0.1 (7)
calculated according to the following Eq. (1) (Rabha et al., 2017):
The total heat required during the experiment is given as
M = (m − md )/md (1)
Qt = Qe + Ql (8)
where m and md represent the turnips’ mass during the drying periods The useful heat and total provided heat of the PV/T collectors during
and the mass of dry matter (kg), respectively. the drying periods can be defined as (Rabha and Muthukumar, 2017)
The moisture ratio (MR) is calculated as (Hamdi et al., 2018)
Q = ṁa cap (Taout − Tain ) (9)
MR = (M − Me )/(M0 − Me ) (2)
∫ t
where Me and M0 refer to the equilibrium and initial moisture con­ Qs = ṁa cap (Taout − Tain )dt (10)
tents. Notably, the equilibrium moisture content Me is markedly small. 0

Thus, Eq. (2) becomes

where ṁa represents the mass flow rate of air through the PV/T collec­
MR = M/M0 (3) tors (kg⋅s− 1); cap represents the specific heat of air (J⋅kg− 1⋅◦ C− 1); Tain
and Taout are the inlet–outlet temperatures (◦ C) of the PV/T collector.
The 10 mathematical models are described in Table 3 for depicting
The required electricity (Wr) during the drying process is given as
the drying curves of the turnip. The correction coefficient (R2) and the
reduced chi-square (χ 2) are proposed to acquire the best model. In Wr = N1 Pt (11)
addition, a nonlinear regression analysis was selected for model evalu­
ation. These parameters are defined using Eqs. (4) and (5) (Seerangur­ where N1, P and t represent the number of DC fans, the power of DC fans
ayar et al., 2019). (W) and DC fan working hours (h), respectively.
∑N ( )2 The output power and total provided electricity of the PV cells during
R2 = 1 − i=1 MRpre,i − MRexp,i
(4) the drying time are determined as follows (Prommas et al., 2019):
∑N 2
i=1 MRexp,i
P = UI (12)
∑N ( )2 ∫
MRpre,i − MRexp,i t
χ2 = i=1
(5) Wp = UIdt (13)
N− n 0

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D. Kong et al. Solar Energy 230 (2021) 721–731

Here, U and I represent the output voltage (V) and current (A) of PV
cells, respectively. 1200 Solar radiation

3.3.3. Colour measurement 1000

Colour is one of the most significant attributes of dried products. A

Solar radiation (W·m-2)

predominant quality of fresh and dried turnips may be evaluated based 800
on the colour parameter. Thus, the colour of the turnip was measured
using a spectrophotometer (model: CS-660A, China). The total colour 600
difference (ΔE*) can be determined as (Peng et al., 2017)
√̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅ 400
ΔE∗ = (L∗ − L∗0 )2 + (a∗ − a∗0 )2 + (b∗ − b∗0 )2 (14)
200
where L0*, a0* and b0* express the brightness, chromatic redness
parameter and yellowness chromatic parameter, respectively, of the 0
initial samples; L*, a* and b* are the values after drying.

12:50
14:10
16:50

11:30
10:10
15:30

16:50
11:30

14:10
12:50

18:10

15:30
3.3.4. Scanning electron microscopy analysis
Time (HH:MM)
The structure and properties of materials will be changed after dry­
ing, and the quality of dried materials can be evaluated based on the Fig. 4. Solar radiation variation during the drying time.
microstructure through the relationship between microstructural prop­
erties and some quality attributes and drying material stability
the solar radiation was changed between 0 and 1160 W⋅m− 2. The solar
(Witrowa-Rajchert and Rząca, 2009). Four samples, dried turnip from
irradiance was highest at 13:10 and then reached a minimum at 18:30,
the upper layer, middle layer, lower layer and dried turnip obtained via
on the first day. The following day, the solar radiation was higher and
open sun drying, were randomly chosen for microscopic examination.
varied between 169 and 1227 W⋅m− 2, and the average irradiance was
The samples were coated with gold to enhance its conductivity. Subse­
512 W⋅m− 2. Further, the irradiance values throughout the day were
quently, the samples’ microstructure was observed via scanning electron
5.988 and 12.149 MJ⋅m− 2 on the first and second days, respectively.
microscopy (SEM, model: Quanta FEG 250, America) at a 30 kV accel­
Fig. 5 plots the ambient temperature and relative humidity. On the first
eration voltage. The total number of images obtained was 16, which
day, they varied from 18.8 ◦ C to 21.4 ◦ C and 58.0% to 69.9%, respec­
included images of dried turnips obtained via open sun drying as well as
tively. On the second day, their range was 17.8 ◦ C-23.1 ◦ C and 55.0%-
dried turnips from the upper, middle and lower layers of drying
80.1%.
chamber.
Each layer temperature of the drying oven and outlet temperature of
the PV/T collector are presented in Fig. 5(a). Notably, they change with
3.3.5. Uncertainty analysis
solar radiation, and the variation remains nearly constant. The outlet
Uncertainty is a significant parameter to evaluate the trial informa­
temperature in the early stage of drying had a highest value of 52.3 ◦ C at
tion. The uncertainties and errors of this research are related to the in­
13:10 when the solar irradiance was 1160 W⋅m− 2. The average outlet
struments utilised, the operation environment, test point location and
temperature of the day was 28.7 ◦ C. The following day, the solar radi­
observation method. The experimental uncertainty analysis was per­
ation was higher than that on the first day. Thus, there is a higher outlet
formed according to the current methods. The uncertainty is expressed
temperature, which changed between 23.4 ◦ C and 51.7 ◦ C. Moreover,
as (Xu et al., 2020)
the mean temperature was 37.2 ◦ C. Each layer temperature of the drying
[( )2 ( )2 ( )2 ]1/2 oven was close during drying, indicating that the stagnant hot airflow
∂R ∂R ∂R
wR = w + w + ⋅⋅⋅ + w (15) zones were significantly eliminated. The temperature of the drying oven
∂x1 1 ∂x2 2 ∂xn n
in the early stage was low and the highest temperature was only 32.4 ◦ C.
Here, R is a given function of the independent variables x1, x2…xn, The following day, the oven’s temperature increased from 20.2 ◦ C to
and w1, w2…wn represent the uncertainties the independent variables. 35.9 ◦ C with the increasing solar irradiance between 09:30 and 12:50.
The total uncertainties of the main computed parameters are listed in Subsequently, the drying temperature decreased because the solar
Table 4. irradiance decreased. The air temperature in the drying oven exhibited
the highest value of 40.2 ◦ C at 14:50. The average temperature in the
4. Results and discussion drying oven was 23.3 ◦ C and 31.1 ◦ C on the first and second days,
respectively.
4.1. Drying kinetics The drying oven and ambient humidity variations are presented in
Fig. 5(b). The humidity in the drying oven was high when the experi­
Solar drying experiments on the turnips using a solar drying system ment was begun, appropriately 69.2%. Subsequently, the relative hu­
and via natural drying were conducted under typical cloudy weather midity reduced with the increasing temperature of the oven, and
conditions. Fig. 4 plots the solar radiation variation recorded for the two ultimately reached a minimum value of 47.9% at 13:30. The relative
consecutive days on which experimentation was performed. The solar humidity in the drying oven increased from 47.9% to 74.5% between
radiation considerably fluctuated for these two days. On the first day, 13:00 and 18:30. On the second day, the relative humidity in the drying
oven decreased from 77.6% to 26.3% with the drying temperature
increasing from 20.2 ◦ C to 40.2 ◦ C between 09:30 and 14:50. The rela­
Table 4 tive humidity of the upper tray was the lowest, and the relative humidity
Uncertainty analysis results. of the lower tray was the highest. This is because the hot air does not
completely go up from the bottom. After entering the drying chamber,
Parameter Unit Uncertainty
the hot air is divided into two parts, one of which is directly blown out
Mass of the product g ±2 from the lower by the fans at the entrance of drying oven and the other is
1
Mass flow rate kg⋅s− 0.001
blown out by the fans on both sides. This implies that hot air no longer
Output power of the PV/T collectors W 0.054
Output power of the monocrystalline silicon modules W 0.171 enters from the bottom and exits from the top. This should cause the

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D. Kong et al. Solar Energy 230 (2021) 721–731

60 90
Upper layer temperature Middle layer temperature
Lower layer temperature Ambient temperature
Outlet temperature of the PV/T collector 80

50
70

R elative hum idity (% )

Temperature (°C)

40 60

50

30
40
Upper layer RH Middle layer RH
Lower layer RH Ambient RH
30
20

20

12:50
14:10
16:50

11:30
10:10
15:30

16:50
11:30

14:10
12:50

14:10

18:10

15:30

16:50
12:50
10:10

11:30

15:30
15:30

18:10
14:10
11:30

12:50

16:50
Time (HH:MM) Time (HH:MM)

(a) (b)
Fig. 5. (a) Drying chamber and outlet temperatures of the PV/T collector variations, and (b) drying chamber and ambient RH variations during the experiments.

temperature of each layer in the drying chamber to be approximately the a slower moisture diffusion on the turnip’s surface; further, the relative
same during the entire drying process, and this result can be observed in humidity is also higher. On the first day, the relative humidity in the
Fig. 5(a). Thus, the lowest relative humidity can occur at the upper drying chamber is mostly higher than the ambient relative humidity.
layer. Although the drying time for the two drying approaches was similar,
Fig. 6 illustrates the variation of moisture content when using the the quality of the dried turnips exhibited significant difference.
drying equipment and natural sun during the experiments. The differ­ Compared with that obtained the turnips were subjected to natural sun,
ence in moisture content when using the solar drying system and natural the moisture of the dried turnips was lower with the drying equipment
drying was not obvious in cloudy weather. The moisture content on dry owing to the higher drying temperature on the second day. Further,
basis reduced from 20.370 to 0.197 in ~ 13 h when using a solar drying turnips are easy to spoil under open sun drying in cloudy weather.
equipment. It took ~ 14 h to reducing the moisture content from 21.320 Recently, some mathematical models was proposed to depict the
to 0.250 when the turnips were subjected to natural sun. It is observed changes in moisture content, heat transfer and mass of the thin-layer
that the required time for both the dryer and natural drying methods was drying (Parti, 1993). To obtain a proper model for depicting turnip’s
similar. This is because on the first and second days, the average drying drying characteristics, 10 mathematical models were investigated, and
air temperature is 23.3 ◦ C and 31.1 ◦ C, and the average ambient tem­ are listed in Table 3. The moisture content data of the turnips obtained
perature was 20.0 ◦ C and 20.8 ◦ C, respectively. The drying air temper­ using solar drying equipment and via natural drying were represented as
ature was not much higher than the ambient temperature, particularly the most effective MR, and the MR versus drying time was fitted to the
only 3.3 ◦ C higher on the first day. At this temperature, it is difficult for different models under investigation. The statistical analysis results of
the turnip’s internal moisture to quickly diffuse to the surface. Further, the different models obtained using the dryer and via natural drying are
turnip surface air velocity is lower, only 1.5 m⋅s− 1, whereas the average listed in Tables 5 and 6, based on the correction coefficient (R2) and
ambient wind speed is 3 m⋅s− 1 during the drying periods. This results in statistical parameter reduced chi-square (χ 2), respectively. The obtained
fitting effect is the best when the correction coefficient (R2) values are
the highest and reduced chi-square (χ 2) values are the lowest. The
22
Midilli and Kucuk model is better to depict the drying of turnip slices
20 using the dryer and via natural sun, as presented in Tables 5 and 6. For
Moisture content (kg water·kg dry matter)

18 Solar dryer
natural sun drying
16
Table 5
14 Model parameters for the turnips dried using a solar dryer.
-1

12 Model Model coefficient R2 χ2

10 Page k0 = 0.08517, n = 1.28836 0.96665 0.0032

Modified page k0 = 0.14775, n = 1.29219 0.96665 0.0032
8 Lewis/Newton k0 = 0.14949 0.95037 0.0047
Henderson and A0 = 1.0444, k0 = 0.15673 0.94985 0.00482
6
Pabis
4 Logarithmic A0 = 2.38007, k0 = 003975 0.99104 8.61254E-4
A1 = − 1.41362
2 Two term A0 = 0.99341, A1 = 0.05089 0.93982 0.00578
0 k0 = 0.15671, k1 = 0.15636
Two-term A0 = 1.77948, k0 = 0.21063 0.96482 0.00338
-2 exponential
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 Wang and Singh A0 = − 0.10246, A1 = 0.00205 0.98887 0.00107
Drying time (h) Midilli and Kucuk A0 = 1.00289, A1 = − 0.05544 0.99393 5.83495E-4
k0 = 0.09521, n = 0.49158
Diffusion A0 = − 39.77936, A1 = − 0.96348 0.00351
Fig. 6. Moisture content variation obtained using the solar dryer and natural
approach 0.98309 k0 = 0.26959
drying during drying periods.

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D. Kong et al. Solar Energy 230 (2021) 721–731

Table 6 evaporate water, the lost heat and the total required heat was 5.822,
Model parameters for the turnips dried via open sun drying. 0.582 and 6.404 MJ, respectively. The total heat during the experiments
Model Model coefficient R2 χ2 was supplied by the two PV/T air collectors. Fig. 8(a) shows the heat
provided by the PV/T collectors. On the first day, the total heat provided
Page k0 = 0.08727, n = 1.28585 0.97417 0.00255
Modified page k0 = 0.15003, n = 1.28871 0.97417 0.00255 by the two PV/T collectors was 8.870 MJ; on the second day, the heat
Lewis/Newton k0 = 0.15345 0.95772 0.00418 energy provided by the two PV/T collectors was 17.160 MJ.
Henderson and A0 = 1.04408, k0 = 0.16048 0.95769 0.00418 The DC fans were driven by solar cells in the PV/T collectors and
Pabis auxiliary monocrystalline silicon PV system. In the experiments, the
Logarithmic A0 = 1.73232, k0 = 0.05997 0.99409 5.83486E-4
A1 = − 0.75996
power consumption of the fans each day was 0.7980 kWh. Fig. 8(b)
Two term A0 = 0.94994, A1 = 0.09409 0.95 0.00494 shows the electricity provided by the PV/T collector and mono­
k0 = 0.16047, k1 = 0.16042 crystalline silicon modules. On the first day, the electricity provided by
Two-term A0 = 1.77845, k0 = 0.21419 0.97243 0.00272 the two PV/T collectors and monocrystalline silicon modules was
exponential
0.3045 and 0.6966 kWh, respectively; on the second day, the electricity
Wang and Singh A0 = − 0.1073, A1 = 0.00256 0.9922 7.70368E-4
Midilli and A0 = 1.00126, A1 = − 0.03519 k0 0.99536 4.58602E-4 provided was 0.5041 and 1.3278 kWh, respectively (i.e. the total elec­
Kucuk = 0.11344, n = 0.72099 tricity provided by the PV/T collector and monocrystalline silicon PV
Diffusion A0 = 1, A1 = 1, k0 = 0.15247 0.95068 0.00487 system during the two days was 1.0011 and 1.8319 kWh, respectively).
approach Therefore, the amounts of stored electricity in batteries were 0.2031 and
1.0339 kWh on the first and second days, respectively.
drying performed using the solar dryer, the Midilli and Kucuk model During the drying experiment, the total heat energy provided by the
yielded R2 = 0.99393, χ 2 = 5.83495E-4. For the turnip slices beneath the PV/T collectors could fulfill the drying requirement; however, the pro­
natural sun, the Midilli and Kucuk model yielded R2 = 0.99536, χ 2 = vided electrical energy could not completely drive the DC fans in cloudy
4.58602E-4. Additionally, the thin layer drying models obtained using weather. Thus, adding an auxiliary PV system is indispensable.
the solar drying equipment and via natural drying are expressed as

MR = 1.00289exp ( − 0.09521t0.49158 ) − 0.05544t (16) 4.3. Quality evaluation of dried turnips

MR = 1.00126exp ( − 0.11344t0.72099 ) − 0.03519t (17) 4.3.1. Colour analysis

Thus, the MR of the dried turnip using the dryer and via natural sun
could be predicted using the two mathematical models. To confirm the
selected thin-layer drying model, the comparison of the experimental
and predicted values of MR using the Midilli and Kucuk model for both
drying approaches are shown in Fig. 7(a) and (b), respectively. As can be
observed therein, the predicted value of MR around a straight line for
the system and natural sun confirmed the appropriateness of the Midilli
and Kucuk model for predicting the moisture ratio at any time.
4.2. Energy analysis
The overall heat required has two parts, including the heat required
to evaporate water and the heat lost during the experiments. On the first
day, according to Eqs. (6), (7) and (8), the heat required to evaporate
water, the lost heat and the total required heat were 6.611, 0.661 and
7.272 MJ, respectively. The following day, the heat required to
The colour of the fresh and dried products is a significant attribute
for judging the quality of dried products, which affects consumer
acceptability. Consumer acceptability is mainly associated with the
aroma, flavour and colour change of dried products. The fresh and dried
turnips obtained using the solar drying equipment and via natural dry­
ing are presented in Fig. 9. Furthermore, the colour of the turnips was
measured using the L*, a*, b* colour space. The variation in turnip
colour parameters obtained by drying in a solar drying equipment and
beneath the natural sun are listed in Table 7. The average value of L* for
fresh turnips was 70.78. However, compared with fresh turnips, the
values were significantly changed from 70.78 to 51.86 after being sub­
jected to open sun drying. The L* values of three layer turnips obtained
using the solar dryer also decreased slightly from 70.78 to 65.54, from
70.78 to 68.68 and from 70.78 to 67.20, respectively.
The quality of dried turnips obtained using the experimental equip­
ment was higher than that obtained by drying the turnips under the open
sun. The turnips’ colour was more reserved when subjected to the solar

1.0 1.0

0.8
0.8

y=0.9963x+0.00157
y=0.99529x+0.00214
0.6 2
Predicted value of MR

2 R =0.99607
Predicted value of MR

0.6 R =0.99494

0.4
0.4

0.2
0.2

0.0

0.0

-0.2
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0

Experimental value of MR Experimental value of MR

(a) (b)
Fig. 7. Experimental value and the predicted value of MR. (a) Solar dryer and (b) natural drying.

728
D. Kong et al. Solar Energy 230 (2021) 721–731

1.8
18 17.16 The electrical energy stored in batteries

The heat provided of the PV/T collectors (MJ)

1.6 The electrical energy provided by the PV/T collectors
16
The electrical energy provided by the mono-si PV system
1.4 1.3278
14
1.2
12

Electrical energy (kWh)

1.0339
1.0
10
8.87
0.8
8 0.69659

6 0.6
0.5041

4 0.4
0.3045
0.2031
2 0.2

0 0.0
First day Second day First day Second day
Drying time Drying time

(a) (b)
Fig. 8. (a) The heat provided by the collectors, and (b) the electricity stored in batteries and the electricity provided by the collectors and monocrystalline sili­
con modules.

Fig. 9. Fresh and dried turnip samples. (a) Fresh turnips, (b) dried turnips obtained via open sun drying and (c) dried turnips obtained using the solar dryer.

values and higher a* and b* values compared with fresh samples; similar
Table 7
results of the colour analysis were found by other authors (Peng et al.,
Variation in turnip colour parameters obtained using the solar drying equipment
2017) as well.
and via natural sun drying.
The total colour changes in the dried turnips could be determined
Colour Fresh Open Dried Dried Dried from their colour difference (ΔE*). The dried turnips obtained via open
parameter turnips sun turnips turnips from turnips
drying from the the middle from the
sun drying exhibited the higher ΔE* value, indicating that turnip has a
upper layer layer lower layer large colour variation after natural sun drying than via solar drying
equipment, as presented in Table 7.
L* 70.78 51.86 65.54 68.68 67.20
a* − 1.14 5.22 0.89 0.79 1.70
b* 0.14 14.60 14.22 19.55 17.45 4.3.2. Microstructure analysis
ΔE* 0 24.65 15.16 19.62 17.90 SEM images of dried turnips obtained using the solar drying equip­
ment and via natural drying with different scales of 500, 300, 100 and
50 μm are presented in Fig. 10. Typically, plants are composed of
dryer. The L* values represent the turnip’s degree of lightness. The L*
polymer and water; the polymers mainly include polysaccharides and
values decreased owing to browning reactions that occurred during the
proteins, which determine the structure of the products. Water mainly
experiments (Xue et al., 2020). The browning reaction that occurred was
functions as a plasticiser (Seerangurayar et al., 2019). The absorption or
more serious via natural drying compared with using the solar dryer.
dehydration strongly impacts the structure of the cell wall (Joardder
This is because the temperature of the natural drying was slower to rise
et al., 2017). Turnip drying is a moisture reduction process. During the
while the drying oven temperature was higher and the turnips were
drying periods, the cell wall structure of dried products is destroyed, and
rapidly dried at a high temperature.
many corrugated folds are presented. Therefore, from the perspective of
The a* values for turnips obtained using the solar dryer and via
the macrostructure, the products shrivel; the arrangement of cell walls
natural sun drying changed from negative to positive values, indicating
changes from tight order to loose disorder in the microstructure. Fig. 10
that the drying had a drastic effect on the red–green difference. In
shows that the moisture in the turnip cells quickly vapourises and ex­
addition to the a* values for turnips dried via open sun drying were
pands, and the steam pressure increases, causing the cell walls to
higher than those obtain using the solar dryer, indicating the turnips’
expand. Majority of the turnip cells curl, wrinkle or experience tiny
tendency of gaining more redness in colour when subjected to natural
fracture deformation as the moisture evaporates under subjection to the
drying. The b* values of the turnips increased post drying, indicating
using solar drying equipment and natural drying. Compared with nat­
that the yellowness colour of the turnips deepened when using both the
ural drying, turnip cells dried using solar system drying exhibit a greater
solar dryer and natural sun drying. The dried turnips exhibited lower L*

729
D. Kong et al.
(a) (b)
500 m
(a) (b)
300 m
(a) (b)
100 m
(a) (b)
50 m
Fig. 10. SEM images of the turnips dried using a solar drying equipment and via natural sun drying with different scales of 500, 300, 100 and 50 μm. (a) Upper layer
of the drying oven, (b) middle layer of the drying oven, (c) lower layer of the drying oven and (d) natural sun drying.
degree of curling and deformation. Furthermore, some holes were found
in the dried turnip using the dryer. This is due to the higher drying
temperature in the drying oven than during natural drying. The high
temperature rapidly dehydrated and deformed turnip peels. Then, the
vegetable cell and network structures interwoven with the pulp tissue
were destroyed, and the cells were separated. In Fig. 10(d) (at 100 and
50 μm), some obvious molds were found on the surface of the turnip
cells, and the turnip cells were destroyed. Therefore, the drying quality
of turnip obtained via open sun drying deteriorated severely. In com­
parison, the drying method using the solar dryer performed better,
particularly in cloudy weather.
5. Conclusion
An indirect solar drying system has been proposed herein, and the
turnips were dried using the proposed solar drying system and natural
drying. In this work, the drying kinetics and drying quality of turnip
slices dried using the solar drying equipment and via natural drying
were investigated. The turnip drying time was shorter when using the
solar drying equipment than natural drying. The moisture content on
dry basis reduced from 20.370 to 0.197 when using the drying system; in
contrast, when subjected to natural drying, decreasing the moisture
content on dry basis from 21.320 to 0.250 took more time. To acquire a
proper mathematical model for depicting the drying characteristics of
turnip, the 10 mathematical models were compared. The Midilli and
Kucuk model was found to be proper for depicting the turnip slices’
drying by using the drying equipment and through natural sun.
Furthermore, the L*, a*, b* colour space was used to measure the tur­
nips’ colour. The dried turnips subjected to open sun drying exhibited
the higher ΔE* value, indicating that turnip has a large color variation
730
Solar Energy 230 (2021) 721–731
(c) (d)
(c) (d)
(c) (d)
(c) (d)
after natural sun drying than via solar drying equipment. Following
open sun drying, some obvious molds were detected via SEM on the
surface of the turnip cells, and the turnip cells were destroyed. There­
fore, the drying quality of turnips dried via natural sun drying deterio­
rated severely. In comparison, the drying method using the solar dryer
performed better, particularly in cloudy weather.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgements
This study was supported by the National Natural Science Founda­
tion of China (Grant No. 51966019), the Key Programme of Yunnan
Foundational Research Projects (Grant No. 202001AS070025) and
Major Science and Technology Special Project of Yunnan (Grant No.
202002AF080002).
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