Energy Reports 12 (2024) 453–471

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Energy Reports
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/egyr

Research Paper

Experimental testing on the performance of solar dryer equipped with

evacuated tube collector, rock bed heat storage and reflectors
Semahagn Yematawu a, b , Bimrew Tamrat a, * , Dessie Tarekegn a , Hailemariam Mulugeta a
a
Faculty of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Bahir Dar Institute of Technology, Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kombolcha Institute of Technology, Wollo University, Ethiopia

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

Keywords: Agricultural products can be dried in an open sun; but such drying method has poor quality of the product causes
Solar collector to grow bacteria and microorganisms and long drying time. In order to alleviate those draw backs of open sun
Evacuated tube drying, direct solar dryers were developed; but this type of dryer reduces the product quality due to direct
Rock bed
exposure of solar radiation. Then, an indirect solar dryer became more important and efficient method. However,
Reflector
the most solar dryers were developed with less efficient flat plate solar collectors. A few solar dryers were
Performance
developed using efficient solar collector called evacuated tube solar collector (ETC) but they have low overall
performance. The goal of this research is to create a dependable solar dryer system for drying agricultural
products. It was a solar dryer system with an independent rock bed thermal storage unit and an evacuated tube
collector having reflectors. In this case, a rock bed has been a well-insulated with thermal insulation and its top
surface is covered by a transparent double-glass. This system is intended to dry potato slice that weigh of 7.5 kg
sample having a wet base initial moisture level of 80.1 %, until it reaches the ideal moisture content of 7–13 %.
The solar dryer has been developed from drying chamber having size of (length x breadth x height) of
85 cm×61 cm x 62 cm, evacuated tube collector area of 1.3 m2, and rock bed volume of 0.137 m3 (with a solar
absorber area of 0.52 m2 and a depth of 0.26 m). The solar dryer system was built and tested with loading slices
at various air flow rates and open sun. Here, at a 0.016 m3/s air flow rate as compared to lower and higher air
flow rates, more moisture reduction (9.3 % within eight hours and 0.664 kg/h), higher efficiency of the solar
collector (62.02 %), more heat production from the system (20.79 MJ, of which 4837.8 kJ was recovered from
the rock bed), and higher dryer efficiency (23.87 %) were attained. Compared to open-sun drying, 20 % less time
was needed for drying. In addition, the study examined the significance of the reflectors and the rock bed. In
comparison to the situation of utilizing ETC alone and 30 % of the drying period in relation to the open sun, the
introduction of a reflector on the collector increased the average net heat obtained from the collector by 5.1 %. In
another instance, the slice’s moisture content was lowered to 12.37 % in under eight hours using ETC alone,
while the dryer’s efficiency was 29.82 %. However, the drying rate rise by 3.7 % in comparison to the dryer
equipped with ETC alone because of the enhanced heat output in the dryer, which used ETC with a rock bed’s
help.

dryer (Perea-Moreno et al., 2016), electrical drying oven (Boughali

1. Introduction
Drying is one of the most energy intensive operations in preservation
of agricultural products for a long period of time. Especially, fruits and
vegetables have higher moisture content, which results to biological
degradation of products due to the growth of microorganisms and bac­
teria. Hence, such products spoiled and lost easily at various stages of
harvesting, storage and processing unless its moisture reduced.
Conventionally, products may be dried using fire wood (Fuel based)
et al., 2009), microwave (vacuum) (Monteiro et al., 2018), freeze
(Bhatta et al., 2020), ultrasound (Fernandes et al., 2023), osmotic
dehydration (Kroehnke et al., 2021). In such dryers, the drying heat
derived from burning of fossil fuel (Shubham Subrot Panigrahi et al.,
2023), natural gas (Shubham Subrot Panigrahi et al., 2023), biomass or
utilization of electricity (Lingayat et al., 2020). But it has higher energy
consumption (Kroehnke et al., 2021), needs technological advance­
ments as well as skilled man powers and results to have higher opera­
tional cost. Hence, using such driers in developing countries is limited

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: betselotbim@gmail.com (B. Tamrat).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egyr.2024.06.027
Received 20 February 2024; Received in revised form 27 May 2024; Accepted 11 June 2024
Available online 22 June 2024
2352-4847/© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-
nc/4.0/).
S. Yematawu et al.
Nomenclature
Do/i Outer and inner diameters
do Outer diameter of copper pipes
L Length of glass tube of ETC
t Thickness
V Volume
V̇a Volume flow rate of air, m3/s
w Width
and restricted in industrial level alone (Poonam et al., 2021). Besides,
utilization of fossil and natural gases has environmental air pollution
(Kroehnke et al., 2021), and global greenhouse gas emissions (Kroehnke
et al., 2021).
Using solar energy to heat the dryers could be the solution to those
issues. Due to the fact that solar energy is plentiful, limitless, and non-
polluting; it also doesn’t require mining or transportation, is environ­
mentally and ecologically friendly, and is inexpensive (Lingayat et al.,
2020). Agricultural products including fruits, grains, and vegetables
have indeed long been dried by natural (open) sun drying. Although
there was no cost associated with this drying method, the product may
be exposed to rain, wind-borne dust and dirt, insects, and birds, which
can lead to the growth of bacteria and microorganisms and the loss of
color, flavor, and quality, all of which can have a negative impact on the
economy both domestically and internationally (Perea-Moreno et al.,
2016). Thus, in order to get around those disadvantages, (Perea-Moreno
et al., 2016) designed solar dryers. Even though the system varies
depending on the type of dryer, these solar dryers have their own solar
heat reception section and safe drying feature.
There are three types of solar dryers: direct, indirect, and mixed/
hybrid. However, because the product is exposed to direct sunlight and
takes a long time to dry, one of the limitations of direct solar dryers is
their poor product quality (Sharma and O. Chatta, 2018). An indirect
solar dryer has been designed to address those issues. The majority of
solar dryers are outfitted with solar thermal energy collectors, particu­
larly evacuated tube and flat plate collectors (Chopra et al., 2018).
Several solar dryers used flat plate solar collectors because of its easy
design and production and relatively low cost (Babu et al., 2017).
The evacuated tube collector has high thermal performance and
operates in wide range of temperature (50–200 ◦ C) as compared to flat-
plate solar collectors (Malakar et al., 2021). It is due to the presence of
selective surface coating and vacuum insulation of the absorber element
for reducing the convection and conduction heat loss, and its tubular
shape able to gather solar energy throughout the day (Gao et al., 2020).
As stated on (Wang et al., 2020), an evacuated tube solar collector can
effectively addresses the low energy density and high dispersion of solar
energy (Chopra et al., 2018). also stated as, due evacuated tube collector
has higher thermal performance the recent market scenario indicates
that 77.8 % of newly installed solar thermal systems built from it.
Extending of reflectors on the solar collector able to a small area of
collector can absorb more heat when a dispersed solar radiation inten­
sified on it (Lingayat et al., 2020). It is used for water heating, solar
cooling, and air conditioning (Huang et al., 2019). Although evacuated
tube collectors are effective solar collectors, several researchers have
used them as heaters for drying agricultural products.
However, the challenge that could be noticed is the method of
integrating thermal storage. Most of these systems were built with
thermal storage units piped in series, enabling them to extract heat from
the main air heater (evacuated tube collector) during sunlight. However,
supplying heat during lower intensity hours, especially in the morning,
presents another challenge. The innovation in this work lies in the
integration of a rock bed, which is capable of independently extracting
heat from the sun and utilizing it during non-sunlight hours in the drying
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Energy Reports 12 (2024) 453–471
process. In addition, the importance of the reflector on an evacuated
tube collector, particularly in dynamic conditions, has not yet been
studied, nor has the air flow through this type of solar collector.
Therefore, the purpose of this study is to assess how well the solar dryer,
which has an evacuated tube solar collector integrated with rock bed
thermal energy storage, works standalone and in symphony with the
solar collector.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Development of solar dryer
2.1.1. Drying chamber
Plywood, which is readily available in the area, has already been
chosen for use in the construction of the horizontal drying chamber.
Plywood measuring more than 85 cm in length and 80 cm in breadth
with a thickness of 20–25 mm was gathered during the fabrication
process. Then, it had been cut using plywood cutter machine after
measured. In accordance with the size specifications in the design sec­
tion, taking plywood thickness into account. Thus, two 85 cm x 61 cm
for top and bottom, two 85 cm×62 cm for front (door) and back and one
57 cm×58 cm for opposite side of hot air entrance was prepared. The
inlet portion of the drying chamber is a divergent shape to have uniform
air distribution in the chamber. Thus, conical plywood pieces for the
entrance section of the chamber were also prepared with a length
250 cm. Then, all those plywood pieces were bind with their corre­
sponding piece by screw using manual screw driver after each binding
edge was smeared with glue to prevent air linkage. Eventually, the
drying chamber having an external dimension of (length x breadth x
height) 85 cm×61 cm x 62 cm had been fabricated as shown on Fig. 1.
The trays were prepared from thin meshed stainless steel wires with
deducting little allowance on the chamber size, and the horizontal
frames was also prepared in the drying chamber to support it as shown,
on Fig. 1. Finally, the chimney for exit of evaporated moisture was
prepared at the top surface of chamber with drilling and fitted with pipe
having 2 in. diameter.
2.1.2. Fabrication of the header and manifold of evacuated tube collector
The evacuated tube collector’s stand, along with its manifold,
header, and distributer pipes, were primarily made for installation. The
following procedure was followed in the fabrication process:
• Two copper pipes, one measuring 30 mm in diameter and 1.2 m in
length, and the other 10 mm in diameter and 10 m in length, were
purchased to serve as header and air distribution pipes, respectively.
Then, the header pipe was drilled at ten points that spaced at
116 mm to have 9 mm hole diameter using hand drill machine and
9 mm drill bit, and the copper pipe having smaller diameter was
shorten to ten equal length (1 m) and welded on the holes drilled
over the header pipe using oxyacetylene welder, (Fig. 2a).
• In addition, four plywood sections measuring 122.2 cm in length,
17 cm in width, and 35 mm in thickness were ready to be assembled
into a manifold channel. Subsequently, the three longer parts were
assembled mostly by applying adhesive to the fitting edge of each
piece. Using an electrical hand drill, ten holes measuring 60 mm in
diameter were made on the last longer piece so that evacuated tubes
could be installed over it. Next, the last component features a screw
that is used to concentrically inscribe the header pipe so that the
distributing pipes are positioned in the appropriate holes on the
plywood piece. As a result, the entire manifold system was created as
shown in Fig. 2c, with an exterior volumetric size of
119.2 cm×17 cm x 17 cm.
2.1.3. Construction of thermal storage
During fabrication of rock bed thermal storage, two mild steel sheets
having 2 m x 1 m wide and 1 mm thickness was prepared for both outer
S. Yematawu et al. Energy Reports 12 (2024) 453–471

Fig. 1. Fabricated drying chamber.

Fig. 2. Fabrication of the header and manifold of ETC.

and inner body coverage. The length, width and depth of the rock bed
tank (800 mm x 650 mm x 260 mm for internal wall and 900 mm x
75 mm x 340 mm for external cover), its wall thickness as well as the
space required for double glazing on its top was considered during the
measuring and cutting the edges of the sheet. Then, each edge of those
sheets was cut as it can produce open rectangular tank while it bends up.
The cutting, bending and welding operations were carried out using
manual sheet metal cutting machine, bending machine and electric arc
welding machines, respectively. Eventually, two collinear holes with
65 mm diameter was prepared on its shorter face of the tank for air
delivery pipe be fitted over it, and the space between the inner and outer
plate was going to be filled with glass wool to reduce the heat loss from
the rock bed. The fabricated transparent rock bed tank was as shown on
Fig. 4. Tools of pipe fitting, valves, elbows and T-Joints.
the Fig. 3.

2.1.4. Pipe fitting and construction of supports

The hot air from the evacuated tube collector manifold was supplied
to the drying chamber and rock bed thermal storage via a galvanized
steel pipe with an outside diameter of 2.5 in. and an interior diameter of
60 mm. As a result, the matching accessories-two T-joints, two elbows,
and three gate valves-were gathered (Fig. 4). As seen in Fig. 5, the pipe

Fig. 5. Pipe preparation for fitting (threading and fitting).

Fig. 3. Fabricated thermal storage tank.

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fitting process involved winding Teflon over the pipe threads to prevent collected devices were the thermocouples to measure temperatures at
leakage and tightening with adjustable pipe wrenches after an external different points in system (twelve points), the hygrometer for measuring
thread had been prepared over the pipe using a manual pipe thread of the outlet air humidity of drying chamber, anemometer to measure air
cutter. flow velocity so as to fix the rate of air supply as well as Pyranometer
The two and a half-inch and 0.5-inch galvanized steel pipe The rock (Lux-meter) to measure the global solar radiation reach on solar col­
bed, drying chamber, and solar collector supports are made of hollow lector. The specification and location of those measuring devices in the
square high carbon steels with a 30 mm cross-section. As shown in system indicated in Table 2.
Fig. 6, the solar collectors were slanted at a 27◦ angle and positioned
atop a flattened horizontal surface in order to maximize their ability to
2.2. Experimental procedures
absorb solar energy.
2.2.1. Testing of the solar dryer system
2.1.5. Components of solar dryer system
Following the functional preparation of the dryer system, initial tests
At Bahir Dar University in Bahir Dar Institute of Technology, the
were carried out to ensure optimal system performance in the no-load
solar dryer prototype was developed and its components were fabri­
(unoccupied) situation. The evacuated tube collector and the trans­
cated. Assembling the ETC involved fitting the evacuated tubes on the
parent rock bed were positioned along a North-South orientation facing
manifold channel after the skeleton was positioned on its support and
south at their framework support at a slope of 27◦ in order to track
the thermal storage and drying chamber were assembled, as shown in
maximum solar radiation during the shining hours of the day. The test
Fig. 7(a) and (b). In addition, adhesive adhesives were used to seal the
was conducted on May 09–15/2014. Here, the system has been tested at
evacuated tubes, preventing linking during fitting.
the calculated required flow rate (0.0161 m3/s) the two cases that is
Filling the storage tank with the heat-storing material (pebble stone):
with and without the reflector on the collector.
To improve the material’s capacity to absorb solar radiation, 0.137 m3
The main aim of testing the developed solar dryer with full load was
(263 kg) of pebble stone was stored and painted black. This can be seen
to evaluate the performance of the system in various air flow rates as
in Fig. 8. Pipeline insulation and thermal storage glassing: To store heat
well as with intensifying solar radiation using reflector on the main air
generated by direct solar radiation, the thermal storage was covered
heater at specific air flow rate. Before loading the sliced potato, the
with double glassing, as illustrated in Fig. 9. Additionally, double
speed of supplied air at the outlet of the blower was set at the required
glassing was necessary to insulate the store since there is a 2 cm air gap
speed, solar radiation meter (Pyranometer) was placed on inclined
between the upper and bottom glasses; as a result, the glasses were
collector, digital thermocouples were inserted at inlet and outlet of the
covered. Ultimately, the air flow channels (air delivery pipes) were
ETC, at the bottom, middle and top of thermal storage, at the inlet of
covered with fiber glass insulation to reduce heat loss.
drying chamber and on each trays as shown on Figs. 11 and 12. The
Furthermore, a standard 4 mm thick commercial mirror glass was
developed solar dryer was tested to dry the potato slice for different
manufactured and positioned over the constructed framework support
cases:
so that it could be easily removed or adjusted for testing purposes.
Because of their supports, the reflectors’ slope could be readily changed
• Case I: ETC as air heater with assistance of rock bed after six hour of
during the test. Because the reflector support legs were constructed from
sun shine at various air flow rates.
two hollow bars, one with a larger diameter than the other, one could
• Case II: Having extended reflectors on top and bottom side of ETC
slide over the other and be controlled by a pin put into the perforations
(without assistance of rock bed)
in the bar, allowing it to move or support the reflector load at the desired
• Case III: ETC as air heater (without assistance of rock bed).
slope. The reflectors at the top had a slope of 0◦ from vertical support
and the bottom reflector had a slope of 40◦ from the horizontal ground
In the first case, the hot air was supplied from the evacuated tube
surface. Following the design and fabrication of each dryer component,
collector for six hours of sun shine (until the ETC’s outlet temperature
the prototype was put together using the system’s preliminary layout, as
started to drop), after which the drying process was continued with the
depicted in Fig. 10.
help of the rock bed. A valve at the pipe connecting ETC to the drying
Utilizing an electricity-powered centrifugal air blower, the air
chamber was opened throughout the test, while the two valves at the
required for this experiment was supplied. It was able to modify the
rock’s entrance and outflow were closed. Here, experimental observa­
velocity of the outgoing air flow thanks to its built-in potentiometer
tions were made from 9:00 LT to 1:00 LT, when the rock bed’s departure
(Fig. 10). This blower uses 360 watts of electricity and can supply up to
temperature approached its inlet temperature (Here, local time (LT) is
3.2 m3/min (0.053 m3/s) of air.
defined as follows: 7:00 AM in the morning corresponds to 1:00 in the
morning (Ethiopian time counting system). This document’s timing
2.1.6. Measuring instruments
system is configured in this manner). In this instance, the solar dryer was
The measuring devices were collected to test the prototype. The
tested at the air flow rate of 0.0161 m3/s. In the second case the air flow

Fig. 6. Manufacturing of supports of solar collector and thermal storage.

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S. Yematawu et al.
Fig. 7. Assembling of the solar dryer a) skeletons of the system b) Assembled ETC.
Fig. 8. Filling and panting of pebble stone.
rates to test the system were 0.008 m3/s and 0.0024 m3/s. In the third
case, the system was tested to the optimum air flow rate (0.0161 m3/s)
with extending reflectors on the top and bottom side of an evacuated
tube solar collector.
All testing in the constructed solar dryer had carried out in forced
convection mode in this experiment. The following parameters were
recorded at 10-minute intervals from 3:00 LT in the morning to 1:00 LT
in the evening during each test: the ambient temperature, relative hu­
midity, solar insolation, collector’s inlet and outlet temperatures, the
final and initial temperatures of the thermal energy storages (TES) (for
the first cases only), and the temperatures at the inlet, on each tray in­
side the chamber, and the chimney’s outlet. Every hour, the weight of
the potato slices fed onto the trays was measured until the weight
reached the target equilibrium moisture content. The trays in the drying
chamber (Fig. 11) were given names during the test: tray-1 was assigned
to the bottom tray, tray-2 to the middle tray, and tray-3 to the top tray.
The temperature on the trays was recorded before weighting the slice
mass.
In addition to being dried in a solar dryer, the potato slices were also
dried in an electrical drying oven and under the open sun (Fig. 12). The
sample of potato slice weighed 150 g and 100 g was dried in oven at
70 ◦ C and in an open sun until its mass remains constant, respectively.
3. Result and discussion
Three significant drying operations have been completed before
evaluating the work’s outcome. The first operation was, the potato slice
was dried in a drying oven as the initial step. The purpose of the
experiment was to find out how moist the potato slice was. As a result,
the potato slices were dried in an oven at 70◦ C until their mass remained
constant, as suggested by (Eltawil et al., 2018). Therefore, the 150 g
Fig. 9. Glassing of thermal storage and insulation of pipes.
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Energy Reports 12 (2024) 453–471
potato slice was baked for 24 hours, during which time its mass
decreased to 29.2 g. Subsequently, the potato slice’s wet base initial
moisture levels reach 80.1 %80.1 % (Eq. 1), which is nearly identical to
the 81.0 %) found in (Eltawil et al., 2018; Chandramohan and Talukdar,
2017).
( )
Wi m%i − m%f
Ww,r = (1)
100 − m%f
Hence, Ww,r the moisture mass to be removed from the potato slice,
which became 5.9 kg with considering 7 % optimum final moisture
content (M%f,wb).
The second procedure, which served as the primary goal of this study
project, was using three distinct solar energy source instances to dry the
potato slice. In the first instance, the drying air was heated for the first
six active shining hours (from 3:00 LT in the morning to 9:00 LT in the
afternoon) using an evacuated tube collector (ETC), and the air was then
let to pass through the rock bed for the remaining hours. The main air
heater and the rock bed that is used as thermal storage have then dried
the slice that was loaded onto the trays in the drying chamber. This test
was conducted at three different flow rates, which are below and above
the calculated air flow rate (0.016 m3/s, 0.008 m3/s, and 0.024 m3/s),
in order to determine the optimal air flow rate and to obtain best
performance.
The third scenario, the solar dryer was tested at the best air flow rate
of the first case using ETC having extended mirror glass reflectors on its
top and bottom side and with assistance of the rock bed as well as using
ETC only. These tests were aimed to define the significance of the
Fig. 10. The solar dryer prototype.
S. Yematawu et al. Energy Reports 12 (2024) 453–471

Table 1
Summary of design specification of each component of the solar dryer.
Components of drier Material Size (m) Qty.

ETC Glass tube Borosilicate Do x Di x L x t = 0.058 ×0.047 ×1.8 ×0.0016 10

Distributor pipe Copper Do x L x t = 0.01 ×10×0.0005 1
Header tube Copper Do x L x t = 0.03 ×1.5 ×0.0005 1
Manifold size Plywood L x w x t = 2 ×0.35 ×0.035 1
Reflector Mirror L x w x t = 2 ×1×0.04 2
Cabinet Body (plywood) Plywood L x w x t = 2 ×0.8 ×0.02 2
Perforated-tray & chimney stainless steel L x w x t = 2 ×0.6 ×0.001 3
Chimney PVC L x Do x t = 0.4 ×0.5 ×0.003 1
Hot air supplier Tube Galvanized Iron Do x L x t = 0.06 ×2×0.0015 1
Valves Bronze Do x t = 0.06 ×2×0.002 3
Joints (T- joint and elbow) Cast iron Do x t = 0.06 ×0.0635 ×0.002 4
Rock bed TES Box – Cover Mild steel sheet L x w x t = 2 ×1×0.001 2
- Insulation Fiber glass Mass = 1 kg 3
Transparent glass (top cover) Plexi-glass L x w x t = 0.8 ×0.65 ×0.004 1
Thermal storage material Pebble stone V = 0.137m3 , Dpebles =0.0 3 1
Supports Support (framed for ETC, TES and cabinet support) High-carbon steel-Hollow bar Length x cross-section = 10 ×0.03 2
Blower Centrifugal Variable flow V̇a,max = 0.016m3 /s and power = 0.3 watt 1

Table 2
Summary of specification and location of measuring devices.
Parameter Measuring Location Accuracy Range
Device in the
system
(Qty)

Solar Luxmeter On the ±10W/m2 (±5%) 1–3999 W/

radiation (Model solar m2
LX1330B collector
digital-
operated by
9 V) Fig. 11. Potato slices in the developed solar dryer.
Temperature Digital - Collector ±5% -50℃-
thermocouple inlet & 300℃
outlet (2)
- Drying
trays (3)
- Inlet and
inside the
chamber
(4)
- Thermal
storage at
top,
middle
and
bottom (3)
Relative Digital - outlet of ±1% 0–100 %
humidity Hygrometer drying
(Model: BT-3) chamber
- Ambient
Velocity Digital Inlet of ±3% 0–60 m/s
anemometer ETC
Fig. 12. Potato sample in open sun drying.
(kestrel:
4.5Volt)
Weight Digital weight Before, ±5% 0.01–50 kg reflector on the solar collector (at the best air flow rate found during the
meter balance during & first test), and using ETC alone in open sun drying. Lower moisture
after
drying
content, uniformity, and good quality of dried slice were seen at
0.016 m3/s air flow rate when the slice dried at different air flow rates in
the solar drier with the help of the rock bed, compared to the slice that
independent rock bed and reflectors on enhancing the performance of dried at lower (0.008 m3/s) and higher air flow rate (0.024 m3/s).
the solar dryer system relative to the solar dryer equipped with ETC only Thus, the second test, which involves drying the slice in a solar dryer
and ETC with reflector, respectively. Besides, each test on the potato fitted with an ETC that has enlarged reflectors and uses just ETC with the
slice was also dried on an open sun. These experiments took place be­ help of the rock bed, was performed at 0.016 m3/s. After eight hours in
tween May 16 and June 19, 2023, and all of the experimental data that the solar dryer with assistance from a rock bed (9.3 %) and using only
was collected during that time was tallied. ETC (12.37 %), seven hours with the collector’s top and bottom re­
flectors extended (10.77 %), and ten hours in the open sun (11.1 %), the
3.1. Observable result of the tests moisture content of the potato slices was reduced to below its recom­
mended (optimum) wet base moisture content (13 %).
Fig. 13 (b) shows the potato slice that dried in the scenarios of drying
with a rock bed’s help at different air flow rates, utilizing an extended

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Fig. 13. Dried potato slice a) solar dryer and b) dried potato slice in sun drying.

3.2. Performance of the solar dryer system
Using an extended reflector on both the top and bottom sides of the
ETC and the ETC alone (without the rock bed and reflector), the dryer’s
performance was assessed in relation to changes in air flow rate. In the
first example, the solar dryer was used to force ambient air through an
ETC between 3:00 LT in the morning and 9:30 LT in the afternoon during
the active solar hour. It also enabled air to pass through the rock bed at
varying air flow rates as the sun set after 9:00 LT in the afternoon. In the
second and third scenarios, the dryer was tested utilizing ETC exclu­
sively and at the optimal air flow rate with expanded reflectors on both
the top and bottom sides of the collector. The software used to analyze
all the experimental data was Origin Pro-2021.
3.2.1. Dryer with assistance of rock bed
In this instance, the drying air was heated in the ETC by itself for the

Fig. 14. Outlet air temperature of ETC at different air flow rates.

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first six hours of the day before being released through the rock bed (at
which point the ETC’s exit temperature started to decline as a result of a
fall in solar flux). Three different air flow rates were used for this test:
0.016 m3/s, 0.008 m3/s, and 0.024 m3/s.
3.3. Outlet temperature of evacuated tube solar collector
In Fig. 14, air temperature at the evacuated tube solar collector’s
outlet is shown in a, b, and c for air flow rates of 0.016 m3/s, 0.008 m3/s,
and 0.024 m3/s, respectively, during dryer testing. Regardless of
changes in air flow rates, the temperature of the outgoing air rose as
solar radiation grew, remained constant while solar radiation constant,
and declined as solar radiation decreased. At 7:30 local time (maximum
solar time), the highest air temperatures recorded at the ETC output
were 83.8 ◦ C at 0.016 m3/s, 115.1 ◦ C at 0.008 m3/s, and 66.7 ◦ C at
0.024 m3/s. During the drying hours, the average exit air temperature
was 70.05◦ C at 0.016 m3/s, 89.44◦ C at 0.008 m3/s, and 56.9◦ C. In
general, air flow rates and the amount of solar energy available deter­
mined the air temperature at the collector’s outlet
The exit air temperature was higher at lower air flow rate (0.008 m3/
s) followed by the medium air flow rate (0.016 m3/s), and less at the
higher airflow rate (0.024 m3/s) as seen on Fig. 15. It is due to the air
flowing at lower flowing rate has more residence time in the air heating
collector and results to the air able to extract much heat; whereas the air
flowing at higher flow rates has lower residence time in the collector and
results to the air able to extract less heat. Here, the average outlet
temperature of the evacuated tube collector recorded at 0.016 m3 /s air
flow rate was compatible with previous research reported by (Abo-Elfadl
et al., 2020), which were 69.6◦ C at 0.00817 kg/s in the study area
having solar radiation of 925 W/m2
3.4. Useful energy and efficiency of the solar collector
Eq. (3) (Ricalde-cab et al., 2021) and (2) (Iranmanesh et al., 2020),
respectively, were used to find the efficiency and rate of useable heat
energy of the evacuated tube solar collector at different air flow rates
based on experimental results (Fig. 15). The evacuated tube solar col­
lector provided useful thermal energy at a rate that climbed quickly until
5:30 LT, then remained nearly constant until 9:00 LT before gradually
declining, as shown in the figure. Here, the evacuated tube solar air
collector’s instantaneous efficiency at all air flow rates improved grad­
ually until 6:00 LT and then nearly stabilized until 10:30 LT.
• Figs. 17, 18, and 19 (b) show the air temperature as it exits the
Q evacuated tube collector and enters the dryer. They also show the heat
ηc = (2)
AETC I
Fig. 15. Comparison of outlet air temperature of ETC at various air flow rate.
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• ( )
Qu = ρa v̇a Cp T∞ − Ta (3)
•
However, the rate of useful heat energy (Qu ) and efficiency of the
evacuated tube collector (ηc ) was different at various air flow rates. The
maximum rate of useful heat energy obtained from the collector was at
7:30 LT at all air flow rates, which were 852.7 W/m2at 0.016 m3/s,
684.98 W/m2 at 0.008 m3/s and 843.6 W/m2 at 0.024 m3/s (Fig. 16).
The average rate of useful heat energy during testing days were
724.94 W/m2 at 0.016 m3/s, 510.7 W/m2 at 0.008 m3/s and 674.3 W/
m2 at 0.024 m3/s. Here, rate of heat production and efficiency were
higher at 0.016 m3/s followed by 0.024 m3/s air flow rates; and lower at
0.008 m3/s air flow rates. The higher heat energy was obtained at the
middle air flow rate. This is due to a higher air flow rate extracts lower
heat energy because of the air flowing through ETC have lower residence
time; whereas a low air flow rate has higher exit temperature due it has
higher retention time but the heat producing rate and efficiency of ETC
was lower because of lower air mass flow rate.
However, the rate of useful heat energy and efficiency of the evac­
uated tube collector was different at various air flow rates. At all air flow
rates, the collector produced the highest rate of usable thermal energy at
7:30 LT, measuring 852.7 W/m2 at 0.016 m3/s, 684.98 W/m2 at
0.008 m3/s, and 843.6 W/m2 at 0.024 m3/s. During the testing days, the
average rates of usable heat energy were 724.94 W/m2 at 0.016 m3/s,
510.7 W/m2 at 0.008 m3/s, and 674.3 W/m2 at 0.024 m3/s. In this
instance, the air flow rates of 0.016 m3/s, 0.024 m3/s, and 0.008 m3/s
had the lowest rates of heat production and efficiency. It was at the
intermediate air flow rate that the greater heat energy was obtained.
This is due to a higher air flow rate extracts lower heat energy because of
the air flowing through ETC have lower residence time; where as a low
air flow rate has higher exit temperature due it has higher retention time
but the heat producing rate and efficiency of ETC was lower because of
lower air mass flow rate.
The average efficiency of solar collector was 62.02 %, 45.3 % and
61.23 % at 0.016 m3/s, 0.008 m3/s, and 0.024 m3/s, respectively.
Hence, the maximum efficiency of this evacuated tube solar collector
was occurred at 0.016 m3/s m3 /s (62.02 %), which is in the range of
previous findings (Babu et al., 2017; Singh and S. Vardhan, 2021), which
were 61 % and 64 %.
3.5. Inlet temperature and heat supply to the drying chamber
recovered and lost for each air flow rate. The air temperature entering
Fig. 16. Hourly variation of rate of useful energy and efficiency of ETC at
various air flow rates.
S. Yematawu et al. Energy Reports 12 (2024) 453–471

the drying chamber was lower than the air exiting the evacuated tube and the values were calculated using Eq. (4) (Lakshmi et al., 2020). The
collector at each air flow rate, as was noted during the first six shining values are depicted on Figs. 17,18,19 (a). Thus, the average recovered
hours (3:00 LT in the morning to 9:00 LT in the afternoon). This is due to thermal energy were 4837.83 kJ, 2768.12 kJ and 5411.3 kJ at
the presence of heat loss in the pipe connecting the solar collector and 0.016 m3/s, 0.008 m3/s and 0.024 m3/s air flow rates, respectively.
the drying chamber. But after six hours of shining means while the Here, the maximum heat recovery was occurred at higher air flow rates
drying air allowed flowing through the rock bed after 9:00 LT in the (0.024 m3/s). This is due the temperature of the air leaving the main
afternoon, the temperature of entering air to the drying chamber became solar collector at 0.024 m3/s was lower compared to lower air flow rates
higher than the temperature of the air leave the collector at air flow rates (0.016 m3/s and 0.008 m3/s). These results to have higher difference of
of 0.016 m3/s and 0.024 m3/s. This suggests that heat was released from air temperature and outcome to have higher heat recovery at higher air
the rock bed into the drying chamber, raising the temperature at the flow rate. The transparent rock bed was capable to discharge the heat to
dryer’s inlet. The temperature of the black-painted pebble stone that was the drying chamber depending on the air flow rate. When the air sup­
kept in the rock bed was higher than the temperature of the air that left plied at lower air flow rate (0.008 m3/s), the rock bed was supplied heat
the ETC. As a result, it releases the sensible heat it had retained during at lower rate and used for more extended time. Finally, the efficiency of
the peak of solar radiation. the transparent rock bed becomes 39.5 %, 22.5 % and 43.99 % at air
The drying chamber’s entering air temperature is depicted in Fig. 17 flow rates of 0.016 m3/s, 0.008 m3/s and 0.024 m3/s, respectively.
at a flow rate of 0.016 m3/s. It is clearly seen that the entering air
Qr,rb = ηrb τg αb Ic,i Arb tc (4)
temperature was highly increased from 3:00 LT in the morning to 6:00
LT at noon (38–76◦ C) and maintained higher (above 76◦ C) from 6:00 LT
Where: Qr,rb is the recovered heat energy, ηrb is efficiency of the trans­
at noon to 9:00 LT in the afternoon and air allowed to flow through the
parent rock bed (considered as efficiency of FPC, 50 %), τg αb is product
rock bed starting from 9:00 LT in the afternoon and the temperature
of the transmittance of double-glazing cover and the absorbance of black
increased to 86.7◦ C with slow decrement up to 1:00 LT in the evening.
painted rock (considered as 0.75), Arb is area of the rock bed (m2), Ic,i is
Here, the maximum dryer inlet temperature during the first six shining
average solar radiation on an inclined collector and tc is charging
hours was 83.1◦ C at 7:30 LT in the afternoon (while evacuated tube
(average local shining) hours, i.e., eight hours.
collector used as the only air heater) and 86.7◦ C after the air was
The hourly air temperature difference between the dryer’s inlet and
allowed to flow through the rock bed (9:00 LT in the afternoon). Finally,
the surrounding air was also used to calculate the dryer’s hourly rate of
the air temperature at exit of the rock bed became equal to its inlet
heat supply. The value of this difference at different air flow rates is
temperature after evening 1:00 LT in the evening.
displayed in Figs. 17 through 19. In this instance, the maximum rate of
Similarly, at 0.024 m3/s air flow rate (Fig. 189), the maximum dryer
heat supply to the dryer was approximately 834.4 W at 7:30 and
inlet temperature during first six shining hours (when evacuated tube
889.8 W at 9:00 (after the rock bed was employed), at air flow rates of
collector used as drying air heater) was 66.4◦ C at 7:30 in the afternoon;
0.016 m3/s (Fig. 22 approximately 594.3 W at 9:00 (prior to the rock
and 79.7◦ C after the air allowed to flow through the rock bed (9:00 LT in
bed being employed), and at air flow rates of 0.024 m3/s (Fig. 21)
the afternoon). But at lower air flow rate (0.008 m3/s, the exit air
approximately 826 W at 7:30 and 1160.94 W at 9:00 (post-rock bed
temperature from the collector was higher than the inlet air temperature
employed), respectively.
of the drying chamber (Fig. 17). The main reason was charging of the
Lastly, Fig. 20 shows the hourly rate at which the dryer produces
rock bed as long as the rock bed temperature was greater than or equal
heat. The figure indicates that at higher air flow rates (0.016 m3/s and
to temperature of air leaving the main air heater. At this air flow rate,
0.024 m3/s) than at lower air flow rates (0.008 m3/s), the rate of heat
heat delivery (discharging) from the rock bed to the drying chamber was
supply was higher. The significance of the air mass and the increased
began after 10:00 LT in the afternoon. As indicated on Fig. 1716a, the
rate of heat discharge from the rock bed at higher air flow rates during
maximum dryer inlet temperature was 104.4◦ C which was before the air
the discharging hours were the causes of this. The thermal system’s
flows through the rock bed (9:00 LT in the afternoon) and maintained
highest heat production averaged 20.79 MJ at air flow rates of
above 85◦ C after 9:00 LT in the afternoon and with slow decrement up to
0.016 m3/s, as opposed to 13.25 MJ and 21.56 MJ at air flow rates of
the time becomes 1:00 LT at the evening. Finally, the average inlet air
0.008 m3/s and 0.024 m3/s, respectively.
temperature to the chamber in drying hours was 73.86 ◦ C at 0.016 m3 /s,
As seen in Fig. 21, the rock bed temperature was also. The temper­
85.7 ◦ C at 0.008 m3/s and 60.7 ◦ C at 0.024 m3/s.
ature varied at the top, middle, and bottom of the rock bed. The top
Besides, the recovered thermal energy from the rock bed was found
surface temperature was higher than the middle and bottom during the
from the difference of its inlet and outlet temperature of the flowing air

Fig. 17. Inlet temperatures of the drying chamber and net heat supply rate at 0.016 m3 /s.

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Fig. 18. Inlet temperatures of the drying chamber and net heat supply rate at 0.008 m3 /s.

Fig. 19. Inlet temperatures of the drying chamber and net heat supply rate at 0.024 m3/s.

Fig. 20. Rate of heat production at different air flow rates.

shining hours, and the middle was higher than the bottom. The top,
middle, and bottom surfaces of the rock substrate had average maximum
temperatures of 107.4 ◦ C, 91.1 ◦ C, and 73.1 ◦ C, respectively. The
average temperature of the pebble stone kept in the rock bed throughout
those tests ranged from 30.5◦ C to 89.4◦ C from dawn until the moment
the rock bed line valve opened (Fig. 21). Because of this, the temperature
Fig. 21. Average hourly variation of rock bed temperature at various air
flow rates.
of the incoming air into the chamber could not be higher than 90◦ C at
any air flow rate. The temperature of the rock bed, the air discharge rate,
and the main air heater’s exit temperature all generally influenced the
dryer’s entrance temperature.

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S. Yematawu et al. Energy Reports 12 (2024) 453–471

Fig. 22. Drying temperature in the drying chamber, ambient and outlet relative humidity during testing.

3.5.1. Drying temperature

Each loaded tray in the drying chamber had a distinct drying tem­
perature, as Fig. 22a–c illustrates. The drying chamber’s temperature
was found to be lower at the bottom tray, higher at the middle tray, and
medium at the top tray throughout all time instants and air flow rates,
according to the figures. As realized from the graph, the more uniform
drying temperature on the trays was observed at higher air flow rates
0.016 m3/sand 0.024 m3/s compared to dry at lower air flow rate
0.008 m3/s. These results to have uniform drying at air flow rates of
0.016 m3/s and 0.024 m3/s than 0.008 m3/s. Here, the average drying
temperature was 54.6 ◦ C, 56.6 ◦ C, and 70.13 ◦ C, respectively, while the
highest drying temperatures were 70.13 ◦ C, 67.47 ◦ C, and 64.27 ◦ C at
air flow rates of 0.016 m3/s, 0.008 m3/s, and 0.024 m3/s. As a result,
the maximum average drying temperature of 0.016 m3/s air flow rate
was noted.
In addition, as shown by Fig. 23, the relative humidity in the dryer
was highest in the early drying hours and decreased at all air flow rates
after the time of the peak sunshine hours. With a higher drying tem­
perature, the relative humidity was lower at 0.016 m3/s. Fig. 23. Average drying temperature and relative humidity in the drying
chamber at different air flow rates.
3.5.2. Moisture reduction
Using Eq. 5 (Kumar, 2015), the hourly fluctuation in the sliced chamber at all air flow rates. The figure illustrates that the increased
potato’s moisture content on each plate was determined. Using a drying moisture reduction happened around midday because of increased solar
oven, the wet base initial moisture content of each potato slice was radiation on the air heater, which increased the rate of heat supply and
calculated for this test and came out to be 80.1 %. Next, Fig. 24 illus­ raised the drying temperature.
trates the hourly decrease in moisture content on each tray in the drying Tray 1, Tray 2, and Tray 3’s potato slices’ moisture content was

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Fig. 24. Variation of moisture content reduction at each tray in the drying chamber (a-c), and average moisture content reduction in the solar dryer air flow rate and
open sun (d).

ultimately decreased to 9.7 %, 8.9 %, and 9.3 % at 0.016 m3/s, 13.3 %,
9.3 %, and 10.5 % at 0.008 m3/s, and 11.3 %, 10.5 %, and 10.9 % at
0.024 m3/s after eight hours, respectively. Regardless of the difference
in air flow rate, the middle tray (Tray 2), which was followed by the top
tray (Tray 3), had a higher rate of moisture reduction than the bottom
tray (Tray 2).
Wi − Wt
m%wb = x100
Wi
(5)
Wi − Wd
m%db = x100
Wd
Where: m% is the percentage of moisture content, Wi, Wt and Wd are the
initial mass, mass of the product at any time (t), and dried mass of the
product, respectively and the subscrbit “b” and “d” are the the wet and
dry bases, respectively.
On the perspective of variation of air flow rate, the moisture content
reduction between the trays was more likely uniform at 0.016 m3/s and
0.024 m3/s (Fig. 224 a and c) than the air flow rate 0.008 m3/s (Fig. 224
b). This is due to the hot air supplied at higher air flow rate has more air
distribution through all the trays; but at lower air flow rate absorbed at
the middle tray (Tray-2) alone; that is why the middle tray shows at
higher moisture reduction.
Additionally, the potato slice sample was dried outside in the sun.
The average moisture decrease in the solar dryer under open conditions
and at each air flow rate is shown in Fig. 24d. Under eight hours, the
potato slice’s moisture content was, on average, reduced to 9.3 %,
11.83 %, and 10.9 % at air flow rates of 0.016 m3/s, 0.008 m3/s, and
0.024 m3/s, respectively. This showed that, in comparison to test results
shown at lower and higher air flow rates, the average moisture reduction
was substantially reduced at the medium air flow rate (0.016 m3/s).
Every potato slice’s final moisture content at every air flow rate fell
within the suggested (equilibrium) range of moisture content
(10–12.5 %), as mentioned in reference (Huang et al., 2019). More
specifically, an air flow rate of 0.016 m3/s (i.e., 9.3 %) was found to
result in a more consistent moisture reduction. In addition, during the
testing days, the moisture content in an open sun drying was lowered to
10.7 % in just ten hours. When compared to open sun drying, the
developed solar drier shortened the drying process by 20 %.
3.5.3. Moisture ratio and thin layer drying model
The moisture ratio (MR) is one of the important parameters to
determine the drying characteristics of agricultural products. It is
calculated using Eq. (6) and the values were obtained for different air
mass flow rates. Before the thin layer drying model selection, the
effective diffusivity was determined at the first observation and checked
its value is under the interval of the diffusivity coefficient recommended
for food items. Hence, the effective diffusivity value was calculated
using Eq. (6) (Ekka et al., 2021), which was 9.357 ×10− 9 at air flow rate
of 0.016 m3/s and fall within the range of 10− 12 to 10− 8 as reported for
most food items (Maiti et al., 2011).
( ) ( )
8 Deff t
Mr = exp − π2 2 (6)
π 2 4L

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Where; Deff is the effective diffusivity (m2/s), L is half-thickness of slice Table 4

Constants from non-linear regression analsysis at various flow rate.
(mm) and t is time at any instant. The linear solution of this equation
was obtained by using a simple approach, which assumes that only the Model name Values of constants at various air flow rate
first term in the series equation is significant (Maiti et al., 2011). 0.016 m3/s 0.008 m3/s 0.024 m3/s
In order to fit the drying model’s defined with the plotted experi­ Newtons k 0.162453 0.1132 0.1164
mental moisture ratio, non-linear regression analysis using Microsoft Page k 0.52802 0.376 0.388
N 1 1 1
Excel was performed throughout the drying model selection process. An Logarithmic a 1.14847 1.1485 1.117
experimental moisture ratio was plotted against drying time. The goal of k 0.1934 0.1834 0.3931
the non-linear regression analysis in this instance was to determine the C 0 0 0
maximum R2, decreased X2, and RMSE (Eqs. 7–9) (Eltawil et al., 2018). Two-term a 1.37858 1.266 1.258
b 0.378358 0.268 0.0031
Table 3 displays the chosen thin layer drying model which is used to
k1 0.23699 0.1635 0.1657
define the drying process mathematically for each air flow rate and k2 103.7022 103.7 103.7
Table 4 shows constants from non-linear regression analsysis at various Two-term exponential a 1 1 1
flow rate k 4738.014 9711 4738

N
∑ )2
(MRpre,i − MRexp,i
i=1
R2 = 1 − N
(7)
∑ )2
(MRpre − MRexp,i
i=1

N (
∑ )2
MRexp,i − MRpre,i
X2 = i=1 (8)
N− z
[ ]1/2
N
1 ∑ )2
RMSE = (MRpre,i − MRexp,i (9)
N i=1

Where: MRexp is experimental moisture ratio, MRpre is predicted mois­

ture ratio, z is number of constants and N is number of observations.
After performing non-linear regression analysis for various air flow
rates, the experimental and anticipated moisture ratio finally lead to
curve fitting, as shown in Figs. 25, 26, and 27. The two term thin layer
Fig. 25. Curve fitting of thin layer drying models to experimental MR at
drying model, which is comparable to the earlier work of (Eltawil et al.,
0.016m3 /s air flow.
2018), is represented by the roughly fitted curve based on the maximum
value of R2, decreased X2, RMSE, and realized from the Figures. Eq. (10)
(Chaouch et al., 2018), defines the thin layer drying model.

MR = a ∗ e− k1 t
− b ∗ e− k2 t
(10)

Where: the constants, a, b, k1 and k2 have the values mentioned in

Table 4 at the fourth row for various condition of the test and t is the
time instant.

Table 3
The regression values of the selected thin layer models for different air flow
rates.
Fig. 26. Curve fitting of thin layer drying models to experimental MR at
Model name Non-linear regression value at different flow
0.08 m3/s air flow.
rates (m3 /s)

0.016 0.008 0.024

Newtons 0.821 0.9022 0.90867
3.6. Efficiency of the solar dryer
R2
X2 0.017 0.00937 0.00867
RMSE 0.138 0.1027 0.09877 The drying chamber’s net heat supply, the slice’s rate of drying, and
Page R2 0.428 0.4309 0.4318 the dryer’s efficiency are displayed in Fig. 28. The average rate of heat
X2 0.077 0.07833 0.0771 supply was comparatively greater, at 0.016 m3/s air flow rate, as this
RMSE 0.294 0.29686 0.2945 data shows. Because there was more sun radiation during the testing
Logarithmic R2 0.886 0.8607 0.87496
days, the heat energy acquired experimentally at 0.016 m3/s air flow
X2 0.0162 0.0204 0.0180
RMSE 0.127 0.1428 0.1342
rate was slightly more than the calculated thermal load employed in the
Two-term R2 0.8757 0.97012 0.9728 design of the created solar dryer.
X2 0.0146 0.00336 0.0031 The average efficiency of the developed solar dryer is 23.87 %,
RMSE 0.113 0.05425 0.0518 23.04 %, and 23.39 % at 0.016 m3/s, 0.008 m3/s and 0.024 m3/s air
Two-term exponential R2 0.99986 0.87385 0.98923 flow rates, respectively. The average efficiency of this solar dryer is also
3.6944*E-5 0.03229 0.00288
X2 occurred at 0.016 m3/s air flow rate (23.87 %) which is better than a
RMSE 0.0061 0.1797 0.0536
similar solar dryer equipped with evacuated tube solar collector

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Fig. 27. Curve fitting of thin layer drying models to experimental MR at

0.024 m3/s air flow.

Fig. 29. Air temperature at outlet of ETC with and without reflectors.

The rate of producing useful energy also illustrated on Fig. The

maximum rate of producing useful energy from the collector was
996.7 W, which was greater than the maximum rate of useful heat ob­
tained from the collector without reflector (852.7 W) at the same time
and air flow rate. The maximum useful energy with reflectors was about
144 W (16.9 % greater useful energy obtained from the collector
without reflector); and an average rate of useful heat obtained from the
collector with reflector was 761.7 W, which is 5.1 % greater than the
average rate of useful heat obtained from the collector without reflector
which is 724.9 W. Its thermal efficiency was also 61.85 % almost the
same with the collector without reflector (62.02 %); which indicates
that the reflectors on the air heating collector are more important to
increase the useful thermal energy rather than increasing thermal
efficiency.

Fig. 28. Comparison of performance of the dryer at different air flow rates.
developed by (Veeramanipriya and Sundari, 2019). The performance of
this solar dryer was also better than the solar dryer developed for potato
slice using tunnel dryer assisted with flat plate solar collector investi­
gated by (Eltawil et al., 2018).
3.7. Significance of rock bed and extended reflectors on the collector
(Comparative study)
3.7.2. Inlet temperature and net heat supply to the drying chamber
The inlet temperature and net heat supply to the drying chamber
having ETC integrated with rock bed and extending reflectors, and ETC
solely was compared (Fig. 31a). When the ETC has extended reflectors,
the entering air temperature of the dryer increased from 37.7 ◦ C to
91.2℃. The average inlet air temperature of the drying chamber in
drying hours was 77.03℃ (73.32℃ when the collector without
reflector). This indicates that there is a significant increment of inlet
temperature in case of the dryer employed ETC integrated with extended

Together with the earlier experiments, the created drier was also
tested at the best air flow rate (0.016 m3/s) possible utilizing an evac­
uated tube collector with extended reflectors integrated to a separate
rock bed. The factors for comparison included the collector’s useful
energy generation, the dryer’s efficiency, moisture reduction, drying
temperature, slice drying rate, and rate of heat production.

3.7.1. Outlet temperature and efficiency of evacuated tube collector

Furthermore, the effectiveness of the collector was evaluated using
the extended reflectors at the ideal air flow rate used in the first testing,
and the outcomes were contrasted with those attained when using ETC
only. Fig. 29 shows the air temperature near the evacuated tube solar
collector’s outflow when the ETC has extended reflectors. The maximum
collector output air temperature during drying hours is 91.6◦ C, as can be
seen (83.9◦ C in the case of a collector without a reflector). The average
exit air temperature of the primary air heating collector (ETC) is 74.4◦ C
(or 70.04◦ C in the collector without a reflector). This indicates that, in
comparison to the case without reflectors, the collector with reflectors
produces a higher temperature output at the exit air temperature Fig. 30. Rate of useful energy and efficiency of evacuated tube air heater with
(Fig. 29). and without reflector.

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reflectors and assisted with rock bed energy storage. Here, the presence
of reflector enhances solar flux that strikes the collector and results to
have higher supply of heat to the dryer at this time. Averagely, there was
about 3.7◦ C temperature increment due the presence of reflectors at the
inlet of the drying chamber.
Furthermore, a comparison was made between the dryer’s hourly
computed net heat supply when equipped with ETC alone, with the help
of a rock bed, and with both rock bed and extended reflectors on the
collectors (Fig. 31b). The maximum heat supply rate to the dryer
equipped with an ETC and rock bed with extended reflectors was
970.4 W, and 904.9 W when the air was allowed to pass through the
rock bed. The average heat supply rate to the dryer during the drying
hours was 774.13 W (22.3 MJ), an increase of 8.53 % from 20.79 MJ
because of the reflectors.
This was due to higher solar intensity on the solar collector results for
high production of heat. When the dryer was equipped with an ETC only,
the average rate of heat production in drying hours was 641.52 W (18.47
MJ) which is less than the heat produced with integration of rock bed Fig. 32. Average hourly drying tempearure in the solar drying chamber.
(20.79 MJ). This revealed that as the heat production averagely
increased by 9.6 % due to the presence of the rock bed integrated in the 10 %), and ETC alone (approximately 10.2 %).
dryer system.
3.7.4. Moisture reduction
3.7.3. Drying Temperature As the potato slice dried in the solar dryer developed utilizing ETC
The average drying temperatures in the drying chamber for each of with integration of the rock bed, with enlarged reflectors and employing
the aforementioned scenarios are displayed in Fig. 32. The drying ETC as well as in an open sun, Fig. 34 shows the hourly, starting, and
chamber’s temperature was gradually raised from morning to midday final moisture content. As can be seen in the figure, in all cases the larger
and reached a higher level at that time, as can be seen in the figure. rate of moisture reduction occurred between 5:30 LT in the morning and
When using a rock bed collector with extended reflectors, the maximum
drying temperature in the drying chamber was 75.3◦ C (or 70.13◦ C when
using an electric dryer with the bed’s assistance), and the average drying
temperature over the course of eight hours was 63.82◦ C (or 59.9◦ C when
using an electric dryer without reflectors). The average gain in exit air
temperature was 3.8℃, and the greatest exit temperature difference was
5.2℃ when compared to the condition without reflectors (Fig. 22a). In
case of the dryer equipped with evacuated tube collector only, the
maximum drying temperature was 69.8 ◦ C and the average drying
temperature during the testing days was 57.15 ◦ C (59.9 ◦ C in the case of
ETC with assistance of rock bed). This indicates that the dryer developed
using ETC employed rock bed as a thermal storage has higher drying
temperature of 2.8 ◦ C compared to dryer equipped to ETC.
As shown in Fig. 33, the relative humidity at the dryer’s outlet was
consistent throughout the morning (25–38 %) and decreased almost by
10 % at midday. As the figure illustrates, a greater decrease in humidity
was noted at higher drying temperatures. Eventually, the moisture
content decreased in the drier that was using ETC, reflectors, and a rock
bed (about 9.1 %), ETC combined with a rock bed (approximately Fig. 33. Relative humidity at the outlet of the drying chamber.

Fig. 31. (a) Inlet tempearure and (b) net hourly heat supply of the drying chamber.

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S. Yematawu et al. Energy Reports 12 (2024) 453–471

10:00 LT in the afternoon. This is because more solar radiation leads to

higher rates of heat supply and higher drying temperatures. After seven
hours in the drying chamber, the average moisture content of the potato
slice in the ETC-developed solar drier with enlarged reflectors and in­
tegrated rock bed was 10.77 %.
This implies that the moisture was reduced at higher rate in the dryer
having reflector on the collector and important to the days having short
period of sun shine in the day. When the slice stayed for one more hour,
the average moisture content of the slice reduced to 8.9 % after eight
hours of drying and 9.3 % while using rock bed only. In the dryer
developed using ETC only, the average moisture of the potato slice was
reduced to 12.37 % after eight hours in the drying chamber. The pres­
ence of reflector saved 12.5 % of the drying time in comparison with the
dryer equipped to the ETC without reflector and 30 % of the drying time
in comparison to open sun drying. Fig. 35. Curve fitting of drying models to experimental moisture ratio in dryer
Although there was a greater reduction in moisture content than in using ETC with reflector and rock bed.
other cases and in an open sun-dried slice, the quality of the dried potato
slice in the solar dryer equipped with the collector having extended
reflectors integrated with the rock bed was nearly identical to the slice Table 5
dried in the dryer employed ETC with integration of rock bed as thermal The regression values of the selected thin layer models for various cases.
storage. Model name Non-linear regression value in different
cases

3.7.5. Moisture ratio and thin layer drying model ETC with RB ETC Wref. & RB ETC only
The regression value (highest value of R2, reduced X2 and RMSE) of Newtons R2 0.821 0.90323 0.816768
the selected thin layer model for different cases are shown on Table 5, X2 0.017 0.009304 0.017108
RMSE 0.138 0.102308 0.138733
and R2 andX2 the curve fittings plot are also shown on Error! Refer­
Page R2 0.428 0.436451 0.443936
ence source not found.and 36. 0.077 0.075126 0.074537
X2
RMSE 0.294 0.290718 0.289576
3.7.6. Efficiency of the solar dryer Logarithmic R2 0.886 0.8992 0.88266
The method used to estimate the solar dryer’s efficiency was the X2 0.0162 0.0142 0.01666
same as that described in the prior situation. The effectiveness of the RMSE 0.127 0.11915 0.12907
Two-term R2 0.8757 0.970746 0.865613
solar dryer is compared while employing ETC alone, with expanded
X2 0.0146 0.003437 0.015584
reflectors on both the top and bottom sides of the collector, and with the
RMSE 0.113 0.054837 0.116773
help of the rock bed (Fig. 37). The solar dryer’s average efficiency was Two-term exponential R2 0.99986 1 0.999936
21.27 % when it was fitted with extended reflectors and the help of the X2 3.6944E-5 4.31E-11 1.73E-05
rock bed, 23 % when it was equipped with ETC alone, and 29.82 % RMSE 0.0061 6.56E-06 0.004163
when it was provided with ETC alone. It was discovered that, when
As shown in Table 5 shows that the roughly fitted curve is a two-term thin layer
compared to solar dryers that are assisted by the rock bed and have drying model, with the following values: R2 = 0.8656, lower X2 = 0.0156 and
longer reflectors, those that are solely operated by an ETC had higher RMSE = 0.1168 for the case of utilizing ETC only, and R2 = 0.9707, lower X2 =
efficiency. 0.003437 and RMSE = 0.05484 for the case of having reflectors. Additionally,
This was due to the area of the rock bed was included in determining the values of the constants a, b, k1, and k2 for each scenario are listed in Table 6
the efficiency of the dryer with assistance of the rock bed. However, the fourth row.
higher drying rate was observed when the ETC equipped with extended
reflectors with integration of rock bed (0.76 kg/h.) compared with the
dryer operated with assistance of the rock bed (0.658 kg/h.) and ETC Table 6
only (0.635 kg/h.). This was due to the higher production and supply of Estimated values of constants from non-linear regression analsysis for different
cases.
Model name Values of constants in different cases

ETC with RB ETC Wref. & RB ETC only

Newtons k 0.162453 0.125003 0.16245

Page k 0.52802 0.4155 0.52802
N 1 1 1
Logarithmic a 1.14847 1.148472 1.14847
k 0.1934 0.19341 0.19341
C 0 0 0
Two-term a 1.37858 1.270204 1.37858
B 0.378358 0.270205 0.378358
k1 0.23699 0.1773 0.23699
k2 103.7022 103.7 103.702
Two-term a 1 1 1
exponential k 4738.014 4738.014 4738.014

heat to the dryer equipped with ETC with assistance of rock bed (20.79
MJ, and 22.56 MJ in having reflectors) compared to the dryer equipped
with ETC only (18.97 MJ). Thus, the presence of rock bed and reflector is
more important to achieve complete drying of the potato slice.
Fig. 34. Comparison of moisture content reduction.

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S. Yematawu et al. Energy Reports 12 (2024) 453–471

Fig. 36. Thin layer drying models and experimental MR in dryer using ETC.

3.8. Validation of the solar dryer with the existing literature Fig. 37. Performance comparison of the solar dryer in different cases.

Compared to earlier studies that are referenced in literatures (Eltawil 4. Conclusion

et al., 2018) and (Veeramanipriya and Sundari, 2019), our work has
actually performed better. This work is also very important for
enhancing the values of adding reflectors to air heaters and their effect
over the dryer, as well as the method integration of the rock bed in solar
dryers. The temperature drop that occurs between the drying chamber
and the main air heater is therefore avoided by this type of independent
thermal storage. As noticed in the result, the drying chamber inlet
temperature raised more (increased by 3.8℃ relative to the solar col­
lector outlet temperature) rather than decreasing, which improved the
challenge in the previous works and reliability of the system during
drying operation. In addition, an extended reflector was crucial for
increasing the collector outlet temperature and causes to reduce the
drying time.
The purpose of this work was to investigate the solar dryer that used
an evacuated tube collector as the primary air heater integrated with the
rock in order to dry 7.5 kg of potato slices from an initial wet base
moisture content of 80.1–7 % moisture. The system is based on a 1.3 m2
evacuated tube solar air heater with an independent rock bed that has a
volume of 0.137 m3 and a top surface area of 0.52 m2 with double
glassing coverage. The effectiveness of the solar dryer was assessed by
experimental testing at different air flow rates, along with the use of an
ETC alone and a reflector on the collector to amplify the sun’s radiation.
The calculated air flow rate of 0.016 m3/s was tested for this dryer.
In addition, tests of the system were conducted at 0.008 m3/s and
0.024 m3/s air flow rates. In comparison to lower (0.008 m3/s) and
higher (0.024 m3/s) air flow rates, the higher efficiency of the solar
collector (62.02 %), more moisture reduction (9.3 %), uniform drying,
optimum thermal (heat) energy recovery (4792.2 kJ), and maximum

Table 7
Some of previous works on forced mode solar dryers using ETC with and without thermal storage and reflectors.
Author, Years Title Parameters in investigated Result

Ubale et al., 2017, (Ubale
et al., 2017)
Eltawil et al., 2018, (Eltawil
et al., 2018)
Veeramanipriya & Sundari,
2019, (Veeramanipriya and
Sundari, 2019)
Chopade & Ranade, 2019, (
Chopade and Ranade,
2019)
Swapnil Girhe, 2021, (
Swapnil Girhe, 2021)
The present work
Performance analysis of forced convection
ETC for grape dryer
Solar PV powered mixed-mode tunnel
dryer for drying potato chips
Drying Kinetics of Forced Convection
Solar Dryer for Fruit Drying
Performance Analysis of Evacuated Tube
Solar Dryer with Desiccant Dehumidifier
and PCM
Design and analysis of drying chamber
used in hybrid solar dryer
Experimental testing on the performance
of solar dryer equipped with evacuated
tube collector, rock bed heat storage and
reflectors
Effect of variation of air flow rate on
efficiency of the ETC
- performance evaluation of solar dryer
for drying of potato slice for chips at
different air flow rate
- determining the solar dryer
performance for drying of apple slice
using ETC
Significance of PCM and Desiccant
Dehumidifier (drying of spinach leaves)
Performance of dryer to dry 5 kg of chilly
to 1.111 kg in 10 hrs (MC 80–10 %)
- using Evacuated Tube Collector (ETC)
with or without rock bed as well as with
adding reflector on ETC and in an open
sun.
- testing at load-based air flow rate
(0.016m3 /s) and at lower and higher
(0.008 and 0.024 m3 /s) air flow rates
- average air temperature at outlet of ETC was 65.1◦ C
at 0.00817 kg/s
- average collector efficiency: 24.3 % at 380–1050 W/
m2 and Ta at 24–38 ◦ C
- Over all solar dryer efficiency was in range of
16.71–19.06 % at calculated air flow rate.
- solar dryer efficiency was 16.5 %.
- desiccant bed increases temp. by 3–9℃
- drying temperature was 40–70℃ and 3–6℃
temperature drops due to the phase change material
- reduce to 2.56 kg (48.8 % moisture content) in 10 hrs.
at 56.8◦ C
- not dried at required moisture level
- final average MC reduced 9.3, 11.03 and 10.9 % in 8
hrs at air flow rate of 0.016, 0.008 and 0.024 m3 /s
using ETC with rock bed, and 12.1 % in 10 h in an
open sun drying.
- at optimum of the first case (0.016 m3 /s), MC was
12.37 % in 8 hrs in case of using ETC alone, 10.77 %
in 7 hrs in cases of rock bed and reflectors on ETC.
- average collector and dryer efficiency were 62.02 %
and 23.87 %, respectively, which was higher at air
flow rate of 0.016m3 /s.
- extended reflectors reduced drying times by 12.5 %
compared to ETC cases with or without rock bed and
by 30 % to open sun drying.

469
S. Yematawu et al.
efficiency of the dryer (23.7 %) were obtained at 0.016 m3/s air flow
rate. When compared to open sun drying, this solar dryer can save 20 %
of the drying time at the optimal air flow rate of 0.016 m3/s. In addition,
the dryer was tested using ETC alone at last, and with enlarged reflectors
at the top and bottom of ETC.
When compared to ETC without reflectors, the average rate of heat
output increases by 5.1 % when reflectors are present. With a maximum
drying rate of 0.76 kg/h, the potato slice’s moisture content dropped to
10.7 % in under seven hours. The dryer achieved 21.27 % efficiency.
When ETC is the only method used, the slice’s moisture content drops to
12.37 % in eight hours, with a maximum drying rate of 0.635 kg/h and
an efficiency of 29.82 %. In conclusion, the inclusion of extended re­
flectors reduced drying times by 12.5 % when compared to ETC cases
with or without rock bed help and by 30 % when compared to open sun
drying. Due to the more heat supply in the solar dryer employed ETC
with assistance of rock bed (9.56 % more heat production), it has 3.7 %
more drying rate compared to the dryer equipped with ETC only.
In addition to being designed and developed, this solar dryer system
is used to dry agricultural products, particularly potato slices, which are
extremely perishable. This research’s product can be used by policy­
makers and widely disseminated to end users.
Author statement
Author contribution: All authors have accepted responsibility for the
entire content of this manuscript and consented to its submission to the
journal, reviewed all the results and approved the final version of the
manuscript.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Semahegn Yematawu: Writing – original draft, Software, Concep­
tualization. Hailemariam Mulugeta: Writing – review & editing, Soft­
ware. Bimrew Tamrat Admasu: Writing – review & editing, Writing –
original draft, Supervision, Methodology, Investigation, Conceptualiza­
tion. Dessie Terekegn: Writing – review & editing, Supervision,
Conceptualization.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare the following financial interests/personal re­
lationships which may be considered as potential competing interests:
Bimrew Tamrat Admasu reports administrative support, equipment,
drugs, or supplies, and travel were provided by Bahir Dar University.
Bimrew Tamrat Admasu reports a relationship with Bahir Dar University
that includes: employment, non-financial support, and travel reim­
bursement. Bimrew Tamrat Admasu has patent pending to Assignee. All
co-authors have no conflict of interest If there are other authors, they
declare that they have no known competing financial interests or per­
sonal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work re­
ported in this paper.
Data Availability
Data will be made available on request.
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