Experimental Investigation of Greenhouse Solar Dryer with Sensible Heat Storage Material

Amidst the current enthusiasm surrounding the development of solar energy-based utility systems, numerous research studies have focused on the greenhouse solar crop drying system. This field of investigation has garnered significant attention, as researchers strive to design a system capable of achieving the highest average temperature within the solar dryer while minimizing drying time. Additionally, there is a keen interest in discovering novel and more cost-effective forms of heat storage systems. With this objective in mind, a solar greenhouse dryer (SGD) utilizing a Gabic even roof and passive mode has been developed and tested. The dryer incorporates pebbles as a heat storage component at its base. The findings revealed that the use of pebbles resulted in a 1.9% increase in the temperature of the solar dryer, as well as a 5.7% increase in the temperature of the base. Furthermore, the pebbled dryer exhibited a reduction in relative humidity of approximately 5.4% too. Also, the low degree of fluctuation for coefficient of fluctutation revealed the availability of energy at the pebbledbase. Upon comparison, the average value of pebbled greenhouse temperature was found to be 3.45% higher than the dryer with black polyvinyl sheet at the base, thus proving the effectiveness of using pebbles at the base.