Predicting the optimum operating parameters of a solar dryer with sensible and latent heat storage medium using multi-objective optimization technique
17th International Conference on Thermal Engineering: Theory and Applications, ICTEA 2026, Valletta, Malta, 22 - 24 Haziran 2026, cilt.1, (Tam Metin Bildiri)
- Yayın Türü: Bildiri / Tam Metin Bildiri
- Cilt numarası: 1
- Basıldığı Şehir: Valletta
- Basıldığı Ülke: Malta
- Anahtar Kelimeler: energy efficiency, exergy efficiency, latent and sensible energy storage medium, multi-objective optimization, Solar dryer
- Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Drying is a thermal process that results in high energy consumption because it is a low-temperature application. In such a process, renewable energy sources are used to reduce energy consumption. The most commonly used renewable energy source in this field is solar energy. However, the duration of solar energy use has been found to be insufficient for most products to reach the desired drying parameters. To prevent this, energy storage mediums are generally integrated into solar dryers. In this study, a solar dryer was operated under two different conditions with sensible and latent heat storage medium Integrated separately, and a multi-objective optimization technique was used to determine and compare the changes affecting the performance parameters of both systems. Thus, the factors affecting the optimum operating parameters of both energy storage medium were identified, and solutions for improvement were proposed. For both cases, three different objective functions were defined to maximize total energy and exergy efficiency and minimize product-specific unit cost (SUCP), by detected key decision variables such as temperature, humidity, and air velocity. According to the results of the multi-objective optimization (MOOD) study, it was determined that the energy efficiency, exergy efficiency, and unit specific product cost could be improved by up to 86.15%, 74.60%, and 10.39 $/MJ, for the solar dryer integrated with sensible heat storage medium, while these values could reach up to 86.64%, 75.20%, and 10.58 $/MJ, respectively, for the solar dryer integrated with latent heat storage medium.