Paper Title
EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION ON PERFORMANCE OF THE MIXED MODE SOLAR DRYER INTEGRATED WITH A PHASE CHANGE MATERIAL

Abstract
Abstract - The thermal storage materials have been used in solar dryers to provide continuous drying method and reduce drying time. Most experiments have shown that solar dryers integrated with thermal storage material can improve the performance of traditional solar dryers by increasing the efficiency of solar dryers, increasing the drying rate and reducing the drying time. The aim of this study was to experimentally investigate the drying performance of the Mixed-mode natural circulation solar dryer (MMNCSD) integrated with a phase change material and also the impact of drying time on the loss of mass of the bananas based on South Africa context. A mixed-mode natural circulation solar dryer was constructed and tested with load under three different drying times and bananas were used as a sample. From the experiments, Bananas were best dried over a 2-day drying period, as compared to 1-day and 3-day drying periods when the MMNCSD was with and without the thermal storage material. Bananas were best dried at air temperatures ranging between 39 and 52 °C and relative air humidity being between 10 and 30% during the day and below 60% throughout the night. Furthermore, higher temperatures and lower humidity caused bananas to loss their water content and low temperatures and high humidity (above 60%) caused bananas to reabsorb moisture back. Keywords - Mixed-mode Solar Dryer, Natural Circulation, Phase Change Materials, Drying Performance