TITLE:
Thermal Efficiency of Indirect Solar Dryer Using Pebbles as Absorber during Cocoa Drying
AUTHORS:
N’Dri Emmanuel Abouanou, Théophile Roch Ori, Ekoun Paul Magloire Koffi, Prosper Gbaha
KEYWORDS:
Cocoa Beans, Indirect Solar Dryer, Heat Storage, Drying Curve, Solar Energy
JOURNAL NAME:
World Journal of Engineering and Technology,
Vol.13 No.1,
February
17,
2025
ABSTRACT: The effect of a storage system on drying time and estimation of drying parameters of cocoa beans using an indirect solar dryer with a sensible heat energy storage system (stones which act as both absorber and heat storage media) is the main subject of this article. This dryer, which uses stones as storage material and is made of wood and plywood, was used to dry a quantity of 5 kg of fermented cocoa beans. The drying parameters for the drying curves and the drying efficiency of cocoa beans were established and studied. The drying curves were modelled from semi-empirical models. The results showed that the moisture of cocoa beans decreased from 60% to 7% in wet basis. With a solar collector and drying efficiency of 40% and 34%, respectively. And this with a maximum average difference temperature between the drying air and the ambient temperature of 13.25˚C day or night. The best concordances are obtained with R2 values of 0.9983, 0.9843, 0.9813 and 0.9837 respectively from the models of Hii, Jena and Das, Demir et al. and Alibas.