Design and simulation of a simple greenhouse solar dryer and peltier thermoelectric module under independent and combined operating conditions

Abstract India is a suitable country for cultivating several food produce, and most of them are seasonal. To make the food produce available in off seasons and to increase their shelf life there is vital need for food processing. Rapid urbanization has imposed a great demand for food due to very less availability of fresh food produce. There is a huge wastage in the food produce as the cultivation land is located far from the end user and time delay due to transportation. There are several food processing methods of which dehydration and cooling play a major role. A simple solar greenhouse dryer and Peltier thermoelectric cooling was designed and studied using COMSOL and EJS tool. The performance study integrating both systems was analysed and reported. The models were considered to work solely on solar energy. Solar thermal energy for dehydration and solar photo voltaic for operating the Peltier device. Studies on performance of the designed systems were carried out along with scope for performance improvement. The simulation studies revealed a 1.439 °C increase in drying chamber temperature by integrating the heat parameter of the Peltier thermoelectric cooler. At 40 K temperature difference the Peltier thermo electric module attained optimal performance. From the analysis using EJS tool, the maximum and average air temperatures inside the dryer were found to be 65 °C and 57 °C, the COP and cooling capacity of the Peltier thermoelectric model were high at 800 W/m 2 solar radiation.