Performance Evaluation of Solar Drying Chambers and Drying Kinetics of Apple Slices

Solar drying is an effective preservation method that reduces food waste by extending shelf life, maintaining nutritional quality, and improving storage and transportation. The study evaluates the performance of solar dryers under unloading, half loading and full capacity loading. The results show that operating solar dryers at full capacity is more advantageous in several key aspects. The drying behavior of apple slices was examined under various parameters, including drying rate, moisture removal analysis, effective moisture diffusivity, model selection, and color change analysis. The effective moisture diffusivity (Deff) ranged from 1.947 × 10⁻⁷ to 2.0599 × 10⁻⁷ m²/s, and the drying curves exhibited a falling rate period without a constant rate phase. Among ten drying models applied to describe and predict the drying behavior of golden apple slices, the Midilli et al. model was identified as the best fit. The color parameters were assessed to assess evaluate the changes before and after drying. Dried apple slices showed improved colour saturation and uniformity. Future research should focus on the testing the developed solar dryers across different seasons and climates, assess their performance with various crops, and conduct economic feasibility studies. In addition, optimizing airflow dynamics of the dryers using CFD can enhance efficiency and drying uniformity.