Theoretical and experimental study of a single-pass solar air collector for drying food products

This paper involved a theoretical and experimental study of a single-pass solar air collector to supply hot air to a solar dryer. A Fortran code is developed to solve the heat transfer equations and determine the thermal performance of the collector's components, such as the absorber plate, glass cover, and heat transfer air. Three similar solar collectors, installed at different inclination angles (horizontal, 30? inclination, and 70? inclination), were constructed and tested at the Research Unit (URER-MS) in southern Algeria. The effect of the collector's inclination on its thermal performance has been investigated. The results show that the collector's performance is strongly influenced by the inclination angle, with the optimal angle varying according to seasonal conditions. The model validation revealed percentage deviations between theoretical and experimental results across all tested inclination angles as follows: absorber temperature (4.8%-10%), heated air temperature (5.2%-14.8%), glass cover temperature (10.7%-17.3%), and ambient temperature (5.4%-6.4%). These deviation ranges confirm the reasonable accuracy of the theoretical model in predicting system performance under varying operational conditions.