Testing results of a novel air cavity enabled domestic solar dryer for potato drying

Abstract The ever‐increasing global food requirement, food waste and loss, climate change, and energy and food insecurities have forced researchers around the world to think about sustainable development. This study has been designed to test a novel air cavity enabled renewably powered domestic solar dryer (DSD) for potato slices drying under natural convection (NC) and forced convection (FC) modes. The effect of potato slice thicknesses (3, 4, and 5 mm) on the performance of the DSD under NC and FC modes has also been presented. The average final moisture content of potato slices was 6.43% and 11.2% (wb) under NC and FC modes, respectively. The drying behavior of potato slice samples was found to be in accordance with the Midilli‐Kucuk model. The total cost and embodied energy of the DSD under NC and FC modes were found to be INR 1557.14 ($18.68) and 126.84 kWh, and INR 1788.14 ($21.45) and 157.87 kWh, respectively. Drying rate, effective moisture diffusivity, heat transfer coefficients, thermal and exergy efficiencies were higher for 4 mm thick potato slice samples drying under both modes. The performance of the DSD under NC mode was found to be more desirable for potato slice samples drying.