Analisis distribusi suhu dan kecepatan aliran udara dalam ruang pengering berenergi surya menggunakan CFD

Abstract

Solar drying is one of alternative drying method for various agricultural products using renewable energy resources. There is a significant problem i.e. improper uniformity of temperature and air flow in addition to the relatively low average temperature. This generates a non-uniformity of moisture content of the products being dried. The uniformity of these variables is determined by airflow pattern inside the drying room. Therefore, airflow distribution has to be considered in designing solar dryer, particularly that in form of tray drying. It is important to build mathematical models in designing a system, in order to evaluate the performance of the system without expensive or trial and error experimentation. The objective of this study is to analize airflow and heat transfer in a solar dryer using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and finite volume for temperature as well as airflow distribution for various positions of fan. A physical model of solar dryer is designed in order to obtain temperature and air flow velocity, and to be utilized as comparison. Validation between data and calculation of velocity on 64 measurement points has R* of 89%. Both the experiment and simulation show a relatively more uniform air temperature distribution than that of airflow velocity. Consequently, the air flow velocity becomes a critical factor in designing inlet and outlet position. Simulation of upper inlet and lower outlet show a more appropriate result than lower inlet- upper outlet.