System Science: A Case Study of Solar Drying System

Abstract: System science is an interdisciplinary field of science that studies the nature of complex systems in nature, society and science. The aim of this study is to present a case study on the experimental performance of solar pump dryer. The results for typical sunny day were presented. The drying curves are formed by the measurement of the material moisture content as a function of time under constant drying air conditions. The temperature 55oc and two air drying speed (1m/s, and 3m/s) has been investigated. The weight was recorded on personal computer at 5 minutes intervals, and about 65g of fresh lemongrass was used in each run. The lemongrass was dried from average initial moisture content of 85 % wb to an average final moisture content of 13 % wb. The maximum value of solar fraction of 0.713 and the maximum value of coefficient of performance of chemical heat pump (coph) of 2 were obtained from experiment at sunny day. The total system energy output from the experiment at sunny day was 51 kwh. The results show that any reduction of energy at condenser as a result of a decrease in solar radiation will decrease the coefficient of performance as well as decrease the efficiency of drying. Keywords:- system science, heat pump, drying curves, sola