Vol. 12, Special Issue 12 (2023)

Author(s):
Preeti, Mohod AG, Khandetod YP, Dhande KG and Sawant PA

Abstract:
Solar drying technologies have become well-established and popular technologies throughout the world. In present scenario, dried food plays a crucial role in the domestic as well as commercial area. To achieve this, may researchers have been studied and much more are to be expected in the near future to overcome the current limitations in the solar drying industry. Solar dryers have enormous potential in agriculture, where they are used to dry vegetables, fruits, cereal grains, spices, and medicinal plants, other crops. As a result, the dependency on non-conventional resources has been reduced by solar dryer hence, saving vast amounts of fossil resources. Solar dryers are ineffective during rainy season or cloudy days and could be used during daytime which leads less control over drying process. In response to these challenges, solar dryers are amalgamated with supplementary energy sources, which is commonly known as a ' Solar Hybrid Dryer.' This innovative solar hybrid drying technology for agricultural products stands out as an eco-friendly and economically viable substitute for the highly energy-intensive thermal dryers commonly employed in agri-food processing supply chains. In this paper, we mainly reviewed on use of metal matrix, metal fibre (finned tubes) or sand which can enhance the thermal conductivity effectiveness of the phase changing materials (PCMs), thermal storage materials and ultimately influencing the efficiency of heat transfer within the broader system. Recent trends and developments of solar hybrid drying technologies are mainly reviewed in this paper.