Parametric Study to Analyze the Performance of a Solar Greenhouse Dryer for the Drying of Olive Mill Wastewater

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to improve the design of an even-span greenhouse by analyzing the effect of some climatic and design parameters on its performance of drying Olive Mill wastewater. A mathematical model describing the coupled heat and mass transfers inside the dryer was developed and simulated under different condition using COMSOL Multiphysics. An analysis of the dryer performance was conducted in terms of the obtained overall drying efficiency. The findings indicated that the use of a shallow and large pond dyer under hot climatic conditions can improve significantly the drying process. The dryer high and the extension added to the configuration had not achieved any enhancement to the drying efficiency, but can affect the calculations time and installation cost. The developed model was thus used as an effective tool to optimize the drying process.