Optimum design of a PV driven transpired plate solar air heater for drying woodchip in Scotland.

Grassie, Tom

Abstract

The design and operation of a PV driven solar air heating system for drying woodchip is considered. For a given weight and moisture content of the woodchip sample, the effect of the dryer unit configuration on drying rate, that is, either operating with a thick or thin layer of woodchip, is discussed. Six alternative collector designs, based on absorber plate hole spacing and diameter, absorber material type, and the use of a collector cover are presented in relation to the ability of the complete system to dry the given sample. It is found that the system operating with the thin layer dryer in combination with the covered collector with aluminium absorber comprising 3mm holes at 3.0 cm pitch provides the highest annual yield of dried woodchip.

Citation

Grassie, T. (2011, August). Optimum design of a PV driven transpired plate solar air heater for drying woodchip in Scotland. Paper presented at Solaris 2011: 5th International Conference on Solar Radiation and Daylighting

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: Solaris 2011: 5th International Conference on Solar Radiation and Daylighting
• Start Date: Aug 10, 2011
• End Date: Aug 11, 2011
• Publication Date: 2011
• Deposit Date: Jun 10, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 10, 2015
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Keywords: Solar air heaters; Drying woodchip; PV driven
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/id/eprint/8518