LAUSR

Abstract An experimental investigation was done on an advanced evacuated tube-assisted solar drying system without and with load conditions at various water flow rates (10 L/h, 20 L/h, and 30 L/h) to evaluate its performance analysis. 79.56 °C maximum greenhouse air temperature was recorded without load at 30 L/h water flow rate with an average solar intensity of 850 W/m2. Highest value of drying rate (DR) is 1.48 kgH2O/kg dry solid/h and the maximum efficiency of solar collector (SC) and solar dryer (SD) is 43.62% and 55.28%, respectively, at 30 L/h water flow rate. Garlic was dehydrating from 70% to 8% (wb) moisture content (MC). The maximum exergy efficiency (EE) and minimum exergy loss were 57.64% at 30 L/h water flow rate and 4.58 W at 10 L/h water flow rate. Quality assessment is also carried out for dried garlic samples in the heat exchanger –evacuated tube assisted drying system (HE-ETADS). Color conservation (indices) of dehydrated garlic sample is best in HE-ETADS (Lo = 60.42, ao = −0.92, and bo = 11.54) in comparison to old-style (traditional) drying process (Lo = 58.89, ao = - 0.67, and bo = 5.99). Therefore, the developed drying system represented not only good financial returns but also better product quality. The present system provides interesting options for the entry of this type of collectors in medium-scale applications in the agricultural and industrial sectors.