Treffer: Theoretical and experimental study of the chamber of an indirect solar dryer for drying mangoes.

This paper presents the modeling and experimental validation of an indirect solar drying chamber developed for mango dehydration under tropical climatic conditions. The system, designed at the Center for Studies and Research on Renewable Energies (CERER) and tested at the École Polytechnique of Dakar, has a drying capacity of 5 kg of mango slices arranged on three racks. A one-dimensional numerical model was developed to simulate heat and mass transfer during the drying process. The model integrates real-time climatic and thermal input parameters to reproduce the physical behavior of the dryer. Experimental validation focused on key variables, including air temperature, product temperature, relative humidity, mass loss, and shrinkage. The model's performance was evaluated using statistical metrics such as the coefficient of determination (R2) and root mean square error (RMSE), with values ranging between 0.90 and 0.98 across the parameters. Optimal drying conditions were achieved within a temperature range of 42–71 °C and relative humidity between 10 and 20 %, with an average drying time of 13 h. These results demonstrate the model's ability to reliably simulate drying behavior and support its potential application in optimizing solar drying systems for agricultural products in tropical environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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