2014 2nd International Conference on Food and Agricultural Sciences

IPCBEE vol.77 (2014) © (2014) IACSIT Press, Singapore

DOI: 10.7763/IPCBEE. 2014. V77. 9

Drying Characteristics of Lemongrass in Solar Assisted Chemical

Heat Pump Dryer

Mustafa I. Fadhel 1
1
Head of Engineering Department, Sur University College, P.O. Box 440, Postal Code 411, Sur, Sultanate of
Oman

Abstract. An experimental study was performed to investigate the drying characteristics of lemongrass in
solar assisted chemical heat pump dryer under the meteorological Malaysian conditions. A solar assisted
chemical heat pump dryer has been designed, and built. The system located on the roof top of a three-storey
building at the National University of Malaysia (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia). It consists of four main
components: solar collector (evacuated tubes type), storage tank, solid-gas chemical heat pump and dryer
chamber. Three representative days for sunny, cloudy and semi-cloudy were presented, and two air drying
speeds (1m/s, and 3 m/s) have been investigated. The weight was recorded on personal computer at 5 minutes
intervals, and about 65 g of fresh lemongrass was dried from average initial moisture content of 9.1 db to an
average final moisture content of 0.36 db. The solar assisted chemical heat pump dryer system for agriculture
products is superior to the conventional solar dryers, as it can be operated at low temperature and relative
humidity.
Keywords: moisture ratio, lemongrass, solar chemical heat pump, drying

1. Introduction
Drying is one of the oldest and most widely used primary methods of food preservation [1]. Drying
process provides longer shelf life [2], smaller space for storage [3], and lighter weight for transportation [4].
The aim of drying food products is to enhance the storage stability with minimized pac kaging requirements
and reduced transport weights [5]. Sun drying is the common method used to preserve agricultural products
in tropical and sub-tropical countries [6]. However, this process has many disadvantages: spoilt products due
to rain, wind, moisture and dust; loss of produce due to birds and animals; deterioration in the harvested
crops due to decomposition, insect attacks and fungi, etc. Further, the process is labor intensive, time
consuming and requires a large area for spreading the produce out to dry. Solar-drying technology offers an
alternative which can process the vegetables and fruits in clean, hygienic and sanitary conditions to national
and international standards with zero energy costs. It saves energy, time, occupies less area, improves
product quality, makes the process more efficient and protects the environment [7]. The low temperature
thermal requirement of the heat pump makes the system an excellent match for thermal applications for both
domestic and industrial use; such as water heating, solar drying, space cooling, and space heating and
cooling. Heat pump dryers have been known to be energy efficient when used in drying operations. A
chemical heat pump (CHP) is proposed as one of the potentially significant technologies for effective energy
utilization in drying. Ogura and Mujumdar [8] studied the CHP and proposed a chemical heat pump dryer
(CHPD) system for ecologically friendly effective utilization of thermal energy in drying. The aim of this
paper to investigate the drying characteristics of lemongrass in solar assisted chemical heat pump dryer under
the meteorological Malaysian conditions.


Corresponding author. Tel.: + (0096825565555, ext. 1073); fax: + (0096825565551).
E-mail address: ([email protected]; [email protected]).
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 Lemongrass is widely used as an herb in Asian (particularly Khmer, Thai, Lao, Sri Lankan, Vietnamese)
and Caribbean cooking. It is commonly used in teas, soups and curries. It is also suitable for poultry, fish and
seafood. It is often used as a tea in African countries (Togo).

2. Experiments
2.1. System description
A solar-assisted chemical heat-pump dryer has been designed and built, as shown in Fig. 1. The system
is located on the roof top of a three-storey building at the National University of Malaysia (Universiti
Kebangsaan Malaysia). Fig. 2 show the photograph of the experimental set-up. The system consists of four
mean components solar collector (evacuated tubes type), storage tank, chemical heat pump unit and dryer
chamber. In this study, a cylindrical tank is selected as a storage tank. The chemical heat pump unit consists
of reactor, evaporator and condenser. In the chemical heat pump a solid gas reactor is coupled with a
condenser or an evaporator. The reaction used in this study is:
CaCl2.2NH3+6NH3→CaCl2.8NH3+ 6ΔHr (1)
The drying chamber contains multiple trays to hold the drying material and expose it to the air flow. The
chemical heat pump operates in heat pump mode. The overall operation of chemical heat pump occurs in two
stages: adsorption and desorption. The adsorption stage is the cold production stage, and this is followed by
the regeneration stage, where decomposition takes place. During the production phase, the liquid-gas
transformation of ammonia produces cold at low temperature in the evaporator. At the same time, chemical
reaction between the gaseous ammonia and solid would release heat of reaction at higher temperature. The
incoming air is heated by condensing refrigerant (ammonia) and enters the dryer inlet at the drying condition
and performs drying. After the drying process, part of the moist air stream leaving the drying chamber is
diverted through the evaporator, where it is cooled, and dehumidification takes place as heat is given up to
the refrigerant (ammonia). The air is then passing through the condenser where it is reheated by the
condensing refrigerant and then to the drying chamber.

Fig. 1: Schematic diagram of solar assisted chemical heat pump dryer

2.2. Instrumentation
A well-equipped instrumentation system is deployed to measure various properties of the drying process,
such as temperature, pressure, humidity and velocity. For the measurement of temperature at different
locations of air, water and refrigerant path, K-type thermocouples are used, and for measurement of pressure
at different locations of the system pressure gauges are used. Vane type anemometer is used to measure the
flow rate and velocity of the air, and the flow rate of refrigerant is measured with the help of a Hydorex flow
meter. A pyranometer is mounted near the collector to measure the instantaneous solar radiation. The
relative's humidities of the air entering and leaving the drying chamber are measured with the help of two
humidity transmitters. The weight data of the drying material was recorded on personal computer at 30
second intervals using the data acquisition software. The power consumption of the system is measured by a
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Wattmeter. Shimadzu digital balance (model UX2200H, Capacity of 2200g, Readability of 0.01g, Shimadzu
Corporation, Japan) is used to weigh the mass of Lemon grass. Moreover, the data was recorded at 5 minutes
on a personal computer. The initial and final moisture were determined using gravimetric method at 105 ºC
using convective oven. The various readings of instruments are monitored continuously and recorded with
the use data loggers. The acquired data from the data loggers are transferred to personal computer for further
analyses.

Fig. 2: Photograph of the experimental set-up

2.3. Moisture ratio

The moisture ratio (MR) is the ratio of the moisture content at any given time to the initial moisture
content (both relative to the equilibrium moisture content). It can be calculated for each time interval using
the following formula:

M  Me
MR  (2)
Mo  Me
where
M is the instantaneous moisture content, (gw/gdm-1)
Mo is the initial moisture content, (gw/gdm-1)
Me is the equilibrium moisture content, (gw/gdm-1)
The amount of moisture in a product is designated on the basis of weight of water is:
Ww
%MCdb  (100%) (3)
Wd
3. Results and Observations
Drying characteristics of lemongrass in solar assisted chemical heat pump dryer has been investigated for
various environmental climate conditions. Three representative days for sunny, cloudy and semi-cloudy are
presented. The drying curves are formed by the measurement of the material moisture content as a function
of time under constant drying air conditions. The temperature 55 oC and two air drying speed (1m/s, and
3m/s) has been investigated under different meteorological Malaysia conditions. The weight was recorded on
personal computer at 5 minutes intervals, and about 65g of fresh lemongrass was used in each run. The
lemongrass was dried from average initial moisture content of 9.1 to an average final moisture content of
0.36 (g water per g dry matter). The hourly average values of meteorological data (hourly radiation and
ambient temperature) for a typical sunny day, the hourly average values of meteorological data for a typical
cloudy day, and the hourly average values for a typical semi- cloudy day in Malaysia, are shown in Fig. (3a,
3b, and 3c, respectively). Fig. (4a, 4b, and 4c) present the plotting of the experimental and predicted moisture
contents, expressed as dimensionless moisture ratio (MR) against the drying time at constant temperature
55oC and constant air speed 1 m/s, for sunny, cloudy and semi-cloudy days, respectively. It was obvious, that
the lines of experiments and predicted moisture contents data were identical for the most of the drying time.

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 1200 40
1200 40
35
1000 35

Solar Radiation (W/m 2)

1000

Solar Radiation (W/m 2)

30

Temperature ( oC)
30

Temperature (oC)
800 800
25 25
600 20 600 20
Solar Radiation 15 15
400 400
Temperature 10 10
200 200 Solar Radiation
5 5
Temperature
0 0 0 0
9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00
Time (h) Time (h)

(a) (b)
1200 40

35
1000
Solar Radiation (W/m 2)

30

Temperature (oC)
800
25

600 20

15
400
Solar Radiation 10
200 Temperature 5

0 0
9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00
Time (h)

(c)
Fig. 3: Average hourly radiation and ambient temperature in Malaysia for: (a) typical sunny day, (b) typical cloudy day,
and (c) typical semi-cloudy day

1.6 1.6

1.4 1.4

1.2 1.2

1.0 1.0
MR
MR

0.8 0.8

0.6 0.6

0.4 0.4

0.2 0.2

0.0 0.0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600

t t

(a) (b)
1.6

1.4

1.2

1.0
MR

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0.0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600

(c)
Fig. 4: Comparison between predicted and experimental moisture ratio of lemon grass for: (a) sunny day, (b) cloudy day,
and (c) semi-cloudy day

The effects of changing air velocity on the drying curves of lemongrass have been studied. Two
velocities was applied (1m/s and 3 m/s) at fixed drying temperature 55 oC. Fig. 5 illustrates the effects of
changing air velocity on the drying curves of lemongrass at fixed drying temperature. It was noticeable that
the effect of air velocity on the drying time was very low. Compared to the drying air temperature, changing

42
in air velocity was not considerably accelerating the drying process, as it was observed in pervious works of
several authors [9].

Fig. 5:MR against time at 1 and 3 m/s (55 oC)

4. Conclusion
The drying characteristics of lemongrass dried in solar assisted chemical heat pump dryer have been
Investigate under different meteorological Malaysia conditions. The lemongrass was dried from average
initial moisture content of 9.1 db to an average final moisture content of 0.36 db. It was obvious that the lines
of the observed moisture contents and predicted moisture contents data were identical for the most of the
drying time. The total energy required to maintain a drying temperature of 55 oC is about 60 kWh over nine
hours drying time. The total system energy output from the experiment at clear day is 51 kWh against 25
kWh of cloudy day and 31.8 kWh of semi-cloudy day. Any reduction of energy at condenser as a result of a
decrease in solar radiation will decrease the coefficient of performance as well as decrease the efficiency of
drying.

5. Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Sur University College (Sur, Sultanate of Oman) for their support and
sponsorship of this work.

6. References
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[6] Diamante, L. M., and Munro, P. A. Mathematical modeling of the thin layer solar drying of sweet potato slices.
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