Energy and exergy analyses of OMW solar drying process

The energy and exergy analyses of the drying process of olive mill wastewater (OMW) using an indirect type natural convection solar dryer are presented. Olive mill wastewater gets sufficiently dried at temperatures between 34 degrees C and 52 degrees C. During the experimental process, air relative humidity did not exceed 58%, and solar radiation ranged from 227 W/m(2) to 825 W/m(2). Drying air mass flow was maintained within the interval 0.036-0.042 kg/s. Under these experimental conditions, 2 days were needed to reduce the moisture content to approximately one-third of the original value, in particular from 3.153 g(water)/g(dry) (matter) down to 1.000 g(water)/g(dry) (matter). Using the first law of thermodynamics, energy analysis was carried out to estimate the amounts of energy gained from solar air heater and the ratio of energy utilization of the drying chamber. Also, applying the second law, exergy analysis was developed to determine the type and magnitude of exergy losses during the solar drying process. It was found that exergy losses took place mainly during the second day, when the available energy was less used. The exergy losses varied from 0 kJ/kg to 0.125 kJ/kg for the first day, and between 0 kJ/kg and 0.168 kJ/kg for the second. The exergetic efficiencies of the drying chamber decreased as inlet temperature was increased, provided that exergy losses became more significant. In particular, they ranged from 53.24% to 100% during the first day, and from 34.40% to 100% during the second. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.