Étude, conception et réalisation d'un capteur solaire pour le séchage des produits agroalimentaires

Abstract

This thesis aims to design a simple and low-cost solar air collector, capable of efficiently converting solar energy into heat. Intended for agricultural applications such as crop drying and greenhouse heating, the prototype will be tested to evaluate its performance and cost, offering a sustainable alternative to conventional methods.The theoretical study focuses on a single-pass solar air collector designed to supply hot air to a solar dryer for drying agricultural products. After reviewing the fundamentals of solar energy and heat transfer, existing technologies were compared, leading to the choice of air-based collectors due to their simplicity, low cost, and effectiveness for drying purposes.The project involved the detailed design of the prototype using 3D tools, followed by a thermal analysis based on physical models to assess its performance.The prototype modeling is based on solving heat transfer equations between the different components of the collector, such as the absorbing plate, the glass cover, and the heat carrying air. A Fortran code was developed to solve these equations, and numerical simulations were carried out to determine the thermal performance of the collector throughout the year.The study also investigated the effect of the collector’s tilt angle on its thermal efficiency, as well as the global solar radiation intensity during winter and summer. The analysis was limited to three specific tilt angles: Horizontal plane (β = 0°), Plane inclined at the site’s latitude (β = 30°), Arbitrary inclined plane (β = 70°).