Table 1. Design parameters for natural-convection solar dryer.
Mango Properties Symbol Value Comment
Mass of sliced fruit (kg) mp 2.865 Input
Slice thickness (mm) d 10 Input
Initial moisture content
(kg kg-1 wb)
Mi 0.781 Experimental
Final moisture content
(kg kg-1 wb)
Mf 0.119 Experimental
Maximum allowable temp (°C) Tmax 65.6 Assumed from lit
Dryer Parameters Symbol Value Comment
Number of trays Ntrays 5 Input
Vertical distance btw trays (cm) h 7.63 Input
Height or head (cm) H 2.00 Input
Cross-sectional area (m2) Acs 0.37 Input
Temp of drying air (°C) Tda 60 Assumed from lit
Collector efficiency (%) η 26 Assumed from lit
Weather/Climate Symbol Value Comment
Collector angle (deg) β 28 Latitude + 10°
Ambient air temperature (°C) Tatm 28.3 ref. Accuweather
Ambient relative humidity (%) φatm 48.0 ref. AccuWeather
Sunshine hours per day (h) td 8.71 ref. AccuWeather
Incident solar radiation
(kWh m-2 day-1)
I 6.0 ref. SWERA
Air density (kg m-3) ρair 1.17 Density at Tatm