Renewable energy in food industry and particularly in drying process is growing and mainly in
developing countries. Solar energy is often used by direct products exposure through a glass or to heat
drying air through a solar collector. However, the random and intermittent nature of solar radiation leads
to use conventional energy sources as supplement.
Hence, optimization and design tend to reduce the drying time of products for minimum possible energy
use. These cases are often preceded by rigorous energy and exergy drying process analysis. That is the
aim of our work in this paper.
The used dryer is an indirect type, passive, without extra energy and discontinuously operating. It is
composed of a solar air heater and a drying room. The experiment took place at Bouzareah on the heights
of Algiers in the summer season. The choice of mint is because its abundance and its wide use in Algeria.
Using the first and second principles of thermodynamics, we could estimate useful energy received by the
heater and that really used during drying. Energy analysis has allowed us to quantify the solar energy
received by solar heater and available for drying. Exergy analysis has allowed us to estimate the energy
losses during the drying process