Experimental Investigation on Dill Drying in A Solar-Assisted Heat Pump Dryer

In this study, a solar dryer assisted with heat pump was developed and thin layer drying of dill was carried out at air temperatures of 40, 50, and 60°c and air velocities of 0.5, 1 and 1.5 ms^-1. also, the drying rates, specific moisture extraction rate (smer), and energy consumption were evaluated. dill samples were dried from initial moisture content of 90% to the final moisture content of 10% in 195-275 minutes without assisted heat pump, and with assisted heat pump in 80-140 minutes. by using heat pump, the drying rate increased with increase in temperature at a given air velocity, thus, reducing the drying time. increase in the air velocity at a given temperature improved the drying rate. by increasing the air velocity from 0.5 to 1.5 m s^-1, drying time decreased up to 42%. the specific moisture extraction rate values were found to vary between 0.078 and 0.18 kg kw^-1 h^-1. the minimum value of energy consumption was 3312 kj at air temperature of 60°c and air velocity of 1.5 m s^-1. also, the total energy consumption of dryer with heat pump was reduced by 19%, which reflects the higher energy efficiency.