In agricultural applications, the
preservation of crops is essential. The most suitable method of preserving the
crop is drying. The traditional methods used for drying include mechanical
drying, where hydrocarbon fuel or burnable materials are used as a source of
heat. The other method is open sun drying, where crops are placed in an open
space. Both methods affect the quality and vital nutritious properties of the crops.
The mechanical drying processes are costly, whereas the latter is dependent on the
weather condition. To overcome these limitations, solar dryers are developed. Mathematical
modeling is highly important for the perfect design and improvement of solar
dryers. The performance of the drying system depends upon the different parameters
that can be optimized using thermal modeling. This chapter covers the thermal
modeling of greenhouse solar dryers for active and passive modes.
Keywords: Direct, Hybrid, Indirect, Solar dryer, Thermal modeling.
