Experimental and Simulation of Solar Drying Cabinet with PCM and SiO₂ Materials

Solar energy is a potential renewable source in Indonesia, especially for the drying process. The process needs a drying cabinet as a support component to store the drying product. A high-quality drying cabinet to store heat for a long time is needed. This research aims to compare the thermal performance of the drying cabinet without PCM (phase change material) and SiO₂ materials or DC I (drying cabinet I) with the drying cabinet that uses PCM and SiO₂ materials or DC II (drying cabinet II). The research was carried out by experimental and simulation to investigate thermal performance and fluid flow characteristics. The experiment was carried out inside the laboratory to set uniform initial parameters and the simulation using computational fluid dynamics software. The drying cabinet was modeled in 3D. The experiment result showed DC II had a higher air temperature and lowered relative air humidity for two hours than DC I. The simulation result showed air temperature differences and backflow in the air streamline in the DC II.