Applications of Exergy

Drying of food grains in the fields by exposure to sun has been very common in India since ancient times. Coal oil or firewood is usually used in such conventional industrial dryers. The present energy crisis compels one to think of use of alternate sources of energy and the population free. Abundant and readily available solar energy seems to be the only answer.This study is concerned with the exergy analysis of solar drying system for grapes. Grapes were dried to final moisture content to 30% (w.b) from 80% (w.b)in 18 h using this system. In this study exergy analysis of solar drying process were performed for grapes. Using the second law of thermodynamics exergy analysis of solar drying was estimated. Exergy analysis is the method to study the capacity of conservation of food after drying which was adopted in this project. Exergy destruction also indicates the heat losses at a particular time.Irreversibility at the collector indicates how far the food products are conserved in day’s basis.