Food Dehydrators as Solar Thermal

Dump Loads in the Summer

Appalachian State University

Christian Houpe

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I] Introduction
This summer the NEXUS team at ASU is working with two local farmers to implement solar
thermal heating systems, biochar kilns, and food dehydrators that will lower greenhouse heating costs,
provide a valuable soil amendments, and preserve summer crops for winter use. The NEXUS project is
focused on reducing greenhouse heating costs for farmers in Western N.C. through renewable energy
and biomass heating systems. During the winter the team uses heat from the evacuated tube solar
thermal array and the biochar kiln to provide heat for the greenhouse. During the summer the
greenhouses do not need to be heated so the energy collected from the solar thermal array is dumped
into a food dehydrator where farmers can preserve their crops for the coming winter. There are two
different types of dehydrators being used at the cooperative farms. The dehydrator at Springhouse
farm is a passive and active heating system while the dehydrator at Against the Grain Farm is only
active due their large array.

How Food Dehydrators Work

Food dehydration is a method of preservation achieved by slowly removing moisture from
within the food by providing adequate heat and air flow. Dehydrating food extends the shelf life of
an item by reducing the amount of moisture because bacteria, mold and yeast need water to grow.
Due to the removal of moisture foods often weigh less and appear leathery to the touch after being
dehydrated. Most foods are dehydrated at temperatures of 900-1400F whereas meats being
dehydrated for Jerky are dehydrated at a higher temperature of 1550F. The key to adequate food
dehydration is a constant temperature and adequate air flow. The heat releases moisture from
within the food and the air flowing around the food removes this moisture and replaces it replaces
with dry air to absorb more moisture.

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II] Solar Thermal Array

a] Against the Grain Farm

The solar thermal array at Against the Grain farm is composed of one 30 evacuated tube
array and one 20 evacuated tube array that produce a combined 44,900 BTUs a day reaching
temperatures of up to 1850F. The heat from this array is used to heat the passive greenhouse to
reduce heating costs in the winter. During the summer the heat is not needed inside the greenhouse
so we needed somewhere to dump all of this waste heat to prevent our system from overheating.
In order to deal with this dump load we designed food dehydrators that will turn this unwanted
energy into a useful resource increasing the farmers income by selling sundried tomatoes, dried
herbs, and even jerky.

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 a) Springhouse Farm
The array at Springhouse farm is
composed of one 30 evacuated tube array
used to heat the 20x40 hoop house. This
array produces 26,800 BTUs a day reaching
temperatures of 1850F. This is a much
smaller array than ATGs so we incorporated
a passive solar food dehydrator design from
Dr. Scanlin and added a heat exchanger in
the bottom to dump heat from the
collectors into the dehydrator.

IV] Solar Dehydrator Design

a) Against the Grain Active Dehydrator

The food dehydrator at ATG is considered an active dehydrator because we are using pumps
and fans to circulate heat within the unit. This dehydrator has two heat exchangers in the bottom to

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radiate heat and four fans to provide adequate airflow. We have not collected enough data yet to
determine how many BTUs are dumped into the dehydrator. The unit has 13 trays that are 16.5 x
21.25 providing 252 per tray and 2952 of drying area. This dehydrator has approximately 30
square feet of drying area at one time. There are four holes in the bottom below the fans to provide
an air inlet and two holes at the top to provide air outlets with adjustable doors to control air flow.

We currently only have two of the four fans running with the other two on standby incase
the fans in use quit working. The fans are regulated by a solar thermal differential contoller set to
turn the fans on when the dehydrator reaches 1300F and turn them off when it reaches 1250F
ensuring our dehydrator never surpasses 1400F. Below are images from the construction process.

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 b) Springhouse Passive & Active Solar Food Dehydrator

The food Dehydrator at Springhouse farm is an active and passive food dehydrator. We used
Dr. Scanlins design for a passive solar food dehydrator and added a heat exchanger in the bottom to
radiate heat into the drying racks. This design relies on convection to move air throughout the
system eliminating the need for fans. The passive heat from this dehydrator is absorbed by 7 layers
of black window screen running diagonally inside the collector box. The sun shines on the collector
box heating up the black window screen acting as absorbers. The heat is then transferred to the air
that flows through the screen via conduction. This air is now hotter than the air at the collectors
intake causing stratification or convective air movement. The hotter the air, the more convective
heat flow you have. This dehydrator has adjustable vents at the top so you can adjust the amount of
air flow during your drying time. Below is a diagram of the passive solar food dehydrator.

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