Abstract:

Solar dryers are widely used as an advanced natural drying technology. The purpose of this study is to examine the solar drying as an alternative step in the process of waste paint sludge management. In the study, a solar drying system containing paraffin as phase change material was designed. The drying efficiency of sludge was investigated. Due to the lower sludge thickness, the effect of mixing during drying was not observed. Drying was conducted for 8 hours with 1849Wh/m2 cumulative solar radiation. The indoor temperature, humidity, cumulative solar radiation, and time were determined as important parameters to be evaluated. Sludge mass and volume, equipment used in the dryer have been identified as other factors to strengthen heat transfer. It has been determined with the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) that the air circulation created by the fan is insufficient and simulation model was used to optimize the drying system. The formation of the porous structure was observed in dried sludge using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). It is concluded that the solar drying process is an alternative method that can be applied in the management of waste paint sludge if the solar dryer is developed.

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