Drying agricultural products under solar chimney greenhouse cover; Batman Hasankeyf fig sample

Drying agricultural products is widely used due to its advantages, such as extending the product's shelf life, facilitating easier transportation and storage, and preserving the nutritional content and packaging. Solar energy drying systems are frequently encountered in drying agricultural goods with advantages such as being economical, not requiring high technology, very low operating and maintenance costs, using renewable energy, and being clean and environmentally friendly. This study focused on investigating the drying kinetics of Hasankeyf figs using a solar chimney greenhouse cover. The solar chimney was employed for drying figs under the greenhouse cover. Unsliced whole figs and sliced figs in various sizes (5mm, 7mm, and 9mm) were dried in specific locations beneath the greenhouse. Air temperature, airspeed, drying time, mass change, humidity rate, outdoor temperature and solar radiation data at the drying points were recorded. Using the acquired data, drying values under the greenhouse were compared with the values in the natural (open field) environment. The optimal location and direction were identified by comparing the drying direction and drying location data of the dried fig samples.