Comparison Between Drying of Timber in a Solar Dryer and in an Electrically-Heated Kiln

ABSTRACT

Solar dryers have been considered for timber drying in a number of countries because of the expected savings in drying costs. From a review of past works on solar, natural, and conventional drying it was observed that while solar dryers were able to dry timber faster compared to natural drying, the difference was only marginal in some instances. The drying rates are expected to be dependent upon ambient conditions in which the dryera are operated. Solar dryers would operate more efficiently in countries with low humidity than in tropical regions. Thus the thermal performance and also the economics of solar dryer is country dependent. In the present paper, a comparison of the drying rates obtained with a solar dryer is made with that obtained with an electrically operated drying kiln.