Revolutionizing drying chambers for sustainable energy technologies in food and agriculture: A comprehensive review

• Published in: Sustainable energy technologies and assessments Vol. 75; p. 104205
• Main Authors: Afham Rahmat, Muhammad Aqil, Ibrahim, Adnan, Syafiq Mustaffa, Muhammad Ubaidah, Al-Aribe, Khaled M., Azeez, Hariam Luqman, Ud Din, Sahibzada Imad, Jaber, Mahmoud, Elmnifi, Monaem
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.03.2025
• Subjects: Drying chamber; Drying performance; Drying technologies; Enhancement strategies; Food and agricultural products; Heat transfer; Drying chamber; Food and agricultural products; Drying technologies; Drying performance; Heat transfer; Enhancement strategies
• ISSN: 2213-1388
• DOI: 10.1016/j.seta.2025.104205

•Reviewed advances in drying chamber technology for food and agricultural products.•Reviewed advancements in drying chambers for food and agriculture.•Covered heat transfer, performance metrics, and enhancement strategies.•Identified hybrid drying as a promising method.•Highlighted limitations, prospects, and improvement recommendations. Energy efficiency and food security could be substantially improved by advancing and implementing drying chambers in diverse drying technologies. The drying chamber is critical for producing high-quality dried food and agricultural products while also ensuring excellent drying system performance. It has received much attention recently due to its primary effect on drying technologies. This research examines the drying chamber system in diverse drying technologies, using current literature to highlight significant shortcomings for future work on this subject and to demonstrate potential improvement techniques. Furthermore, the paper summarizes the examination of temperature and airflow distribution systems and different drying methods based on various heat transfer mechanisms. A thorough review of multiple previous research findings is also provided, and the limitations and prospects for its future use in drying are highlighted. In addition, further improvement strategies are recommended, including enhancing the heat source, optimizing the environmental conditions around the drying chamber, introducing jet impingement technology, establishing an advanced monitoring system, and adding a directed nozzle. Hybrid drying has been known as a viable approach for improving drying efficiency and uniformity. However, further research is required to minimize costs while improving such components’ effectiveness and technical design.