Exergy, economic and environmental impacts analysis of a solar-biomass powered hybrid dryer for drying Eryngium Foetidum

The solar biomass hybrid drying system offers a distinct advantage by synergizing two renewable energy sources. This provides a resilient and eco-friendly thermal energy input solution. Therefore, the objective of current study is to focus on the exergy, economic, and environmental analysis of a solar biomass hybrid drying system for drying Eryngium Foetidum. This is a versatile herb with superior medicinal properties. Simulation with Ansys Fluent software was performed to obtain the best drying air mass flow rate, and temperature. Performance assessments were conducted on a developed hybrid dryer for an average 8.5 h drying period. This resulted in a reduction of water content from 85 % (wet basis) to 9.5 % (wet basis) respectively. The exergy analysis of the hybrid dryer revealed efficiency ranges between (7.3 f 0.6) % and (21.28 f 1.27) %. Sustainability indicators, including waste exergy ratio, sustainability index, and improvement potential were assessed. The corresponding values were between (0.78 f 0.004) - (0.94 f 0.002), (1.06 f 0.002) -(1.27 f 0.002) and (0.13 f 0.005) - (0.40 f 0.001) respectively. Additionally, the environmental sustainability indicators including (EEF) environmental effect factor (3.71 f 0.15 to 15.18 f 0.49), environmental destruction coefficient (EDC) (4.7 f 0.29 to 16.18 f 0.54), and exergy recovery ratio (ERR) (2.2 x 10-4 to 5.4 x 10-3) were also estimated. The economic and energy payback periods for the hybrid drying system were determined to be 0.64 years and 1.02 years. The estimated carbon credits for the proposed model over 20 years' lifespan were within the range of 238.8 to 955.2 USD.