Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 41 (2015) 14041412

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Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/rser

Design, construction, and evaluation of a mixed mode solar kiln with

black-painted pebble bed for timber seasoning in a tropical setting
S.N. Ugwu a,n, B.O. Ugwuishiwu a, O.V. Ekechukwu b, H. Njoku c, A.O. Ani a
a

Department of Agricultural and Bioresources Engineering, University of Nigeria, Nsukka

National University Commission, Abuja, Nigeria
c
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Nigeria, Nsukka
b

art ic l e i nf o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:
Received 4 June 2014
Received in revised form
12 September 2014
Accepted 27 September 2014

Different designs and improvements on solar kiln for drying different types of products have been an
ongoing research interest, ranging from simple and small capacity to automated dryers with integrated
storage systems. In this article, mixed-mode solar kiln with black pebble bed as absorber and storage is
designed and evaluated at Nsukka, Nigeria, latitude 6.81N. It combines heat from an external collector
and from a transparent roof, making it efcient for wood seasoning in tropical areas. The kiln consists of
a drying chamber of 0.362 m3 capacity, a single glazed at plate collector and transparent roof area of
0.54 m2, a pebble bed capacity of 0.1 m3, and a kiln orientation of 71N-S facing south. At peak periods,
timber stack in the drying chamber receives hot air ow from the collector and the transparent roof
simultaneously. At off-peak periods, heat stored by pebble bed helps to avert reverse ow of moist air.
Test results reveal that temperatures inside the dryer and solar collector were higher than the ambient
temperature at all hours of the day. Maximum drying chamber temperature, which was obtained at
midday, was 61.7 1C. Kiln drying reduced timber moisture content from 66.27% to 12.9% whereas open
air drying reduced to 20.1% dry basis in 360 hours. Also, the initial drying rates for both kiln dried wood
and control were 0.205% and 0.564% per day and the nal drying rates were 0.15% and 0.08% per day,
respectively. The rapid rate of drying in the kiln reveals its ability to dry timber to safe moisture level
without defects.
& 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Solar
Timber
Kiln
Drying
Moisture content
Wood

Contents
1.
2.
3.

4.

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1405
Materials and methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1405
Theory/calculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1406
3.1.
Basic theory of solar timber kiln. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1406
3.2.
Ventilation rate by stack effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1407
3.3.
Energy balance equation for the drying process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1408
3.4.
Moisture content analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1409
Results and discussion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1409
4.1.
Kiln preloading test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1409
4.2.
Ambient and drying chamber relative humidity measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1409
4.3.
Solar radiation measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1409
4.4.
Temperature of the solar kiln measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1410
4.5.
Wind speed measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1410
4.6.
Wood drying performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1411

Corresponding author. Tel.: 2347039490818.

E-mail addresses: Sunjustice2001@yahoo.com (S.N. Ugwu), boniface.ugwuishiwu@unn.edu.ng (B.O. Ugwuishiwu), ovekechukwu@yahoo.com (O.V. Ekechukwu),
njoku.howard@unn.edu.ng (H. Njoku).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2014.09.033
1364-0321/& 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

S.N. Ugwu et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 41 (2015) 14041412

1405

5. Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1411
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1411

1. Introduction
Timber of freshly felled logs contains large quantity of water,
which often constitutes more weight than the actual wood.
According to Rajendra [1], two types of water are present in fresh
timber: free water and chemically bound/hygroscopic water. In
drying, the free water is removed rst before the hygroscopic
water. When timber is air-dried, the ambient humidity in most
local areas prevent wood from reaching the moisture content
necessary for dimensional stability and use, especially for interior
use [2].The need to ensure quick, uniform attainment of equilibrium moisture content (EMC) and minimized wood defects, while
still achieving dimensional stability of wood formed the objective
of this work.
Solar wood drying offers an alternative method of drying timber
using renewable energy sources. The technology boosts the business
of woodworkers as it enhances timber storage life, minimizes losses
during storage, and saves transportation costs and generally
increases their productivity [35]. Solar drying systems derive their
energy from the sun, which has a surface temperature of approximately 5500 K [6] and provides energy that is preferred to other
alternative sources of energy, such as wind and tide, because it is
abundant, inexhaustible, and nonpolluting [79].
Drying processes involve moisture removal due to simultaneous heat and mass transfer [10]. Drying potential is inuenced
by air temperature, air velocity, and relative humidity. Solar dryer
traps solar energy to increase the temperature of the circulating
air for drying. Air is circulated by either natural convection (wind
and buoyancy) or forced convection (fans). It ensures the attainment of EMC, thereby enhancing shelf life, value addition, volume
reduction, and quality enhancement [11,12], unlike in open-tothe-sun or natural drying technique, which achieves drying by
exposing timber to ambient temperature, relative humidity of
ambient air, and natural wind, takes a lot of drying time, and has
some other serious limitations such as reduced quality due to
deterioration and defects [1315]. In solar dryers, air humidity and
other drying conditions are controlled by ventilation, and in some
cases, water sprayers are used [16].
Ekechukwu and Norton [17] classied solar driers into three
distinct subclasses of either active or passive solar drying systems;
solar driers vary mainly in the design arrangement of system
components and the mode of utilization of the solar heat, namely,
integral type solar dryers; distributed type solar dryers; and
mixed-mode solar dryers. Solar timber dryers can be broadly
categorized into greenhouse system, external collector, and
mixed-mode type [18]. The greenhouse type consists of a frame
structure with walls and a roof covered with glazing materials
with the solar collectors integrated within the structure [1926].
The external collector type, consisting of a solar collector, is
connected to an enclosed insulated chamber by insulated ducts
[2733]. Mixed mode is a hybrid of both the greenhouse type and
the external collector. It receives direct heat from sun to the drying
chamber and the external collector through convection. Luna et al.
[34] further subdivided solar timber kiln based on arrangements
as shown in Fig. 1: Solar kiln with integrated collector (arrangement 1),
solar kiln with lateral semi-integrated collector (arrangement 2), and
solar kiln with storage (arrangement 3).
Solar timber kiln with energy storage systems is necessary
because of the intermittent, dilute nature of solar energy and
diurnal variation. Energy storage systems are incorporated into

basic kiln design in order to prolong the drying process and

avert reverse ow of moist air into the kiln at night or when
there is no sun (off-peak period) [18,30,3538,47]. Hot air
transfer system is used in all greenhouse kilns and in most
external collector solar kilns. Yand [40], Anon [36], and Azad
[41] reported the use of pebble bed, whereas Little [37] and
McCormicks [30] reported the use of a more complex and
expensive liquid transfer system in an external collector type
kiln. The solar storage systems compensate for the uncertainty
due to changing weather conditions; some solar dryers are
installed with auxiliary heating systems [16,4245]. Alkilani
et al. [46] and Saxena and Goel [47] generally reviewed solar air
heaters with thermal energy storage units, including space
heating systems, solar drying, and timber seasoning, with
various thermal storage materials (pebble bed or rock particles,
water, and phase change materials (PCMs)). Clarke and Saunder
[38] designed a kiln with collector external to the kiln, which
has a single glass cover with a slag bed (slag is the byproduct in
the manufacture of steel, which is easily and cheaply available)
as both absorber and heat storage. Tvagi et al. [48] evaluated
the thermal performance of solar kiln both with and without
thermal energy storage; Zhoa et al. [49] undertook an optimum
study on the use of pebble bed energy storage in solar heating
systems.
Luna et al. [34] proposed an enhanced solar timber kiln shown
in arrangement 2 of Fig. 1 with the following features: solar energy
storage with independent heating, integration of an air heater in
the storage and in the drying chamber, and management of
different drying cycles according to quality control of the product.
Based on these recommendations, we developed a mixed-mode
solar kiln for timber drying with black painted pebble bed as both
heat storage and solar absorber subsystem.

2. Materials and methods

The solar timber kiln at Nsukka, Nigeria, latitude 6.81N is
shown in Fig. 3. The kiln is essentially a transparent glasscovered, trapezoidal shaped chamber of plywood painted matt
black, attached to an external solar collector with black painted
pebble bed, which serves as both the storage subunit and the
collector absorber. The kiln is of the dimensions: length 684 mm,
width 612.2 mm, and height 864 mm. Timber is loaded in the kiln
through a side door at the eastern end. Vents at the top back side
of the kiln were provided to aid adequate air ventilation of air
timber stack through natural buoyancy (stack effect). An inlet
vent is located in front of the external collector wall to allow
fresh dry ambient air into the collector, so as to be heated up by
the absorber. The walls framed with angle iron consist of
25.4 mm thick plywood, the roof with single glazed glass. The
dryer was aligned on a northsouth direction with an inclined
glass glazing roof of 4 mm thick facing south, which according to
Adegoke and Bolaji [50] is the best recommended orientation for
stationary absorber in the northern hemisphere [51]. This inclination is also to allow easy run off of water and enhance air
circulation.
The external collectorstorage subsystem consists of a single
glazed at plate solar collector integrated with black painted pebble
bed. The black-colored rock bed with known physical and thermal
properties serves as both solar absorber and energy storage medium

1406

S.N. Ugwu et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 41 (2015) 14041412

Nomenclature
heat supply from solar collector and from the
transparent glazing roof (W)
Qlumber heat loss due to the lumber stack (W)
Qconduction heat loss by conduction to the environment (W)
Qconvection heat loss by convection from vents to the
environment (W)
I
rate of total radiation incident on the collector
(Wm  2)
Ac
collector area (m2)
Qu
rate of useful energy collected by the air (W)
Qcond
rate of conduction losses from the collector (W)
Qconv
rate of convective losses from the collector (W)
QR
rate of long wave re-radiation from the collector (W)
Q
rate of reection losses from the collector (W)
Qg
heat gained by the air (W)

reection coefcient of the absorber

transmittance of the top glazing

IT
total solar radiation incident on the top surface

solar absorptance
UL
overall heat transfer coefcient of the absorber
(Wm  2K  1)
TL
temperature of the collector's absorber (K)
Ta
ambient air temperature (K)

ma
mass of air leaving the dryer per unit time (kgs  1)
Cpa
specic heat capacity of air (kJkg  1K  1)
c
thermal collector efciency
Qsupply

and is contained in a rectangular insulated steel box below the single

glaze at plate collector. The space between the top of the absorber
bed and the glass cover serves as an air heating chamber. The heated
dry air ows from the inlet through the gap between the bed and the
cover to the drying chamber. The damped air was discharged to the
surrounding through the air outlet. The external solar collector and
the drying chamber were suspended at an angle of 171 toward the
equator N-S. The black painted pebble bed of 0.085 m3 capacity was
laid with rock particle sizes 510 cm and uniform in size, with pore
spaces for air ow. The timber board size was 660.4 mm long,
304.8 mm wide, and 25.4 mm thick.
The temperatures were simultaneously measured using six (6) ktype thermocouple xed at different points and connected to an
OMEGA central hub and then to a HH12B OMEGA thermocouple
reader (temperature meter). The ambient RHamb, and the drying
chamber RHch, relative humidities were recorded simultaneously with
CRECER Hygrometer. Wind speed and solar radiation data were
obtained from the meteorological station of Centre for Basic Space
Science Nsukka. Timber load was stacked between stickers of 25 mm
thickness and also stacked at least 75 cm away from both top and
bottom of the chamber to enable proper circulation of heated air. The
kiln was evaluated before loading timber stacks and after loading
timber stacks.

FR
To
Ti

i
o
qprod

Cd
V4
Cp
A2
A4
v
DBT
MC
D
S
h
nx
Ui
A

TL,
Qwood

collector heat removal factor

inlet air (ambient air) temperature (K)
outlet air temperature (K)
inlet air density (kg/m3)
outlet air density (kg/m3)
total sensible heat load (W)
difference in elevation between the inlet and the
outlet vent is (h2  h1) (h4  h2) (m)
coefcients of discharge
air velocity at the inlet (m/s)
specic heat capacity of air (J/kgK)
area of the outlet vent (m2)
area of the inlet vent (m2)
ventilation rate m=s
dry bulb temperature (K)
moisture content (%)
heat required to overcome hygroscopic forces (J/kg)
change in temperature of the humidifying air (K)
amount of water vapor absorbed by the incoming vent
air (kg/kg of air)
elapsed time at DBTX (hr)
coefcients of heat transfer for each of the kiln
components (W/mK)
area (m2)
difference in temperature inside and outside the
kiln (K)
quantity heat consumption per time (W)

thermodynamics was used in determining the thermal load of

the kiln. The heat balance equation of the kiln chamber at a given
temperature is given as



Thermal loadQ Heat input Q supply
Heat outputQ
Heat input Q

collector

timber

 Q loss

transparent glass roof

Q pebble

Heat output Q loss Q conduction Q convection Q wood

3.1. Basic theory of solar timber kiln

Determination of thermal need in the drying chamber involves
heat balance equations. The thermal ow from the collector to the
drying chamber is shown in Fig. 2. The following were assumed:
(i) the steady-state condition exists; (ii) one-dimensional heat
ow exists; (iii) materials have constant thermal conductivity; and
(iv) the solar kiln is a closed system. The second law of

bed

2
3

However, the energy balance of solar collector was obtained by

equating the total heat gained to the total heat lost in the solar
collector. Therefore,
IAc Q u Q cond Q conv Q R Q

According to Bolaji and Olalusi [39], the three heat loss terms
Qcond, Qconv, and QR are usually combined into one term (QL),
that is,
Q L Q cond Q conv Q R

If is the transmittance of the top glazing and IT is the total

solar radiation incident on the top surface, therefore,
IAc I T Ac

3. Theory/calculation

The reected energy from the absorber with the reection

coefcient of the absorber is given by the expression:
Q I T Ac

Eqs. (5)(7) substituted in Eq. (4) yield

IT Ac Q u Q L IT Ac or Q u IT Ac 1Q L
For an absorber (1  ) and hence
Q u I T Ac Q L

S.N. Ugwu et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 41 (2015) 14041412

1407

Overall heat loss QL, according to Dufe and Beckman [51] and
Jannot [52], is composed of different convection and radiation
parts and expressed as
Q L U L Ac T c T a

Useful energy gained by the collector from Eqs. (8) and (9) is
expressed as
Q u I T Ac U L Ac T c T a

10

However, the energy per unit area (Qu) of the collector is

Fig. 1. Classication of solar kilns according to arrangement of main units (Luna
et al., 2009).

Q u I T U L T c T a

11

If the heated air leaving the collector is at collector temperature, the heat gained by the air Qg is
_ a C pa T c T a
Qg m

12

The collector heat removal factor, FR, is the quantity that relates
the actual useful energy gained of a collector, Eq. (10), to the useful
gained by the air, Eq. (11). Therefore,
FR

_ a C pa T c  T a
m
or
Ac I T  U L T c  T a 

Q g Ac F R I T U L Ac T c  T a 

13

The thermal efciency of the collector is as reported in [53]

Qg
I T Ac

14

3.2. Ventilation rate by stack effect

Thermal buoyancy-induced ventilation rate through two openings at different elevations was determined using Eq. (16) [54].
The two openings are separated by difference of elevation, h
h2  h1 h4 h2 , and the air densities for inlet and outlet vent
are i and o, respectively.
Applying the mass ow continuity relationship with two
velocities at the point inow and outow of air, oC d2 A2 v2
iC d4 A4 v4 . With the know inlet velocity, the unknown outlet
velocity is stated by Bruce [54], thus,
!
2g hqprod
v4
T o 1 T o =T i C d4 A4 =C d2 A2 2 U A F P cp iC d4 A4 v4 
Fig. 2. Thermal network for the single glazed at plate collector timber dryer with
black-painted pebble bed in terms of (a) conduction, convection, and radiation; and
(b) in terms of resistance plates.

15
Ventilation rate V C d4 A4 v4 m3=s

Fig. 3. Cross-sectional view of mixed-mode passive solar kiln with pebble bed.

16

1408

S.N. Ugwu et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 41 (2015) 14041412

2. H2 is the heat required to overcome hygroscopic forces (kJ)

3.3. Energy balance equation for the drying process

According to James and Craig [55], the heat that enters the
drying chamber must accomplish four basic steps in the process of
drying the wood in the kiln: (a) Heat the air in the kiln on entering
the kiln; (b) heat any material in the kiln; (c) provide energy for
any thermodynamic requirements involved in removing the
moisture from the wood; and (d) compensate for any loss of heat
in the system. The following thermal capacity values are used as
constants throughout the entire procedure:
Air C a 1005:6 K=kg

All temperatures are expressed as degrees Celsius (C) and

thermal capacity or heat capacity values as J/kgK. These heats
are further divided into six:
1. H1 is the heat required to raise the temperature of the wood
substance (kJ)

where ODW is oven dry weight of timber (kg)

18

3. H3 is the heat required to raise the temperature of any

water remaining in the wood (kJ)
H 3 W  C H2O  T kJ

19

4. H4 is the heat required to raise the temperature of the

water removed from the wood, and to evaporate it (kJ)
H 4 H 4i ODW  MC  tC H2O  t h

Water vapor C w 1885:5 J=kgK

WaterC H20 4190 K=kg

H 1 ODW  C w  TkJ

H 2 ODW  D kJ

20

5. H5 is the heat required to raise the temperature and

humidify the incoming vent air (J)


mc1 t 1 mc2 t 2

H5 K
d1
d2








A mc1 S1 CH2 O h1 mc2 S2 CH2 O h2
21

17
E (25%), b (0.003), and K are all constants.

Fig. 4. A. Timber stacked in the kiln; B. Sample board for controlling the drying process; C. Solar kiln in display; D. External solar collector with black-painted pebble bed; E.
Timber stacked in the kiln.

S.N. Ugwu et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 41 (2015) 14041412

1409

A is a factor used only as a convenience in completing the

calculation.
6. H6 is the heat required to replace any losses from the
system (kJ)
H 6i U i  A  T L
H 6 H 6i  Total drying time hr

22

Then, the total heat used up in the kiln

H H 1 H 2 H 3 H 4 H 5 H 6 kJ

23

The quantity heat consumption per time by wood the kiln

(Qwood) is given in (W) as
Q wood H=drying time hr W

24

Substitute Eq. (24) in Eq. (3) to obtain the total heat loss Qloss
during the entire drying processes.
Q Loss Q cond Q conv Q wood W

25

Fig. 5. Temperature against time.

3.4. Moisture content analysis

Fresh felled Okpeye (Prosopis africana) timber was selected; these
lumber boards represent the slowest drying material and is the
widest, thickest with the highest MC [56]. The sample board is of
length 0.65 m of sample, free of knots, and at least 0.30 m from the
end of the board. As shown in Fig. 4B, two 25 mm moisture sections
from the ends of sample board were sawn out, immediately weighed
within an accuracy of 1 g using OHAUS Triple Beam Balance, and
recorded. The 25-mm sections were oven dried at 102 1C and for 24
hours in a Fisher Scientic Isotemp Oven Model 655F at the Processing
Laboratory of Agricultural and Bioresources Engineering, University of
Nigeria. They were reweighed to obtain the dry weight. Using Eq. (26),
the MC of each section was calculated and the average MC of the two
sections was computed to obtain the initial MC of the sample board.


Weight of wet section
MC %
 1  100%
26
Weight of oven dried section
The green sample boards were weighed (within 5 g accuracy)
with Berkel weighing Balance NR 139964 situated at the Foundry
section of Materials and Metallurgy Department, University of
Nigeria, and recorded. Using the average MC from Eq. (24) in
Eq. (25), the oven-dry weight of the sample board was estimated
and recorded.

observed that the absorber temperature was highest throughout the

test period, in decreasing order, the chamber temperature, the outlet
temperature, the inlet air temperature, the glass cover temperature,
and least of all, the ambient temperature. The maximum values
between the hours of 12:00 and 15:00 were 60.4 1C, 50.3 1C, 49 1C,
47.4 1C, 48.3 1C, and 31.7 1C, respectively; the corresponding minimum
values were 38.8 1C, 30.6 1C, 30.3 1C, 28.9 1C, 24.3 1C, and 23.5 1C,
respectively, all between the hours of 03:00 and 06:00. From Fig. 5,
the drying chamber temperature was above the ambient temperature,
which was as a result of absorbed heat being released from the
painted pebble bed. This heat replaces the heated air drawn through
the vent; it also keeps the temperature of the kiln higher than the
ambient temperature and inhibits reverse ow of moisture-laden air
in the early hours of the day [49,57].
4.2. Ambient and drying chamber relative humidity measurement

4. Results and discussion

Fig. 6 shows the graphical representation of relative humidity

in hours. Two days were chosen from the 15 drying days for all the
timber drying runs as sample days, which was consistent with the
procedures in Helwa [12] and Clarke and Saunder [38]. This is
aimed at proper evaluation of this kiln within the drying period:
April 28 and 29, 2013, were selected for study because of some
sharp parametric variations in weather data. April 28 was a very
rainy and windy day, whereas April 29 was a very sunny day.
It was observed from Fig. 6 that the maximum ambient relative
humidity for April 28 and 29 were 91.3% and 78.5%, respectively,
whereas the minimum ambient relative humidity were 65.3% at 2pm
and 39.1% at 5pm. The drying chamber relative humidity for April 28
and 29 were 75% and 45%, respectively, whereas the corresponding
minimum values were 31% at 9am and 44% at 2pm, respectively. The
average drying chamber relative humidity for April 28 and 29 were
54.6% and 35.3%, respectively, whereas the ambient relative humidity
were 76% and 53.3%, respectively. This shows that the ambient relative
humidity were higher than that of the chamber for the study days. It
was observed that highest ambient humidity was April 28, which was
a rainy day, and April 29 was the lowest, hence a sunny day. It can be
observed from Fig. 6 that as the drying air temperature increases, the
relative humidity decreases till it reaches its minimum value around
solar noon [3,12].

4.1. Kiln preloading test

4.3. Solar radiation measurement

Between the hours 07:00, April 8, and 06:00, April 9, the preloading test was carried out on the solar kiln for 24hr. In Fig. 5, it was

Fig. 7 shows the hourly solar radiation as being at maximum

between the hours of 12:00 and 15:00, but least at sunset (18:00

Estimated oven dry weight g

Weight of sample board

100 MC%

27

The sample board in the timber stack is positioned to enable

uniform drying rate of the timber in the solar dryer. The sample
boards were reweighed daily and the MC for each day calculated
using Eq. (26). The daily weight of each sample board and the MC (%)
were recorded.


Current MC%

Current weight of sample board
 1  100%
Estimated oven dry weight

28

The drying process was halted when the current MC (%)

equaled the target 12.9%. The moisture content result was statistically compared with the open air dried wood using paired t-test
at 5% condence level.

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S.N. Ugwu et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 41 (2015) 14041412

Fig. 6. Relative humidity against time.

Fig. 8. A. (April 28, 2013) Temperature against time; B. (April 29, 2013) Temperature against time.
Fig. 7. Solar irradiance against time.

23:00) and early morning prior to sunrise (00:0006:00) hours of

the day, respectively, with approximately zero value. Gradual
increase in solar radiation was observed from sunrise (06:00) till
between the peak hours of 12:00 and 15:00, which according to
[12,38,51] is when the sun is vertically overhead. Then, steady
decline in the solar radiation could be observed till sunset. The
highest solar radiation value was recorded on a very sunny April
29 at 14:00, whereas the lowest mean value was on April 28,
which was very cloudy and rainy.
4.4. Temperature of the solar kiln measurement
In Fig. 8 (a and b) as shown below, it is observed from the hourly
temperature data recorded for the ambient, glass cover; inlet air;
drying chamber; absorber; and outlet temperature for April 28 and
29, 2013, were taken. Both graphs maintained dumbbell shape,
which according to [12,38,51,58] revealed similarity of increase in
temperature before peak hour and decline afterward as sunset
approaches. It can be observed that the absorber, which is the
painted pebble bed, was heated up from sunrise to the peak hour
(13:00), as observed in [47], then continues till sunset and afterward
begins to discharge the absorbed heat for heating up air in the drying
chamber and to maintain regular ow of air as well as to avoid
moisture accumulation woods in the drying chamber. The painted

pebble bed absorber acted like the slag in [47]; it made the kiln
operate effectively for 24 hr each day and maintained kiln temperatures above ambient temperatures during the night.
As shown in Fig. 7 for solar radiation, the outlet and the inlet
temperatures, recorded increased temperature till between 12:00
and 15:00 and steadily declined till dawn. The outlet temperature
ranged from 55.4 1C to 26.2 1C throughout the drying periods.
Concurrent with the report in [12], it should be noted from
Eq. (22) that about 4.21934 W of the 14.013 W generated by the kiln
is absorbed by wood and other loss through conduction by the walls
of the chamber. In Fig. 8, when compared with [58], it was noted that
outlet temperature was higher than inlet temperature because the
heat from the transparent roof augments that from the collector.
4.5. Wind speed measurement
The graphical representation in Fig. 9 shows the wind speed in
ambient surroundings of the solar kiln. Wind speed is responsible
for driving heated air from the collector to the drying chamber and
ensures air circulation in the chamber, while sustaining ventilation
of moist air from the kiln. Desch and Dinwoodie [59] stated that
wind speed is an integral drying parameter in transporting
evaporated water from wood. For the two varying weather conditions being considered, April 28 and 29, it was observed that the
wind speed on the rainy April 28 was higher than the more sunny

S.N. Ugwu et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 41 (2015) 14041412

Fig. 9. Wind speed against time.

1411

consistent result with our result. But [38], using slag as its heat
absorber as well as forming the thermal heat storage unit, dried local
woods (Mahogany and Cedar) to 16% MC within the drying times of
2124 days.
The results of the two drying conditions were statistically
subjected to two-sample t-test at 95% condence interval and
plotted in Fig. 10. It was observed that the t-calculated was lower
than the t-tabulated showing signicant difference between kiln
drying and open air drying. Wood dried in the kiln attained lower
moisture content than the wood dried in the open air. This is
because when the surface moisture content is close to FSP, the
timber requires a higher temperature for the drying air to
evaporate the moisture from the boards, and this condition is
not available by air drying, but solar drying provides the required
higher temperature [12,59].
After the drying process, the quality of drying was evaluated and
associated drying defects recorded after drying according to European
Standard [61]. It was noted with visual observation from Fig. 4E that
over 70% of the wood dried in an open air was warped and had endchecks, while in Fig. 4A, the wood dried in the kiln remained straight
due to uniformity of drying conditions in the kiln.

5. Conclusions

Fig. 10. Comparisons of moisture content between air and solar kiln drying
method.

April 29: the maximum speed were 1.79 ms  1and 1.2 ms  1,

respectively.
4.6. Wood drying performance
The rate of reduction in moisture content is higher during the
day and decreases at night [12,49]. In Fig. 10, it was observed as
reported in [56] that in the rst 72 hours (three days) the rate of
drying in open air drying was faster than that of solar kiln-drying;
for air drying, the ber saturation point (FSP) was attained within
three days from 66.27% to 46.052% and then 32.406%, whereas it
took 92 hr for the kiln to attain FSP. This behavior continued till
after the timber moisture content reached FSP. FSP is that point
when no moisture remains at the surface of the boards. After the
FSP, the rate of drying in the kiln became faster than that of the
open air drying, but drying generally became slower till the end of
the 360 hr drying period achieving moisture reduction from
66.27% to 12.9% and 20.1% for solar kiln and open air drying,
respectively.
This kiln performed well when compared with solar kiln in [12],
where the kiln was able to dry from 67% MC to 12% within 17 days; In
[60], the kiln was dried from 62% to 22% in three months; the kiln was
consistent with [5], which reported that energy storage for several
reasons aided in saving up to 30 % of drying time, whereas [45] using
solar dryer with thermal storage and biomass-backup heater attained

A simple mixed-mode solar kiln was designed and constructed

for stacks of Okpeye (P. africana) boards, which incorporated
energy storage (black-painted pebble bed as both solar absorber
and solar storage medium) and continued the drying process
within diurnal variations, maintaining kiln temperatures above
ambient temperatures during the night. The solar kiln successfully
reduced the moisture content of okpeye timber from 66.27% to
12.9% EMC within 360 hr (15 days).
The solar kiln achieved uniform wood drying without defects
when compared with the wood dried in the open air. The results of
drying of timber using this solar kiln, unlike in biomass or fossil
fuel-powered kilns, demonstrated the great potential renewable
energy systems hold toward reducing greenhouse emissions in
compliance with the Kyoto Protocol.
It is, therefore, recommended that modeling, simulation, and
optimization of the solar timber kiln incorporated with blackpainted pebble bed should be performed; an active system should
be considered for scaling up of this kiln for commercial wood
drying and that more studies be carried out on the possible
substitution of bulky pebble bed with PCMs.
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