Bennamoun, Lyes2022-04-282022-04-2820111364-0321http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/13036Solar drying is one of the processes that have found application in Algeria, because of the important quantities of solar irradiations that can be exploited in this country. Nevertheless, the experience of Algeria in solar drying is recent and limited to drying of fruits, vegetables, medicinal and aromatic herbs. The effectuated review has given an idea about the existing functional dryers in this country with presentation of their different design aspects and in some cases the mathematical modeling for well describing and predicting their behaviours. The solar dryers were classified into two classes according to their operation mode and without taking into account if the dryers are using auxiliary sources of energy. The two classes are: passive dryers and active dryers. On the other hand, each class was divided into subclasses representing the type. We have found the direct and indirect types for the passive dryers, but only indirect types for the active dryers. Mixed types were not developed. The solar dryers were developed and tested in two different climatic regions which are the north of the country and the Sahara. In the most studied cases, one or multiple auxiliary sources of energy were used in order to increase the performances of the dryer or to decrease drying time. Consequently, we register the utilization of pebbles as a heat storage system, resistances as electrical heater, gas-ring and photovoltaic cells in order to give independency against the use of the traditional electrical energy. In the case of the active dryers, adding fans and temperature and flow controllers has permitted the control of the drying conditions. Depending on the dryers, the dried quantities vary from 200 g to 36 kg. Comparison between many studied cases for different modes and types and with open sun drying method was furthermore done. With a few exceptions to some solar dryers which present problems of complexity and was not practical and easy for manipulation to the agricultural producer, the majority of the developed solar dryers have presented satisfactory resultsenPassive dryersActive dryersAuxiliary sourcesFoodHerbsMathematical modelingArticle