Evaluating water sorption isotherms, drying kinetics and exergy performance of traditionally earth mortar drying system based on hybrid solar-electrical dryer

Purpose: The paper aims to evaluate drying performance of earth mortar by solar drying for more durability, minimize pathologies in traditional construction and determine the influence of temperature and humidity on the microstructure of earth mortar using static gravimetric method. Design/methodology/approach: A convective solar dryer was used for the pretreatment of building and solid materials for construction. Findings: The humidity influences the mortar sorption – surface water sorption of earth mortar increased with increasing temperature. Originality/value: The study used a novel method for pretreatment building materials by using solar dryer.