This study investigated the effect of using phase change materials (PCMs) in a cabinet dryer on thermal and drying efficiency. Three positions related to PCM inside the cabinet were considered, including the bottom, middle and upper trays. The specific energy consumption for drying tomato slices was 11.32–14.87 MJ/kg. PCMs on the lower tray of the cabinet dryer resulted in shorter drying times for the pieces compared to other methods. The overall thermal efficiency of the cabinet dryer varied from 35.23 to 38.92 %. Simulations were conducted using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). As a result, it was possible to predict the cabinet dryer's thermal performance with high accuracy (R2 > 0.95). Evolutionary Polynomial Regression (EPR) is used to predict the output temperature and efficiency of the cabinet dryer. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method was used and compared with that of a thermal electric dryer to estimate the environmental effects of a solar dryer. The results showed a significant difference between the effects of the electric thermal dryer and the solar dryer on all of the above categories.
