Temperature and air velocity distribution in ripening chamber of fruits by CFD model

  • K. Lavanya Department of Processing and Food Engineering, Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, Guntur-522034, A.P, India.
  • L. Edukondalu Department of Processing and Food Engineering Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, Guntur-522034, A.P, India.
  • M. Mohan Raju Nagarjunasagar Project, Irrigation \& CAD (P.W) Department, Government of TS, Hill Colony-508202, India.
  • Aadhi. Naresh Department of Civil Engineering, Osmania University, Hyderabad-500007, India
  • Dinesh. C. S. Bisht Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, Noida, India.
  • Harish Gupta Department of Civil Engineering, Osmania University, Hyderabad-500007, India.

Abstract

Ripening chamber assessment in commercial applications needs to be verified when fruits and vegetables commence placing at certain temperatures where value-added products should transport. Performance of the ripening chamber depends on cooling capacity, insulating material, and ripening techniques, but the airflow and velocity distribution are highly affected on the harvesting product, the purpose of this study is to perform a simulation of airflow and temperature in the ripening chamber by using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technique. The continuity of the process should be enhanced with computational inputs. Present work is a valid simulation of experimental work with ethylene and ethephon as ripening agents, ethylene in gaseous form, and ethephon liquid dip for 5 minutes, changes with airflow made with ANSYS fluent with an approximate period of 4-6 days for mango fruits. Boundary conditions of the mathematical model were studied at air velocity of 0.5 m/s by considering two conditions with and without a load of fruits. The number of fruits from crate considered as per experimental ripening techniques, pressure, and temperature contours studied for ambient or less for the refrigeration. Flow finds in the equal temperature gradient at the $4^{th}$ flow of CFD airflow condition to all mango fruits in the ripening chamber. Mango ripening change occurs at 3rd and 4th flows at all contours simultaneously for ethephon and ethylene. The model indicates there is 4-6 percentage variation was found prior to the air quality of flow compared with experimental results.

Published
2022-08-18