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Modeling of a solar dryer for fruit preservation in developing countries

Chaignon, Juliette LU (2017) MVK920 20171
Department of Energy Sciences
Abstract
About 25,3 % of the Mozambican population is suffering from undernourishment even though a sufficient amount of food and specifically fruits are produced. Post-harvest losses are estimated to 25 % to 40 % and part of the production is not even harvested due to a short season. A solution has to be found to improve fruit preservation and allow the population to consume what is harvested later. Drying fruits is a solution to preserve them. However, juicy fruits are harder to dry than other fruits since they contain more water. One small-scale solution is drying juicy fruits in a specific membrane which allows water vapour to escape from the fruit or the fruit juice to dry. Those membranes have been proven to provide more efficient drying when... (More)
About 25,3 % of the Mozambican population is suffering from undernourishment even though a sufficient amount of food and specifically fruits are produced. Post-harvest losses are estimated to 25 % to 40 % and part of the production is not even harvested due to a short season. A solution has to be found to improve fruit preservation and allow the population to consume what is harvested later. Drying fruits is a solution to preserve them. However, juicy fruits are harder to dry than other fruits since they contain more water. One small-scale solution is drying juicy fruits in a specific membrane which allows water vapour to escape from the fruit or the fruit juice to dry. Those membranes have been proven to provide more efficient drying when place in an airflow or wind. It is possible to couple these membranes with solar dryers technology to control the parameters (temperature, relative humidity, velocity) of such an airflow.

Two types of solar dryers are tested : indirect and direct. Both solar dryers are modeled using a CFD tool (COMSOL Multiphysics) and the modeling work is based on former research to elaborate a mathematical model of the dryers physics. The simulations produced by COMSOL allow to study the influence of several parameters (geometry of the solar dryers, ambient conditions, solar dryers materials) and identify the parameters to consider in order to improve the design of the dryers. The results from the modeling are compared to on-site measurements, in Mozambique, in order to calibrate and validate the models. (Less)
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author
Chaignon, Juliette LU
supervisor
organization
course
MVK920 20171
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
solar drying - fruit preservation - indirect solar dryer - direct solar dryer - modeling - CFD
report number
ISRN LUTMDN/TMHP-17/5385-SE
ISSN
0282-1990
language
English
id
8925357
date added to LUP
2017-09-21 11:25:49
date last changed
2017-09-21 11:25:49
@misc{8925357,
  abstract     = {{About 25,3 % of the Mozambican population is suffering from undernourishment even though a sufficient amount of food and specifically fruits are produced. Post-harvest losses are estimated to 25 % to 40 % and part of the production is not even harvested due to a short season. A solution has to be found to improve fruit preservation and allow the population to consume what is harvested later. Drying fruits is a solution to preserve them. However, juicy fruits are harder to dry than other fruits since they contain more water. One small-scale solution is drying juicy fruits in a specific membrane which allows water vapour to escape from the fruit or the fruit juice to dry. Those membranes have been proven to provide more efficient drying when place in an airflow or wind. It is possible to couple these membranes with solar dryers technology to control the parameters (temperature, relative humidity, velocity) of such an airflow.

Two types of solar dryers are tested : indirect and direct. Both solar dryers are modeled using a CFD tool (COMSOL Multiphysics) and the modeling work is based on former research to elaborate a mathematical model of the dryers physics. The simulations produced by COMSOL allow to study the influence of several parameters (geometry of the solar dryers, ambient conditions, solar dryers materials) and identify the parameters to consider in order to improve the design of the dryers. The results from the modeling are compared to on-site measurements, in Mozambique, in order to calibrate and validate the models.}},
  author       = {{Chaignon, Juliette}},
  issn         = {{0282-1990}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Modeling of a solar dryer for fruit preservation in developing countries}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}