Cfd simulation and experimental Investigation of heat pump dryer forLeaf dryingapplication

Abstract

Substantial amounts of fresh agricultural food products are lostafter harvest, during handling, storage, processing, and transport. In ananalysis carried out in 2011 by the United Nations Food and AgricultureOrganization (FAO), the annual global food waste is estimated to be about 1.3billion tonnes, equivalent to about one-third of the total food productionintended for human consumption. Fresh fruits, vegetables, and leaves spoilfaster in hot climates and become unsafe to eat. The FAO has estimated thatlosses and waste in fruits and vegetables are the highest among all types offoods, and may reach up to 60%. Drying is a method by which food is keptfrom spoilage after harvest. Drying is a highly energy-consuming process,accounting for 12 to 20% of total industrial energy consumption in India andmost other developed countries, because the latent heat has to be supplied tothe material to evaporate the moisture.Agricultural products can be dried by conventional drying methodssuch as open sun drying and shade drying, as well as by artificial dryingmethods using fabricated dryers. They can also be dried during transportationby direct heating using waste heat or by using a heat pump dryer. Theobjective of this research work is to (a) select a suitable configuration of adrying chamber using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis for leafdrying in transit, (b) conduct experimental studies on a selected configurationusing a heat pump dryer, and (c) develop a simulation model by validatingwith experimental results. newline