Determination of temperature profiles inside fruits and vegetables during the process of Ddying

Abstract

he purpose of this research work was to model the phenomenon of heat transfer across various fruits and vegetables during the process of drying with the aid of modern computational modelling and simulation techniques. The outcomes of the analysis were the temperature profiles across perishable crops during their drying process and rate of heat transfer. A mathematical model was developed using the equations for different modes of heat transfer and for different geometries of fruits and vegetables. This mathematical model was then incorporated with proper system characteristics and valid assumptions to simulate the phenomenon in MATLAB with an accordingly developed program. Via the simulation, the rates of heat transfer were calculated and temperature profiles were plotted. Eventually, the implications of the study, its possible contribution for further related research work and the ways of improving such an analysis were discussed. KEYWORDS: Drying, temperature profiles, rate of heat transfer, fruits & vegetables, modelling & simulation, energy efficiency