Research Article
Computational Fluid Dynamic Modeling and Simulation of Red Chili Solar Cabinet Dryer
@INPROCEEDINGS{10.1007/978-3-030-43690-2_45, author={Eshetu Getahun and Maarten Vanierschot and Nigus Gabbiye and Mulugeta Delele and Solomon Workneh and Mekonnen Gebreslasie}, title={Computational Fluid Dynamic Modeling and Simulation of Red Chili Solar Cabinet Dryer}, proceedings={Advances of Science and Technology. 7th EAI International Conference, ICAST 2019, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, August 2--4, 2019, Proceedings}, proceedings_a={ICAST}, year={2020}, month={6}, keywords={Solar cabinet dryer Red chili CFD modeling Moisture transfer}, doi={10.1007/978-3-030-43690-2_45} }- Eshetu Getahun
Maarten Vanierschot
Nigus Gabbiye
Mulugeta Delele
Solomon Workneh
Mekonnen Gebreslasie
Year: 2020
Computational Fluid Dynamic Modeling and Simulation of Red Chili Solar Cabinet Dryer
ICAST
Springer
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-43690-2_45
Abstract
Red chilies are important sources of nutrients for human diet. It is known that improper handling of the produces causes a significant loss. Drying is a primary and suitable preservation system of chili products before storage to minimize mold/mycotoxin development. This study investigates the potential of solar cabinet chili dryer through rigorous computational fluid dynamic modeling by considering red chili as porous media. The k-ε turbulence model was utilized to effectively predict the uniformity of drying air velocity, pressure and mass transfer. It was found that the CFD simulation gives accurate prediction of the drying air and velocity and pressure distribution in each tray at inlet air velocity of 1.5 m/s. The solar absorber temperature was reached up to 54 °C and the drying chamber temperature was in the range of 34–38 °C. The performance of the dryer was very promising to keep the quality of the dried red chili products.
