Heat-and-mass transfer analysis from vegetable and fruit products stored in cold conditions

Abstract

Heat and mass transfer process taking place during fruit and vegetable products in cold storage are studied. A mathematical model describing these processes is presented and the resulting governing equations are solved for different storing conditions. The relative humidity of the ventilating air and the temperature of the stored product bulk are found for different initial air relative humidity and airflow rates. As the product bulk depth increased up to 4.2 m, the relative humidity of the ventilating air approaches the steady state value. When the relative humidity is larger than the equilibrium relative humidity value, an increase in the ventilating air rate reduces the losses of the product during the period of its storage, while larger losses occur when the relative humidity values are lower than the equilibrium ones.