Analysis of the Airflow and Temperature in Ripening Chamber by Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulation
摘要
A ripening chamber is a chamber where the horticultural crops, flowers, and drugs are stored and ripened to reduce spoilage and thus enhanced the shelf life. The performance of the ripening chamber depends on cooling capacity, and insulating material ripening techniques, but the airflow and temperature distribution are highly affected on products. This study aims to perform a simulation of airflow and temperature in a ripening chamber using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. The continuity of the process should be enhanced with computational inputs. The present work is a valid simulation of experimental work with ethylene as a ripening agent, which is in gaseous form, changes with airflow made with analysis systems (ANSYS) fluent with an approximate period of 6 days for papaya fruits. Boundary conditions of the mathematical model were studied at an airflow of 0.5 m/s by considering two conditions with and without a load of fruits. The number of fruits from the crate considered as per experimental ripening techniques, pressure, and temperature contours studied for ambient or less for the refrigeration. Airflow finds in the equal temperature gradient at the 5th flow of CFD airflow condition to all papaya fruits in the ripening chamber. 4–6% variation found prior air quality of airflow compared with experimental results as practical loss considerations take place in the experiment but not in flow simulation.