Design and Experimental Study of Prototype Cold Storage for Various Vegetables Stored (original) (raw)
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Advances in Agricultural and Food Research Journal
The study presents the performance and potential of an evaporative-cooled storage system for the short-term storage of fruit vegetables during transportation. The evaporative cooler, storage unit, power supply, control panel, and real-time data monitoring system are the components of the evaporative-cooled storage system. In this study, the system performance was assessed in terms of the cooling profile of the storage unit (temperature and relative humidity profiles), and postharvest quality of the selected fruit vegetables (chili, tomato, and long bean) for the fresh market. Three storage treatments for the selected fruit vegetables were investigated, i.e., evaporative-cooled storage unit (T1), ambient room (T2), and cold room (T3). The average temperature inside the storage unit was T3 < T2 < T1. T1 demonstrated RH of > 90 %, in agreement with recommended RH for vegetable storage. Post-five-hour storage treatments, vegetables stored under T1 exhibited the least weight los...
AUTOMATED ELECTRONIC EVAPORATIVE COOLER FOR FRUITS AND VEGETABLES PRESERVATION
Horticultural products such as fruits and vegetables are highly perishable in nature; thus, maintaining the optimal air conditions inside the storage helps extending their shelf life. However, commercially available cool storages can give chilling injuries to the commodities which its quality, color, texture and freshness are often sacrifice. Hence, the proponents aimed to develop an automated electronic evaporative cooler in prolonging and preserving the freshness and quality of fruits and vegetables. The study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the electronic evaporative cooler for fruits and vegetables preservation through (a) percentage weight loss, (b) visual quality, (c) degree of shriveling, and (d) determining the expectancy life of the commodities. To evaluate the performance of cooler, (a) calibration of the system, (b) evaporative cooling efficiency, and (c) monitoring of air conditions in terms of temperature and relative humidity were first done to attain its end goal. The study focused on construction of an automated electronic evaporative cooler in which temperature and humidity were kept under control as associated by the standard temperature requirement of a specific fruit or vegetable. The system was inputted with required temperature of particular fruits and vegetables; then equipped with temperature and humidity sensors, water circulation system, DC fans which were all connected to a microcontroller that provided the appropriate action or output. From various tests conducted, for reliability, the cooler had evaporative cooling efficiency of 85.5263% during 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. of the day. The cooler also indicated a temperature drop range of 1.40 to 3.40˚C and a relative humidity rise range of 9.30 to 20.30%. Moreover, the study also revealed that commodities placed inside the cooler had average percentage weight loss of about 2.50% to 5.50% while those exposed in ambient environment with about 4.50% to 10.30%. Through evaluation done by five vendors, the commodities inside the cooler were considered as field fresh without defects while those in ambient environment were mostly evaluated as with serious defects and had reached the limit of usability in terms of visual quality. Meanwhile, in terms of degree of shriveling, most of commodities inside the cooler showed no signs of shriveling, wilting or dryness compared to those in ambient environment which most were considered with evident but not serious shriveling. More so, using regression method, the proponents projected a trend line to determine expectancy life of the commodities and it was found out that tomatoes and bananas in ambient environment can reduce a five-percent weight after 78 and 42 hours respectively compared to commodities placed inside the cooler. Therefore, the proponents concluded that commodities stored inside the cooler showed better conditions in terms of percentage weight loss, visual quality and degree of shriveling compared to those exposed outside the cooler. Furthermore, the study proved that the use of electronic evaporative cooler can prolong the shelf life of the commodities
Evaporative cooling system for storage of fruits and vegetables - a review
Journal of Food Science and Technology, 2011
Horticultural produce are stored at lower temperature because of their highly perishable nature. There are many methods to cool the environment. Hence, preserving these types of foods in their fresh form demands that the chemical, biochemical and physiological changes are restricted to a minimum by close control of space temperature and humidity. The high cost involved in developing cold storage or controlled atmosphere storage is a pressing problem in several developing countries. Evaporative cooling is a well-known system to be an efficient and economical means for reducing the temperature and increasing the relative humidity in an enclosure and this effect has been extensively tried for increasing the shelf life of horticultural produce in some tropical and subtropical countries. In this review paper, basic concept and principle, methods of evaporative cooling and their application for the preservation of fruits and vegetables and economy are also reported. Thus, the evaporative cooler has prospect for use for short term preservation of vegetables and fruits soon after harvest. Zero energy cooling system could be used effectively for short-duration storage of fruits and vegetables even in hilly region. It not only reduces the storage temperature but also increases the relative humidity of the storage which is essential for maintaining the freshness of the commodities.
Development of a Passive Evaporative Cooling Structure for Storage of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
2017
This work presents the development of an evaporative cooling structure for storage of fresh fruits and vegetables. Before now, it was estimated that losses from inadequate storage of agricultural products especially fruits and vegetables is 40-50% of the production level in Nigeria. These losses have led to wasted human efforts, farm input and investment and at large, it has given rise to food insecurity in the country. A double wall storage structure of outer wall (3.35m long x 3.65m wide x 3.10m high) and inner wall (2.51m long x 2.81m wide x 2.7m high) that uses the principle of evaporative cooling was constructed. Temperature and relative humidity of the storage structure were recorded over time in the morning (8am), afternoon (12noon) and evening (4pm) using a digital temperature/humidity meter. Evaluation of the cooling structure was performed in dry (November-December) and rainy (June-July) weather conditions. Fresh fruits and vegetables were also stored in the structure and the results were compared with those stored at ambient air condition. Average cooler temperature in the morning, afternoon and evening were measured to be 24.77 o C, 25.44 o C and 26.07 o C, while the mean relative humidity were 93.88%, 94.41%, and 93.41% respectively in rainy season. In dry season, the mean cooler temperature in the morning, afternoon and evening were 20.77 o C, 24.04 o C and 25.21 o C while the mean relative humidity were 50.23%, 42.47%, 43.94% respectively. Also, shelf life of 13-15 days was recorded for carrot, okra and garden egg while water melon and tomatoes were able to be stored for 15-18day before spoilage. Similarly, the fruits and vegetables stored at ambient air condition had shelf life of 10-12 days for okra, carrot and garden egg while water melon and tomatoes stored for 13-14 days.
2015
The principal of refrigeration is method of successful storage of vegetable and fruits to maintain their flavour and freshness, for post harvest product deterioration start with time and temperature so it need to be maintain desirable temperature and relative humidity for post harvest product that is for potato. A cold storage design at village HARSODAN district Ujjain (m.p.) to give better facility for potato storage. This paper deal with all standard refrigeration principles and different aspect of design of cold storage and this design is hypothetically intended to serve as a guide for future fabrication and erection. .
Experimental Evaporative Coolers for Vegetable Preservation
Evaporative cooling is a well-known system to be an efficient and economical means for reducing the temperature and increasing the relative humidity in an enclosure. The high cost involved in developing cold storage or controlled atmosphere storage is a pressing problem in several developing countries. Many vegetables need high relative humidity (≥ 70%) with absolutely no exposure to direct heat or sunlight. Annual relative humidity in many parts of India ranges from 35% to 60%. Annual temperatures are also going high in many populated states of India. Experiments are conducted on natural and forced updraft evaporative coolers. Coolers are made of G.I sheet of 0.5 mm thick. PUF is used as an insulation and it is placed between the G.I sheets in pressed condition to avoid air gap between G.I sheet and foam. Inner volume of each cooler is one cubic feet with a storing capacity of 1 to 1.5 kg of vegetables only. Experiments are performed on natural draft and forced updraft evaporative cooler to understand the variations in relative humidity, temperatures and quantity of water evaporated in Pune. Shelf life of few vegetables and their important properties are also measured during experiments. Observations are also compared with the vegetables kept in open air conditions inside and outside the room. Heat balance for actual quantity of water evaporated and heat transmission in evaporative cooler is made. Sensory evaluation of vegetables is also made after conducting the experiments. It is observed that to avoid the problem of shrinkage, wilting and to retain freshness evaporative cooling is a better option in tropical countries. Shelf life of minimum 4 to 5 days is observed for selected vegetables. Natural evaporative cooler performance is found better than the performance of forced updraft cooler. Experiments are aimed to develop innovative cold storage test rig with the combined use of evaporative cooling, Thermal Energy Storage (TES) concept, ventilation and insulation. These experiments will certainly help to develop low cost cold storages for vegetable preservation at farm end in India.
Assessment of Evaporative Cooling System for Storage of Vegetables
An evaporative cooler was developed and assessed with locally available materials. The materials were outsourced and constructed locally within the study area. A daily monitoring of temperature and relative humidity for both ambient and the cooler were recorded using the wet bulb and dry bulb thermometer and digital humidity–temperature meter. The weight loss was measured using a digital weighing balance. The performance of the evaporative cooler was evaluated in terms of drops in temperature, weight loss and increased relative humidity and evaporative effectiveness. From the results it showed that the evaporative cooler can lessen the daily maximum ambient temperature, the average temperature inside the cooling chamber varied from 20 to 23.5 0 C while the ambient air temperature varied from 25 to 28 0 C for tomatoes and an average of 20.5 to 26.5 0 C inside the cabinet while the ambient air temperature was from 28 to 30.5 0 C for hot pepper. The mean relative humidity of the cabinet during the period of the experiment was about 51 to 93%, respectively, while the mean relative humidity of the ambient environment was from 47 to 58% for tomatoes, and the mean relative humidity for hot pepper was from 49 to 95% of the cabinet and the mean relative humidity of ambient was from 47 to 57%. The effectiveness of the evaporative cooler was higher during the day between the periods of 12-14 hrs.local time when observed. The evaporative cooler was able to preserve freshly harvested tomato and hot pepper for 8 days before color changes and mold spotting appeared and the weight was drastically reduced.
Development of a Low-Cost Refrigerator for Fruits and Vegetables Storage..pdf
determining the cooling efficiency. The refrigerator consists of an evaporator, ccompressor, dryer, filter, fan, condenser, capillary tube and working fluid (R12 Gas). The main source of power is electricity. The refrigerator works on the basic principle of vapour compression refrigeration cycle and was designed to accommodate about 0.02 metric tonnes (20kg) of any fresh fruits such as oranges, apples and mangoes. The capacity of the cooling chamber is 97370cm3. During the test period with fresh apples for a period of 9 hours constant supply of electricity. An average temperature of 3.640C and 26.890C were recorded for the refrigerator and the ambient respectively. Also an average relative humidity of 92.14% and 39.09% were recorded for the refrigerator and the ambient respectively. The average cooling efficiency of the refrigerator is 86.5%. The material cost for the refrigerator is about USD 97.
Technology Thermal System Design of a Cold Storage for 1500 Metric Tonne Potatos
2015
The principal of refrigeration is method of successful storage of vegetable and fruits to maintain their flavour and freshness, for post harvest product deterioration start with time and temperature so it need to be maintain desirable temperature and relative humidity for post harvest product that is for potato. A cold storage design at village HARSODAN district Ujjain (m.p.) to give better facility for potato storage. This paper deal with all standard refrigeration principles and different aspect of design of cold storage and this design is hypothetically intended to serve as a guide for future fabrication and erection.