Performance efficiency of an active evaporative cooling system for the storage of fruits and vegetables in a semi arid environment.
Dzivama A. U., Audu I., Igbeka J. C.
Author Affiliation: Department of Agricultural Engineering, University of Maiduguri, Nigeria.
AMA, Agricultural Mechanization in Asia, Africa and Latin America 37 : 36-41
Abstract : An active evaporative cooler was constructed with a local sponge material as the pad-end and tested under varying parameters of: water flow rate (WR; 3.5, 4.5 and 5 litres/minute); pad thickness (PT; 30, 60 and 90 mm); and air velocity (AV; 0.8, 1.3, 1.8, 2.3 and 2.8 m/second). With WR at 4.5 litres/minute, PT at 60 mm and AV at 2.3 m/second, the highest saturation efficiency of 84.6% was obtained with a temperature of 21.5°C and 85% relative humidity at the pad-end, from ambient conditions of 38°C and 15% (temperature and relative humidity, respectively). At this condition, the cooler was evaluated for the storage of mango (Mangifera indica), banana (Musa sapientum [Musa paradisiaca]) and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum). The products were stored in the cooler at a temperature of 22.5°C and relative humidity of 80% and were found to be in good physical conditions after 18 days for mango and 14 days each for banana and tomato, as compared to only 7 days for those stored under ambient conditions of 38°C and 15%, temperature and relative humidity, respectively.