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Simulation of Solar Drying of Grapes Using An Integrated Heat and Mass Transfer Model.
Simulation of Solar Drying of Grapes Using An Integrated Heat and Mass Transfer Model.
Simulation of Solar Drying of Grapes Using An Integrated Heat and Mass Transfer Model.
Renewable Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/renene
a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t
Article history: A mathematical model was developed to simulate solar drying of grapes, integrating heat and mass
Received 4 November 2014 transfer models solved by an explicit finite differences method, considering changing boundary condi-
Accepted 4 April 2015 tions. The model simultaneously incorporated shrinkage of the product, changes in effective moisture
Available online
diffusivity and dependence of thermal properties on water content and temperature. Field experiments
were carried out in a mixed mode solar dryer located in the North of Portugal, with pre-blanched grapes.
Keywords:
A good prediction of experimental solar drying curves was attained. The mathematical model can be
Solar drying
applied for simulating solar drying of different foods, once known their specific thermo-physical prop-
Heat transfer
Mass transfer
erties. Simulations obtained with the developed model can be valuable for predicting accurate drying
Simulation times and consequently to design, control and optimise the production of dried foods.
Grapes © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Raisins
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2015.04.011
0960-1481/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
I.N. Ramos et al. / Renewable Energy 81 (2015) 896e902 897
and Mujumdar, 1997). The models have however been improved, 2. Modelling considerations
taking into consideration heat and mass transfer phenomena under
time-varying conditions. The products shrinkage phenomena as Solar drying of grapes involves simultaneously heat and mass
well as the variation of physical and thermal properties of the transfer phenomena. The heat transfer model must take into ac-
products as a function of their moisture content and temperature count convection, evaporation and radiation, with meteorological
have been included in models that describe drying processes of effects included in the radiation term. The mass transfer process
potatoes and grapes [7,8] (Youcef-Ali et al., 2001; Bennamoun and can be considered diffusion-controlled.
Belhamri, 2006). Phoungchandang and Woods (2000) [9] included
terms for solar absorption, long-wave emission, natural or forced
2.1. Heat transfer model
convection, and evaporation in the simulation of solar drying of
bananas. However, the above mentioned studies may be upgraded
When a product is submitted to sun drying or in a direct or
in order to integrate product shrinkage, the variation of mass
mixed-mode solar dryer, the overall energy balance to the product
transfer parameters with moisture content and meteorological
can be described by Ref. [9] (Phoungchandang and Woods, 2000):
aspects.
These limitations open up research opportunities, since there is d ðm Cp TÞ d ðl mw Þ
still much to be done concerning the development of mathematical ¼ a Ap IðtÞ h As ðT Ta Þ
dt dt
models, precise and accurate in the description of drying processes.
As ε s F ðT4 T4a Þ (1)
The main objective of this work was to develop a mathematical
model for simulation of solar drying of grapes. The model integrates The left term of the previous equation corresponds to the rate of
heat and mass transfer phenomena, shrinkage of the product, as energy gained by the dried product, and the parcels in the right side
well as mass diffusivity and thermal properties dependence on are the absorbed radiant energy, the convective heat loss, the
water content and temperature under variable boundary condi- evaporative heat loss and the radiation heat loss, respectively.
tions. The daily meteorological aspects were taken into consider- I(t) is the radiation flux density at a certain day time, and may
ation. The model was validated with experimental field solar drying be obtained through meteorological records. When the recording
data and represents an advance for the accurate prediction of the time interval is very large, it may be shortened through appro-
drying of grapes, contributing to the design of more efficient priate meteorological models. A model developed by Charles-
processes. Edwards and Acock (1977) [10] can be adopted, taking into
898 I.N. Ramos et al. / Renewable Energy 81 (2015) 896e902
account diurnal variation of radiation and by generating hourly The driving force of water diffusion is the difference between
values of global radiation. This model is a full sine wave and was the water content in each instant and the equilibrium water con-
developed to describe diurnal changes in photosynthetically tent. This may be calculated through an expression that describes
active radiation: the moisture sorption isotherm, like the Guggenheim-Anderson-
8 9
>
< JN 1 þ cos 2p ðt 0:5Þ 1 1 >
d ; 0:5 gN td 0:5 þ gN =
Iðtd Þ ¼ gN gN 2 2 (2)
>
: >
;
0 ; otherwise
Herein, JN represents the global radiation in the Nth day, gN the Boer equation (the GAB model), which is the most popular since
daylength (0 < gN < 1) and td is the fractional part of a day time, i.e., the eighties [4] (Brennan, 1994):
td ¼ tðhÞ
24 ð0 < td < 1Þ. Midnight is equivalent to td ¼ 0.
The estimation of the daylength includes several meteorological Xe C K aw
concepts and can be calculated by using the following three ¼ (8)
Xm ð1 K aw Þ ð1 K aw þ C K aw Þ
equations:
Shrinkage of the product can be predicted by considering vari-
2arccos ðtan 4 tan dÞ ations in the dimensions of the product throughout the process, as
gN ¼ (3)
2p a function of moisture content (Table 1; [11], Ramos et al., 2010).
d ¼ 0:38092 0:76996 cos ðyÞ þ 23:26500 sin ðyÞ þ 0:36958 cos ð2yÞ þ 0:10868 sin ð2yÞ þ 0:01834 cos ð3yÞ
(4)
0:16650 sin ð3yÞ 0:00392 cos ð4yÞ þ 0:00072 sin ð4yÞ 0:00051 cos ð5yÞ þ 0:00250 sin ð5yÞ þ 0:00442 cos ð6yÞ
Table 1 samples was daily determined using a farmer weighing device with
Input equations and coefficients used in the model. ±100 g accuracy, until a constant value had been reached. Four
zquez et al., 1999)
GAB coefficients for Muscatel raisins [20] (Va experimental replicates were obtained, which corresponded to four
different loaded trays, positioned in different locations of the dryer.
Hm Hm
C ¼ C0 exp H1RgT K ¼ K0 exp H1RgT Six K thermocouples and two air humidity probes were placed in
different locations (Fig. 2). Temperature and air humidity were
Xm ¼ 0.119
C0 ¼ 0.107 acquired on-line every 15 min by using a squirrel datalogger (Grant
(H1Hm)/Rg ¼ 561.66 Instruments 1023, Cambridge, England). Air velocity was deter-
K0 ¼ 0.911 mined twice a day with a vane anemometer with ±0.01 m s1 ac-
(H1Hq)/Rg ¼ 9.07
curacy (Airflow LCA 6000, Buckinghamshire, England). The values
Mass diffusivity parameters ranged between 9 and 34 cm s1 (measured in the front and back of
D0 ¼ 5 1012 m2 s1 the solar dryer, respectively).
a ¼ 15
b ¼ 25
3.4. Thermal properties of grapes
c ¼ 2200 K
Tav ¼ 303.15 K
There is a lack of information regarding radiative properties of
Shrinkage equations [11] (Ramos et al.,2010)
dried grapes, to include in the heat transfer model. Arinze et al.
R ¼ R0 0:3654 XX0 þ 0:6288 (1987) [15] determined solar absorption characteristics of several
Ap ¼ Ap0 0:6314 XX0 þ 0:3521 agricultural products through a calorimetric method. The values of
brown beans emissivity (ε) and solar absorptivity (a) coefficients
As ¼ As0 0:5627 XX0 þ 0:4054
R0 ¼ 0.75 ± 0.07 cm were the ones considered in this study (0.73 and 0.823, respec-
Ap0 ¼ 1.01 m2 tively). This was based on the fact that brown beans present colour,
As0 ¼ 2.16 m2 shape and dimensions similar to grapes. The values were assumed
Heat transfer parameters to be constant over the entire drying period, independent of water
h ¼ 1.263 W/m2 C content [16] (Bilanski and Fisher, 1976).
l ¼ 2419 kJ/kg The specific heat (Cp) and thermal conductivity (Kp) of grapes
ε ¼ 0.73 were assumed to depend on temperature and water content and
a ¼ 0.823 were calculated by Eq. 9 [17] (Vagenas et al., 1990):
Cp ¼ 1.3767 3.181 103T þ 2.9293 W (J kg1 K1)
Kp ¼ 0.022 þ 1.924 103T þ 0.587 W (J kg1 K1)
CP ¼ 1:377 3:181x103 T1 þ 2:929 W (9)
content (grapes with small peduncles) was performed according to where W is the average water content on wet basis (kgwater kgwet
1
the AOAC method 984.25 [14]. The grapes' initial dimensions and T1 is the product temperature expressed in C.
matter )
3.3. The drying experiments In order to analyse internal and external resistances to heat
transfer, the Biot number (Bi) was calculated [18] (Incropera and
The pre-blanched grapes were weighed and divided between DeWitt, 1996). Bi is a dimensionless quantity that represents the
the wood trays of the solar dryer (approximately 5 kg per tray). ratio between the internal heat resistance to conduction in the
Initial load was approximately 250 kg of grapes. The mass of solid, and the external resistance to convection in the fluid:
Fig. 1. Solar dryer pictures. Fig. 2. Simplified scheme of the solar dryer.
900 I.N. Ramos et al. / Renewable Energy 81 (2015) 896e902
and projected areas of the product due to shrinkage. The first input
h V=As data were the equilibrium coefficients for the GAB model (obtained
Bi ¼ (11) for Muscatel grapes; Va zquez et al. (1999) [20]), water diffusivity
Kp
parameters (D0, a, b, c) and shrinkage coefficients for the radius
The values of Bi were lower than 0.1 in most of the drying dimension (Table 1). The air temperature, relative humidity, radi-
period, demonstrating that the influence of internal resistance to ation flux density and the initial X0 and R0 values were also input
heat transfer was negligible. Therefore, product temperature was known conditions. Then, a loop was performed for each drying time
assumed to be uniform in the whole grape. step. The first task was to calculate the equilibrium water content.
The Biot number of mass transfer (Bim) was calculated as well An inner loop determines the position of the 20 nodes inside the
[19] (Geankoplis, 1983), representing the ratio between the resis- grape and the corresponding water content for each node. The first
tance to diffusion in the solid, and the resistance to convection in output was the average water content calculated by integration
the fluid: using the trapezoidal rule, and the respective new grape radius. The
second input were the heat transfer parameters, shrinkage co-
hD V=As efficients for As and Ap and their initial conditions. The next step
Bim ¼ (12)
D
The values of Bim ranged from 16 to 47, for the highest deter-
mined water diffusivity value (1.5 1010 m2s1), which corre-
sponded to the worst scenario. Consequently, it was possible to
assume that the influence of resistance to external mass transfer
was negligible during the entire drying process and, therefore,
mass transfer was diffusion controlled, considering homogeneous
moisture in the surrounding air.
The Fick's second law (Eq. (6)) and the energy balance equation
(Eq. (1)) were numerically solved by using the forward explicit
finite differences method. Discretising time and space derivatives
in the equations yields:
! !
Dt Dti Dt Dti Dt Fti
Xtþ1
i ¼ Xti 12 þ Xtiþ1 þ
Dr2 Dr2 2Dr
! (13)
Dt Dti Dt Fti
þ Xti1
Dr2 2Dr
where
1 Dtiþ1 riþ1
2 Dt 2
i1 ri1
Fit ¼ 2
(14)
ri 2Dr
i) t ¼ 0, 0 r R X ¼ X0
ii) t 0, r ¼ R(t) XR ¼ Xe(t)
iii) t 0, r¼0 vX ¼ 0
vt
was to calculate the convective heat loss (Qc), the evaporative heat
loss (Qe), the radiation heat loss (Qr), the specific heat and the
product temperature, which is the last output.
Data related to local meteorological conditions (daily values of
global radiation, JN) were obtained from “Instituto de Meteorologia,
Portugal”. They were converted in hourly data of radiation flux
density along days e I(tD), which were used as input data.
All calculations were performed by developing programs writ-
ten in Fortran 77 language (Fortran 5.1, Microsoft Corporation®,
1990).
The grapes initial average diameter was 1.50 ± 0.14 cm. Initial
water content was 83.0 ± 1.6%. ºBrix values ranged between
19.0 ± 0.9 (g sucrose/100 g solution) for the fully ripened grapes
and 13.0 ± 1.2 for the less ripened grapes.
Fig. 4. Air temperature and relative humidity histories monitored inside the solar
A typical example of the air temperature and relative hu-
dryer throughout three consecutive days e typical example. midity histories monitored inside the solar dryer throughout
three consecutive days is presented in Fig. 4. The observed cyclic
pattern reveals a sinusoidal variation, reflecting day and night
increase/decrease in temperature and corresponding decrease/
increase in relative humidity. This sinusoidal pattern is also
present in the data of daily variation of radiation flux density
(Fig. 5), which was generated with Charles-Edwards and Acock
model (Eq. (2)).
Experimental data obtained in the solar dryer and simulated
drying curves based on the mathematical model developed are
included in Fig. 6.
Four replicates are shown, corresponding to four different trays
loaded with grapes and placed in different locations of the dryer.
Simulations present steps, which are explained by the cyclic day
and night changes of environmental conditions. However, it could
be said that a satisfactory representation of experimental curves
was achieved, taking into consideration the low number of exper-
imental points and their high variability.
Fig. 5. Daily variation of radiation flux density; data generated with Charles-Edwards The diffusivity model parameters (D0, a, b, c) used in the
and Acock model (Eq. (2)). simulation of the solar drying curves (Table 1) were chosen based
on estimations obtained in a previous study [11] (Ramos et al.,
2010) aiming at best simulation.
Fig. 6. Experimental data obtained in the solar dryer () and simulated drying curves (continuous lines).
902 I.N. Ramos et al. / Renewable Energy 81 (2015) 896e902
The values considered correspond to 70, 4, 8 and 65% of devia- 2013. The authors are also grateful to Direça~o Regional de Agri-
tion to the original estimated values, respectively to D0, a, b, and c s-os-Montes, Portugal, for providing the equipment
cultura de Tra
parameters. They correspond to reasonable confidence intervals of and technical support, in particular to Manuel Pascoal.
the estimates, considering that original values were obtained in a
pilot convective dryer, different from the solar dryer used in the
present study. This was done in order to better describe experi-
mental data. References
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