IMPROVING THE REFRIGERATED VEGETABLES STORAGE ROOMS PERFORMANCE | ||||
| Misr Journal of Agricultural Engineering | ||||
| Article 36, Volume 26, Issue 3, July 2009, Page 1631-1646 PDF (327.49 K) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/mjae.2009.108762 | ||||
 View on SCiNiTO | ||||
| Author | ||||
| MAGDA, M. ABD- EL RAHMAN | ||||
| Senior Researcher, Agric. Eng. Res. Inst. (AEnRI), Giza, Egypt. | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| Adequate storage may reduce subsequent losses. Adequate storage involves proper regulation of temperature, humidity, air circulation, proper stacking pattern, regular inspection, and prompt produce disposal as soon as maximum storage life has been attained. One of the greatest impediments to preserving quality through refrigerated storage is the consumers' strong preference for freshly harvested produce and resistance to stored produce. This research aims to test the feasibility of improving the performance of cold storage rooms by using the evaporative cooler to control air relative humidity inside the storage. Some operating parameters such as, water flow rate of pad surface, (0.075, 0.120, 0.165 and 0.210 m3/h) and pads face air velocity (0.25, 0.50 and 0.75 m/s) on the air temperature, and air relative humidity inside storage room were studied. The effect of such process on the performance of cold storage rooms in terms of tomatoes fruits storageability (weight loss percentage) and fruits firmness were also considered. The results revealed that, optimum values for the operations conditions were obtained at 0.165 m3/h of water flow rates of pad and 0.5 m/s of pad-face air velocity. The maximum deteriorated of tomatoes stored with evaporative cooler was (5.62 %), comparing with the deteriorated value of the control treatment (14.69 %). Tomatoes stored without evaporator cooler (control treatment) gave the lowest firmness (48.66 N), which was coupled with maximum total damage (14.69 %). | ||||
| References | ||||
|
ASAE Standards. 2000. Structures Livestock and Environment.Livestock Ventilation System Performance. ASAE Standards 2000.
Ashour, T. H. M. A. (1997). Environmental studies for broiler houses of kaluobia governorate. M Sc. thesis. Agronomy and Ag. Mech. Dept, Fac. of Ag. Moshtohor, ZagazigUniv., Benha Branch., Egypt.
ASHRAE (1998). Evaporative Air Cooling. The ASHRAE Handbook, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. Millstar Electronic Publishing. CHAPTER 47.
Basiouny, M. A. and S. E. Abdallah (2008). Influence of pad configuration on evaporative cooling system effectiveness inside a wind tunnel. The 15th Annual Conf. of the Misr Society of Ag. Eng., 12-13 march, 2008: 591-613.
Byczynski, Lynn. 1997. Storage crops extend the season. Growing for Market. Sep. p. 1, 4–5.
Campos, A. T., E. S. Kolosowski and E. Gasparino (2002). Study of the air temperature reduction potential through the evaporative cooling system in the region of Maringa- PR Brazil. Acta Sci., 24 (5): 1575-1581 (abstract).
CEC - California Energy Commission (2006). Evaporative Cooling. ConsumerEnergyCenter. Copyright California Energy Commission. Evaporative Cooling.mht .
Darwish, M. R. (2006). Environmental control inside an agricultural structure. performance criteria of two evaporative cooling pads made of agricultural residues to reduce heat stress inside agricultural structure. Unpubl. M. Sc. thesis. Ag. Mech. Dept, Fac. of Ag., Kafr El-Sheikh, Tanta Univ., Egypt.
Geeson,D. J. (1989). cooling and storage of fruits and vegetables. In proceeding of the institute of Refrigeration, Vol. 85, pp. 65-76.
Hugh W. Fraser (2008). Tunnel Forced-Air Coolers for Fresh Fruits & Vegetables. Ontario Ministry of Ag., Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA). Canda.
James, F. T (1996). Perishables handling newsletter. Forced air cooling. Univ. of Callifornia, issue No. 88. pp. 7.
Janet, B., and Richard, E. (2000). Postharvest Handling of Fruits and Vegetables. (ATTRA) Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas. the national sustainable agriculture information center USDA’s Rural Business - Cooperative Service.
Kader, A. A. (1992). Postharvest Technology of Horticultural Crops. University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Publication 3311. 296 pp. Leon, J. C.; B. Babin and C. Y. Choi (1998). Design, construction, and evaluation of a compact recalculating wind tunnel for agricultural experiments. Trans. of the ASAE, 41(1): 213-218.
Liao, C. m. and K. h. Chiu (2002). wind tunnel modling the system performance of alternative cooling pads in taiwan region. Buliding and environment, No. 37, pp 177-187.
Lisa, K. and , A.A. Kader (2004). Postharvest horticultural series No. 8. Small-Scale Postharvest Handling Practices: A Manual for Horticultural Crops (4th Edition). University of California - Davis. Tassou, S. A., and W. Xiang (1998). Modling the invironment within a wet air cooled vegetable store. J. oF Food Engineering 38,pp. 169-187.
Teitel,m., M. Barak and Y.Zhao (2003). Tempreature and humidity gradients in fan ventilated greenhouses under two cooling modes. Acta Horticulture, No. 614 (2): 469-475.
USDE - U.S. Department of Energy (2009). Energy efficiency and renewable energy. Energy savers evaporative coolers.mht. http://www.USA. energy gov.
Wang, S.k. (1993). Evaborative cooling and evaporative coolers. Hand book of air conditioning and refrigeration. Ch. 13.
Wikipedia® (2009). Evaporative coolers. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.mht. http://www.wikimediafoundation. org.
Wilson, L.G., M.D. Boyette, and E.A. Estes. 1995. Postharvest Handling and Cooling of Fresh Fruits, Vegetables and Flowers for Small Farms. Leaflets 800–804. North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service. 17 p. Accessed on-line at: http://www.foodsafety.org/nc/nc1055.htm | ||||
|
Statistics Article View: 141 PDF Download: 157 |
||||
