Steady state CFD modeling of airflow, heat transfer and moisture loss in a commercial potato cold store
Storage loss beyond permissible limit is one of the most important problems in Indian potato cold stores, which has been hindering further growth of this industry. The losses in the stored potatoes have a direct relation to the intricate coupled transport phenomena of heat, mass and momentum transfer therein. Therefore, airflow, heat transfer and moisture loss was investigated in a potato cold store of commercial scale under steady state condition using the computational fluid dynamics technique. The developed CFD model was a two-dimensional simplification of the cold store. Heat and mass transfer at the cooling coils were not modeled, instead temperature and relative humidity in the air space were specified based on measured values. The model was validated in a commercial scale cold store and was found to be capable of predicting the air velocity as well as product temperature with an average accuracy of 19.5% and 0.5 °C, respectively and also the simulated average total moisture loss was found to be only 0.61% water (w.b.) higher than the experimental one for a storage period of 6 months. The main deficiencies of the airflow pattern which resulted in wide variations in temperature and moisture loss within the stored commodity can be investigated. The model located the probable zones of hot and cold spots, excessive product dehydration and moisture condensation within the storage facility, which might lead to qualitative and quantitative deterioration in stored product. This modeling tool could very well be applied to incorporate necessary design improvements with a view to improve the airflow distribution and heat transfer in order to limit the storage losses within the permissible limit.