A simulator for modeling the drying of a bed of cocoa beans

A simulator for modeling the drying of a bed of cocoa beans

AN Chokhonelidze, F Lempogo, W Brownacquaye

This paper discusses the development of a software simulator to predict the optimum drying conditions of a bed of cocoa beans in a convective dryer. To achieve this, a suitable mathematical drying model based on the Luikov’s model of heat and mass transfer in a capillary porous medium, were derived, to define the drying behavior of the bed. A heat source term was introduce in the energy equation due to the enzymatic browning reaction in cocoa beans during drying. The result-ing coupled heat and mass transfer equations were discretized using the finite difference method based on the notation of control volume. An algorithm was created to implement this solution into a computer program using a complex of Rapid a p-plication development tools which include Visual Studio, CodeFluent Entities and MATLAB. The algorithm was implemen t-ed in MATLAB 7.12 and was later exported through COM into Visual Basic.NET code for further development of the simu-lator in Visual Studio 2010. A logical model of the database was developed using the Graphical Modeler in CodeFluent Entities and later exported into a physical MS SQL Server database. The simulator will serve as a powerful decision making tool, that will be useful for engineers or operators to develop optimum drying conditions to improve the quality of cocoa beans and the final cocoa products.

Closed Joint-Stock Company Research Institute 'Center for Program Systems

2014

https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=BDvl0VYAAAAJ&citation_for_view=BDvl0VYAAAAJ:qjMakFHDy7sC

English