Thermoelectric Dryer for Vegetables and Fruits

Abstract

In the conditions of medium and small agricultural enterprises, personal subsidiary farms, drying is the most acceptable and effective method of processing vegetables and fruits. It provides high efficiency of production, storage and transportation of finished products. (Research purpose) The research purpose is in developing a scheme of a drying plant using a heat pipe and a thermoelectric heat pump used as a source of thermal energy. (Materials and methods) The article presents an analog of a drying plant. The disadvantages of a convective electric dryer are a long drying time of products (for example, apples for up to 6-8 hours), which entails an increase in electricity consumption by 15-20 percent compared to infrared or conductive methods, as well as the complexity of the design of this type of dryer. (Results and discussion) The article presents the technical task for the drying plant, which promotes reducing the drying time and energy costs while maintaining high quality indicators of the finished product due to the use of a conductive method (less energy-intensive compared to a convective one). The main advantage of conductive drying is a significant intensity due to the high coefficient of heat transfer between the hot surface and the material, due to which it is quickly dehydrated. The proposed drying method is characterized by low energy consumption, comparative simplicity of design and low cost of equipment. (Conclusions) The joint work of the thermoelectric device and the heat pipe allows saving energy consumption from the electrical network during the drying of products while maintaining high quality indicators of the finished product. Energy savings are achieved through the utilization of the heat of the spent coolant.