Heat-and-mass transfer analysis from vegetable and fruit products stored in cold conditions

Heat and mass transfer process taking place during fruit and vegetable prod ucts in cold storage are studied. A mathematical model describing these pro cesses is presented and the resulting governing equations are solved for di fferent storing conditions. The relative humidity of the ventilating air an d the temperature of the stored product bulk are found for different initia l air relative humidity and airflow rates. As the product bulk depth increa sed up to 4.2 m, the relative humidity of the ventilating air approaches th e steady state value. When the relative humidity is larger than the equilib rium relative humidity value, an increase in the ventilating air rate reduc es the losses of the product during the period of its storage, while larger losses occur when the relative humidity values are lower than the equilibr ium ones.