Development and evaluation of an energy-saving system for simultaneous triple apple preservation: Cold storage, hot air drying, and infrared drying

OpenAlex İngilizce

This study presents an experimental analysis of triple-use performance involving the drying of apple slices in an infrared-assisted heat recovery drying cabinet and the cold storage of fresh apples. While whole apples were selected for cold storage, 4 mm ± 0.2 mm apple slices were prepared for drying. Six experiments were conducted, each repeated twice: cold storage only (Exp-1 and 2), cold storage + hot air drying (HAD) (Exp-3 and 4), and cold storage + hot air drying (HAD) + infrared drying (IRD) (Exp-5 and 6). In the experiments, average cold room temperatures ranged from 1.77 to 1.99 °C, which falls within the recommended storage temperature range of 1-3 °C for apples. When comparing energy consumption, HAD+IRD (Exp-5,6) used 14.01% less energy than HAD alone (Exp-3,4), mainly due to a 50% reduction in drying time. This indicates that although IR lamps consume more energy, they significantly shorten drying time and improve payback time. The highest COP value recorded was 4.73, indicating excellent performance. The maximum exergy efficiency reached 61.19%. All four experiments had an average payback period of 2.41 years, with Exp-5 and 6 showing a payback of 1.95 years, and Exp-3 and 4 showing a period of 3.49 years. The study demonstrates that triple-use—HAD drying, IRD drying, and cold storage—is achievable without disrupting system balance or requiring additional energy. It can also be argued that although adding an extra heat source increases energy consumption, it provides faster drying with less energy than HAD alone. Overall, this research proposes a comprehensive strategy for saving time and energy while enabling simultaneous cooling and drying.