Simulation of a thermal environment in two buildings for the wet processing of coffee

Abstract

This study aimed to compare the bioclimate and energy consumption of two coffee wet processing facilities in Colombia, with two typical types of Colombian coffee, using computer simulation. Specifically, we evaluated the effect of the heat generated by machines and the effect of the natural ventilation area on temperature and relative air humidity inside these buildings and their energy consumption. The postharvest plant with typology b gave the best results in terms of temperature and relative humidity suitable to preserve the quality of the coffee bean. Its approximate energy consumption was 30% of the total consumed by typology a.

Evaluación de desempeño térmico de silos de secado de flujo concurrente y capa estática

“…Para facilitar la evacuación del aire húmedo se perforan las paredes externas del cilindro [1]. Y secadores mecánicos de capa estática (SSCF): En ellos el material se deposita en una cámara de secado, provisto de un piso construido en lámina metálica perforada, el aire es calentado por intercambiador de calor a temperaturas entre 40 y 50 °C, circula en la cámara de secado en una o dos direcciones, al ser impulsado por un ventilador centrifugo [15] [16].…”

Thermal comfort in buildings for wet processing of coffee

“…Taking into account that Colombia and Brazil, two tropical countries in South America, are the main coffee producers of the continent (third and first world producers of coffee, respectively), and taking advantage of an existing agreement between the Federal University of Vicosa, Brazil (UFV), and the National University of Colombia (UNAL), this research sought to contribute to the study of bioclimatic architecture in the agroindustrial sector, considering all the negative effects that thermal stress can generate in workers as well as the scarcity of studies that analyze such conditions in agro-industrial buildings. In accordance with the above, this work aimed to evaluate thermal conditions inside three buildings for wet coffee post-harvest handling in Colombia, and their effect on the level of thermal stress in workers; to the effect, this study was carried out in collaboration between the UFV and the UNAL Studies about environmental conditions suggest that the microclimate inside coffee processing buildings and storage units not only may affect the quality of coffee (Osorio et al, 2015), but it can also influence the productivity of workers and the quality of their labor (Revueltas et al, 2015), as well as the concentration of people (Viloria et al, 2016).…”

“…According to different studies, facilities of this type have dryers located in the same buildings where wet processes are performed, characterized by being closed, with some openings for ventilation (Osorio et al, 2015;Osorio et al, 2016).…”

Computational Fluid Dynamics Modeling of Ammonia Concen-Tration in a Commercial Broiler Building

“…In Eva Galdo (2017) [18], a review of animal buildings CFD simulations is presented. Of particular interest are the studies devoted to broiler buildings ( [15,16,[24][25][26]. The adequate design of broiler buildings, the location of inlet and exhaust air locations have been also investigated by several authors, such as [15,19,24,25].…”