Design of a swirl chamber for vacuum drying, using CFD, for agro-industrial application

Abstract

The present work develops the design and analysis of a swirl chamber for vacuum drying, oriented to the post-harvest treatment of agro-industrial products, through Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations. In various agricultural regions, adverse climatic conditions, such as heavy rainfall, hinder traditional drying methods, negatively affecting the final quality of products. Faced with this problem, a technological alternative based on a vacuum chamber with dry air injection in induced rotational flow is proposed, which allows greater control of the drying process, especially benefiting small and medium-sized agro-industrial producers. The study focuses on the analysis of the aerodynamic behavior of the cyclonic type of air flow and its interaction with the particles inside the drying chamber, evaluating parameters such as pressure distribution, temperature and speed for the preservation of properties in food. The results obtained allow us to understand the performance of the system and propose design recommendations aimed at its application in the agro-industrial sector in general.