Cooling and Freezing of Cashew Apple Using Computational Fluid Dynamics

Abstract

Freezing is one the most efficient methods for conservation, especially, fruits and vegetables. Cashew is a fruit with high nutritional value and great economic importance in the Northeast region of Brazil, however, due to high moisture content, it is highly perishable. The numerical study of the freezing process is of great importance for the optimization of the process. In this sense, the objective of this work was to study the cooling and freezing processes of cashew apple using computational fluid dynamics technique. Experiments of cooling and freezing of the fruit, with the aid of a refrigerator,data acquisition system and thermocouples, and simulation using Ansys CFX® software for obtain the cooling and freezing kinetics of the product were realized. Results of the cooling and freezing kinetics of the cashew apple and temperature distribution inside the cashew apple are presented, compared and analyzed. The model was able to predict temperaturetransient behavior with good accuracy, except in the post-freezing period.