This research supports the UN’s 2030 Agenda and its goals of ending poverty and hunger. Fruit and vegetable (FandV) lose their freshness and weight when stored at unsuitable temperatures and relative humidity. This study was conducted in Baghdad governorate, located at latitude 33.3128057 and longitude 44.3614875, in the Karrada region from February 27 to April 17, 2024. It compared the effectiveness of different storage technologies, including evaporative cooling, various air velocities, and diverse packaging methods, against sustainable and nonpackaging approaches. The study employed an air cooler with a volume of 2000 ft3/s and insulated packaging. Temperature and relative humidity were recorded in the storage environment every five seconds using an Arduino system equipped with a DHT-22 temperature and humidity sensor. Analysis of the data revealed that evaporative cooling significantly extended eggplant shelf life and reduced weight loss when combined with effective packaging methods. The average SLD of CPS1 was 11 days and the lowest average WL was 3.86% at an average temperature and relative humidity of 16.02° C and 92.9%, respectively. The average SLD of CPS2 was 8 days while that for WL was 7.23% at an average temperature and relative humidity of 21.76° C and 94.08%, respectively. The multiple regression model explained 63% of the data, and the temperature coefficient was lower than for relative humidity, meaning that it is more significant than RH under the conditions of this experiment.
The weather of Iraq has longer summer season compared with other countries. The ambient temperature during this season reaches over 50 OC which makes the evaporative cooling system suitable for this climate. In present work, the two-stage evaporative cooling system is studied. The first stage is indirect evaporative cooling (IEC) represented by two heat exchangers with the groundwater flow rate (5 L/min). The second stage is direct evaporative cooling (DEC) which represents three pads with groundwater flow rates of (4.5 L/min). The experimental work was conducted in July, August, September, and October in Baghdad. Results showed that overall evaporative efficiency of the system (two coils with three pads each
... Show MoreThis paper presents an experimental study of cooling photovoltaic (PV) panels using evaporative cooling. Underground (geothermal energy) water used to extract heat from it during cooling and cleaning of PV panels. An experimental test rig was constructed and tested under hot and dusty climate conditions in Baghdad. An active cooling system was used with auxiliary an underground water tank to provide cold water as a coolant over both PV surfaces to reduce its temperature. The cellulose pad has been arranged on the back surface and sprays cooling on the front side. Two identical PV panels modules used: without cooling and evaporative water cooling. The experiments are comprised of four cases: Case (I): backside cooling, Ca
... Show MoreIn this work, an inventive photovoltaic evaporative cooling (PV/EC) hybrid system was constructed and experimentally investigated. The PV/EC hybrid system has the prosperous advantage of producing electrical energy and cooling the PV panel besides providing cooled-humid air. Two cooling techniques were utilized: backside evaporative cooling (case #1) and combined backside evaporative cooling with a front-side water spray technique (case #2). The water spraying on the front side of the PV panel is intermittent to minimize water and power consumption depending on the PV panel temperature. In addition, two pad thicknesses of 5 cm and 10 cm were investigated at three different water flow rates of 1, 2, and 3 lpm. In Case #1,
... Show MoreIn this study the design and installation of evaporative air cooler was carried out using completely outdoor air (fresh air) according to two stage evaporative cooling principle. The laboratory equipment was installed by designing and manufacturing a cross flow plate heat exchanger, where aluminum plates used for this purpose with dimensions (50 × 30 × 40 cm). The surfaces of heat exchanger were covered by sawdust from wetted channels side, to increase the percentage of wetting these surfaces and hence improve the performance and efficiency of air cooler.
An experimental study was carried out to estimate the performance of cooling system, where som
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In this work, a test room was built in Baghdad city, with (2*1.5*1.5) m3 in dimensions, while the solar chimneys (SC) were designed with aspect ratio (ar) bigger than 12. Test room was supplied by many solar collectors; vertical single side of air pass with ar equals 25, and tilted 45o double side of air passes with ar equals 50 for each pass, both collectors consist of flat thermal energy storage box collector (TESB) that covered by transparent clear acrylic sheet, third type of collector is array of evacuated tubular collectors with thermosyphon in 45o instelled in the bottom of TESB of vertical SC. The TESB was
... Show MoreThe present paper deals with experimental investigation of the performance of air cooled split air conditioner, with evaporative water mist pre cooling to increase the cooling capacity and reduce the consumption power under hot and dry climate. This investigation considers how the performance can be enhanced by using water mist to pre-cool ambient air entering the condensers by adiabatic cooling process which depends on the ambient air wet bulb temperature; as well the condensing temperature and condensing pressure will be decreased accordingly. So the cooling capacity would be increased and consumption power would be decreased, consequently the energy ratio, EER would be improved. The performance of air cooled air conditioner with water
... Show MoreThis study delves into the realm of advanced cooling techniques by examining the performance of a two-stage parallel flow indirect evaporative cooling system enhanced with aspen pads in the challenging climate of Baghdad. The objective was to achieve average air dry bulb temperatures (43 oC) below the ambient wet bulb temperatures (24.95 oC) with an average relative humidity of 23%, aiming for unparalleled cooling efficiency. The research experiment was carried out in the urban environment of Baghdad, characterized by high temperature conditions. The investigation focused on the potential of the two-stage parallel flow setup, combined with the cooling capability of aspen pads, to surpass the limitat
... Show MoreAn experimental study was carried out for an evaporative cooling system in order to investigate the effect of using an aluminum pad coated with fabric polyester. In the present work, it was considered to use a new different type of cooling medium and test its performance during the change in the wet-bulb temperature and dry-bulb temperature of the supply air outside of the pad, the relative humidity of the supply air, the amount of air supplied (300-600) CFM and also the change of the amount of circulated water (1.75, 2.5, 4.5) liter per minute. A decrease in the WBT of the air was obtained, whereas the WBT of the air entering the pad was 26.5 . In contrast, the WBT of the outside air had reached 23 even though eva
... Show MoreBarhi dates fruit are one of the most important date palm cultivars which are some of their properties they are mostly eaten and sold at the khalal stage when it has become yellow compared with rutab stage. At this stage the fruit loses its astringency and becomes sweet and best texture, therefore. High moisture content and rapid ripening of Barhi dates shorten their shelf life, as well the Khalal stage lasts for about 4 weeks until the ripening of the fruits begins and transfer to rutab stage. In the present study, Barhi dates packaging in the first by common air - packaging and
second by Modified atmosphere packaging, MAP A (5% O2 + 20% CO2) and MAP B (40%O2+20%CO2) and stored for 30 days at different temperatures 5 and 20 °C, re