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The Drying Kinetics and CFD Multidomain Model of Cocoa Bean Variety CCN51

Abstract:

The CCN51 cocoa bean variety is known for being highly resistant to diseases and temperature variation and for having a relatively low cultivation risk for the producers. In this work, a computational and experimental study is performed to analyze the mass and heat transfer within the bean when dried by forced convection. A proximal composition analysis is conducted on the bean testa and cotyledon, and the distinct thermophysical properties are determined as a function of temperature for an interval between 40 and 70 °C. A multidomain CFD simulation, coupling a conjugate heat transfer with a semiconjugate mass transfer model, is proposed and compared to the experimental results based on the bean temperature and moisture transport. The numerical simulation pbkp_redicts the drying behavior well and yields average relative errors of 3.5 and 5.2% for the bean core temperature and the moisture content versus the drying time, respectively. The moisture diffusion is found to be the dominant mechanism in the drying process. Moreover, a diffusion approximation model and given kinetic constants present a good pbkp_rediction of the bean’s drying behavior for constant temperature drying conditions between 40 and 70 °C.