DEVELOPMENT OF REFRIGERATION SYSTEM FOR STORAGE AND PRESERVATION OF YAM TUBERS

Abstract

A refrigeration system for the storage and preservation of yam tubers was developed in this work and its performance evaluated. The designed total cooling load for the system is 0.1154 𝑘𝑊 with estimated required equipment capacity of compressor of 0.3186 𝑘𝑊. Refrigerating effect (R.E) of 149 𝑘𝐽/𝑘𝑔, work done by compressor (W) of 16.59 𝑘𝐽/𝑘𝑔 and coefficient of performance (COP) of 9.02 were estimated for the system. The design was for condenser temperature of 40oC at degree of superheat of 3oC, and evaporator temperature of 13oC. The estimated mass flow rate of the Refrigerant R134a, used for the system is 0.0021 kg/s. The constructed system was tested on no-load (without yam tubers) and on-load conditions (with yam tubers). Storage was maintained at 13oC minimum and 18oC maximum with the aid of thermostat. Weight loss test was carried out on the yam tubers, with maximum weight loss of 1.8% (after 31days) achieved in the experiment with initial and final weight of 3.1495 kg and 3.0925 kg respectively. Furthermore, the efficiency of the refrigeration system was minimum of 64.69% and maximum of 76.79