FLOW AND SCALAR EXCHANGE FOR HORTICULTURAL PRODUCTS USING CFD: PERFORMANCE OF TURBULENCE AND BOUNDARY-LAYER MODELLING APPROACHES

The accuracy of computational fluid dynamics simulations, often used in pre- and postharvest technology, is strongly dependent on the applied numerical modelling approaches.
In this study, the performance of different turbulence and boundary-layer modelling approaches is evaluated, by comparison with experimental data for flow and scalar transfer around a single sphere.
Large-eddy simulation performs better than most steady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) turbulence models, however at a much higher computational cost.
The accuracy of the RANS shear stress transport (SST) k-ω turbulence model, combined with low-Reynolds number modelling (LRNM), is also very good, i.e. comparable to LES. Boundary-layer modelling with wall functions clearly leads to inaccurate flow-field and scalar transfer predictions, compared to LRNM. The results obtained for a sphere are very similar to those of an actual apple fruit.

Ist International Symposium on CFD Applications in Agriculture

T. Defraeye, E. Herremans, P. Verboven, B. Nicolai, J. Carmeliet

sphere, apple, drying, cooling, convective heat transfer coefficient, storage

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2013.1008.12