SUMMARYThe present study evaluates the performance of a triple-effect evaporator with forward feed (TEEFF) system by using exergy analysis based on actual operational data. The orange juice with a capacity of about 1.222 kg s À1 is concentrated from a dry matter (DM) content of 12 to 65% in this TEEFF, which is situated in an orange juice concentrate line installed in a factory, located in Denizli, Turkey. A Visual Basic 6.0 program was also developed to show how the exergetic performance characteristics of the system vary with the feed flow rates ranging from 1.222 to 1.667 kg s
À1. The total exergy efficiency of the TEEEFF is found to be on average 0.85. The largest exergy destruction occurs in the first-effect of the TEEFF system with 48.2% of total, followed by the third and second effects with 32.04 and 19.76% of that. Evaporator performance is also rated on the basis of steam economy, which is obtained to be in the range of 2.05-2.14 under the operation conditions. It is expected that the analysis presented here should provide a designer with a better, quantitative grasp of the inefficiencies and their relative magnitudes in the design, simulation and operation of multiple-effect evaporators.
This article deals with the exergy analysis of a single layer drying process of mint leaves in a ground source heat pump tray dryer, which was designed and constructed in the Solar Energy Institute, Ege University, Izmir, Turkey. The drying process was realized at three various drying air temperatures of 40, 45 and 50C, and mass flow rate from 0.01 to 0.05 kg/s at a constant relative humidity of 16%. The effects of temperatures and mass flow rates on the exergy losses, exergy efficiencies and improvement potentials of the drying process were investigated. Maximum exergy efficiency of the drying chamber was obtained at a temperature of 50C and a drying air mass flow rate of 0.05 kg/s. The exergy efficiency values were obtained to vary from 76.03 to 97.24% at drying air temperatures of 40–50C with drying air mass flow rates of 0.01–0.05 kg/s.
PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
This study is useful for not only producers of dry mints, but also for all dry herbs. It may be successfully used in the design and performance evaluation of heat pump dryers.
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