Investigation on drying kinetics analysis of gooseberry slices dried under open sun

An experimental analysis of the drying behaviour of gooseberry slices dried in the open sun is described in this article. Gooseberries brought from the local market were cut approximately semi-circular in cross-section, with an average length of 20–25 mm and a thickness of 3–5 mm. Using the hot air dryer method, the moisture content (MC) of gooseberry slices in their initial condition was estimated to be 87.81% wet-basis. The drying data revealed a steady reduction in MC with time, indicating the lack of a consistent rate drying phase. To fit the drying data, ten mathematical models were used. The selected models were analysed using a multi-regression methodology in an Excel-solver equation. The optimal drying model was chosen based on the values of the coefficient of determination (R2), reduced chi-square (χ2) and root mean square error (RMSE). The logarithmic model was chosen as the best drying model for open sun drying of gooseberry slices as it had the highest R2 (0.99758980) and the lowest values of χ2 (0.00017191) and RMSE (0.01255328) of all the models tested. Multi-regression analysis resulted in the development of a thin layer drying equation that can be used to forecast moisture ratio (MR) at a specific drying period. The estimated value of effective diffusivity was found to be within its value for various agro-products. © 202

A case study on analyzing the performance of microplate heat exchanger using nanofluids at different flow rates and temperatures

A microplate heat exchanger is one of the most compact types of heat exchanger used for cooling systems, and not much research was carried out to study the performance of this type of heat exchanger with hybrid nanofluids. In this regard, the performance analysis of the microplate heat exchanger is carried out by estimating the convective heat transfer coefficient in terms of Nusselt number using a hybrid nanofluid. In current research work, Microplate heat exchangers tested using TiO2/ethylene glycol, ZnO/ethylene glycol nanofluids, and a hybrid nanofluid with varied nanoparticle volume fractions. Based on the results, it was found that the thermal conductivity of hybrid nanofluids and the overall heat transfer coefficient by applying hybrid nanofluids show better enhancement than nanofluids. The maximum thermal conductivity ratio between the hybrid nanofluid and the base fluid is 2.10. The maximum Nusselt number of 35.8 was observed for hybrid (TiO2–ZnO/ethylene glycol) at 50 °C and a volume fraction of 4%