Prediction of Oxygen Distribution in Silos and Chambers Filled with Various Agricultural Commodities
In the context of post-harvest pest management in agricultural products, the adoption of modified atmospheres presents an eco-friendly alternative to conventional pesticides. This study focuses on nitrogen gas as a potential agent for insect control in stored commodities, utilizing computational sim...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Agronomy |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/13/12/3027 |
| _version_ | 1827575985822760960 |
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| author | Efstathios Kaloudis Paraskevi Agrafioti Christos Athanassiou |
| author_facet | Efstathios Kaloudis Paraskevi Agrafioti Christos Athanassiou |
| author_sort | Efstathios Kaloudis |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In the context of post-harvest pest management in agricultural products, the adoption of modified atmospheres presents an eco-friendly alternative to conventional pesticides. This study focuses on nitrogen gas as a potential agent for insect control in stored commodities, utilizing computational simulations (by employing the convection–diffusion equation) to investigate its penetration and distribution within two common storage configurations: chamber-contained pallets and silos. The results highlight the influence of boundary conditions, commodity porosity, and convection effects on nitrogen dispersion. In chamber scenarios, the first boundary condition considers that pallets are placed inside a chamber with uniform (99.5%) nitrogen concentration, whereas in the second one, the concentration gradually increases from 78% to 99.5%. The average duration required for O<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><msub><mrow></mrow><mn>2</mn></msub></semantics></math></inline-formula> concentration to reach 1% is approximately 10.7 h and 133.3 h for the two boundary conditions, respectively. Among the agricultural commodities, walnuts (kernels) exhibit the shortest duration, while prunes require the longest time. In silos, convection and diffusion interact to establish a consistent diffusion layer thickness. Most agricultural products exhibit similar behavior, with average times of 13.5 h, 25.4 h, and 37.0 h for three heights (10 m, 20 m, and at the silo’s top at 30 m), respectively. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T21:04:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a743ad2204c742f28ae92e7e3e788cc3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4395 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T21:04:41Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Agronomy |
| spelling | doaj.art-a743ad2204c742f28ae92e7e3e788cc32023-12-22T13:46:42ZengMDPI AGAgronomy2073-43952023-12-011312302710.3390/agronomy13123027Prediction of Oxygen Distribution in Silos and Chambers Filled with Various Agricultural CommoditiesEfstathios Kaloudis0Paraskevi Agrafioti1Christos Athanassiou2Computer Simulation, Genomics and Data Analysis Laboratory, Department of Food Science and Nutrition, School of the Environment, University of the Aegean, 81400 Lemnos, GreeceLaboratory of Entomology and Agricultural Zoology, Department of Agriculture, Crop Production and Rural Environment, University of Thessaly, 38446 Volos, GreeceLaboratory of Entomology and Agricultural Zoology, Department of Agriculture, Crop Production and Rural Environment, University of Thessaly, 38446 Volos, GreeceIn the context of post-harvest pest management in agricultural products, the adoption of modified atmospheres presents an eco-friendly alternative to conventional pesticides. This study focuses on nitrogen gas as a potential agent for insect control in stored commodities, utilizing computational simulations (by employing the convection–diffusion equation) to investigate its penetration and distribution within two common storage configurations: chamber-contained pallets and silos. The results highlight the influence of boundary conditions, commodity porosity, and convection effects on nitrogen dispersion. In chamber scenarios, the first boundary condition considers that pallets are placed inside a chamber with uniform (99.5%) nitrogen concentration, whereas in the second one, the concentration gradually increases from 78% to 99.5%. The average duration required for O<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><msub><mrow></mrow><mn>2</mn></msub></semantics></math></inline-formula> concentration to reach 1% is approximately 10.7 h and 133.3 h for the two boundary conditions, respectively. Among the agricultural commodities, walnuts (kernels) exhibit the shortest duration, while prunes require the longest time. In silos, convection and diffusion interact to establish a consistent diffusion layer thickness. Most agricultural products exhibit similar behavior, with average times of 13.5 h, 25.4 h, and 37.0 h for three heights (10 m, 20 m, and at the silo’s top at 30 m), respectively.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/13/12/3027numerical modelingsimulationnitrogenmodified atmosphereslow oxygen |
| spellingShingle | Efstathios Kaloudis Paraskevi Agrafioti Christos Athanassiou Prediction of Oxygen Distribution in Silos and Chambers Filled with Various Agricultural Commodities Agronomy numerical modeling simulation nitrogen modified atmospheres low oxygen |
| title | Prediction of Oxygen Distribution in Silos and Chambers Filled with Various Agricultural Commodities |
| title_full | Prediction of Oxygen Distribution in Silos and Chambers Filled with Various Agricultural Commodities |
| title_fullStr | Prediction of Oxygen Distribution in Silos and Chambers Filled with Various Agricultural Commodities |
| title_full_unstemmed | Prediction of Oxygen Distribution in Silos and Chambers Filled with Various Agricultural Commodities |
| title_short | Prediction of Oxygen Distribution in Silos and Chambers Filled with Various Agricultural Commodities |
| title_sort | prediction of oxygen distribution in silos and chambers filled with various agricultural commodities |
| topic | numerical modeling simulation nitrogen modified atmospheres low oxygen |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/13/12/3027 |
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