Numerical Modeling of Pistachio Dryer by Catalytic Radiant Heaters

The method of drying pistachios in compliance with international standards is developing significantly. Iran can be considered one of the top five producers of pistachios in the world. To preserve the nutritional value of pistachios for a long time and also to prevent them from spoiling, pistachios should be dried first and then stored. Different methods of pistachio drying often affect its taste and quality. Therefore, in this article, a new method for drying pistachios based on catalytic heaters is proposed. In this research, the numerical modeling of a pistachio dryer using catalytic heaters as the latest combustion technology with high efficiency has been discussed The main goal of this research is to evaluate a mathematical model in order to investigate the effect of various functional parameters of the catalytic heater on the amount of shrinkage of dried pistachios, which indicates the drying quality of the product. The result of this research seeks to answer the question whether it is possible to obtain high-quality dried pistachios by using a catalytic heater compared to other drying methods. The results obtained from the numerical modeling show the very favorable quality of dried pistachios with the catalytic heater method.