Design and Fabrication of Evaporative Cooling Transportation System

Fruits and vegetables are presently packed and transported in jute bags and basket in open vehicle without any cooling arrangement. This results in both loss of quality and quantity and even shelf life decreases. Evaporative cooling system is appropriate for reducing the temperature of produce during transportation so as to minimize loss and to enhance shelf-life. Evaporative cooling system suitable to fit on trucks has been developed and evaluated. The developed system helps to minimize the PLW (Physiological Loss in Weight), preserve the freshness and increases the shelf-life of the agriculture produce as compared to prevailing traditional transport system. Percent saving in PLW was observed higher (above 50 %) in fenugreek, shelf-life of cucumber & leafy vegetable increased 200 & 100 percent respectively. The maximum saving in PLW was 79.98 % in fenugreek while least 7.03 % was observed in capsicum.