Ethylene degradation via vacuum ultraviolet photolysis: nth-order kinetic model, energy consumption assessment, and a case study for 'Fuji' apples under retail conditions
Bongolwethu P. Mabusela , Buntu Godongwana , Zinash A. Belay , Oluwafemi James Caleb
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Effective management of ethylene along the value chain is crucial to the regulation of fruit ripening and senescence to reduce postharvest losses. The objectives of this study were to, (i) investigate the degradation kinetics of ethylene using a vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) photolysis reactor at different light intensity (0.0005 mW/m2, 0.0014 mW/m2 and 0.0021 mW/m2) and relative humidity (RH) levels (20 % and 80 %), and (ii) evaluate the economic feasibility of the VUV photolysis system. Kinetic experiments were performed in batch mode with an initial ethylene concentration of 51 mg L−1. The reaction order and rate constant were determined by employing an nth-order kinetic model. Light intensity and RH significantly influenced the kinetic parameters and ethylene degradation (p < 0.05). At low light intensity, ethylene degradation followed a zero-order kinetic model, while at high intensity, it followed a fractional-order kinetic model. The developed kinetic models accurately predicted the experimental concentrations (R2 = 0.9955). The economic feasibility of the VUV photolysis system was assessed using electrical energy per order (EEO), which remained below 10 kW m-³ order−1, indicating energy efficiency and practical applicability. The chamber equipped with the VUV reactor successfully preserved apple quality (maintaining low TSS/TA ratio and delaying pH increase) during storage for 28 d at 15°C compared to the control. This foundational application of VUV photolysis in ethylene degradation offers promising prospects of upscaling for long-term storage investigation and industry applications.
期刊介绍:
Official Journal of the European Federation of Chemical Engineering:
Part C
FBP aims to be the principal international journal for publication of high quality, original papers in the branches of engineering and science dedicated to the safe processing of biological products. It is the only journal to exploit the synergy between biotechnology, bioprocessing and food engineering.
Papers showing how research results can be used in engineering design, and accounts of experimental or theoretical research work bringing new perspectives to established principles, highlighting unsolved problems or indicating directions for future research, are particularly welcome. Contributions that deal with new developments in equipment or processes and that can be given quantitative expression are encouraged. The journal is especially interested in papers that extend the boundaries of food and bioproducts processing.
The journal has a strong emphasis on the interface between engineering and food or bioproducts. Papers that are not likely to be published are those:
• Primarily concerned with food formulation
• That use experimental design techniques to obtain response surfaces but gain little insight from them
• That are empirical and ignore established mechanistic models, e.g., empirical drying curves
• That are primarily concerned about sensory evaluation and colour
• Concern the extraction, encapsulation and/or antioxidant activity of a specific biological material without providing insight that could be applied to a similar but different material,
• Containing only chemical analyses of biological materials.