Title: Exergy analysis in the withering process for Turkish black tea production

Authors: Betul Ayhan Sarac

Addresses: Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, Karadeniz Technical University, Trabzon 61530, Turkey

Abstract: This paper is concerned with the withering of tea by the combined continuous belt system. It reports the energy and exergy analysis of the withering process in the less than ideal working environment of the Camli Tea Factory at Of, Trabzon, Turkey. Its focus is the investigation of withering phenomena in the trough. Using actual operating data, a mathematical model of the withering unit with irreversibilities is derived, allowing thermodynamic assessments to be made with the ultimate purpose of determining the effects of atmospheric conditions on optimising net energy input to the system and production rate. The ideal working environment for the Camli Tea Factory and second-law efficiency are obtained using graphical visualisation as well as numerical calculations. The method is well suited for analysing the thermodynamic model and identifying exergy losses in the withering process. The results provide valuable information regarding the withering process and will be useful for designers and operators of withering units.

Keywords: withering process; trough; energy analysis; exergy analysis; fresh tea leaves; black tea; humidity; environmental effects; exergy destruction; second law efficiency; Turkey; mathematical modelling; irreversibilities; atmospheric conditions; net energy input; graphical visualisation; energy efficiency; exergy efficiency; exergy loss; thermodynamic models.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEX.2015.072894

International Journal of Exergy, 2015 Vol.18 No.3, pp.323 - 339

Received: 01 May 2014
Accepted: 12 Nov 2014
Published online: 06 Nov 2015 *

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