Thermal Performance and Drying Evaluation of a CFD-Optimized Biomass-Fired Fish Dryer for Various Fish Products

Abstract

Limited studies have integrated air distribution simulation and experimental validation to improve the performance of biomass-fired fish dryers. This study aimed to optimsize and evaluate the thermal and airflow performance of a multi-layer biomass-fired fish dryer through computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis and experimental validation. The dryer’s performance was evaluated using four fish products following the PNS/BAFS 344:2022 standards. CFD results showed that the addition of exhaust vents and four 45-degree baffles provided a more uniform airflow and temperature distribution. Experimental results indicated drying air temperatures ranging from 77.5 °C to 80.8 °C, with a mean of 78.93 °C. The highest drying rate was 18.48 kg/h for split round scad, while boneless anchovies achieved the highest heating system efficiency of 75.17%, demonstrating the dryer’s potential for practical fish drying applications.