A transient performance of a porous evaporative cooling system was carried out using mathematical models developed from the first principles. The models are based on energy and mass balance analysis on different sections of the evaporative cooler. The developed models were solved using a FlexPDE computational fluid dynamics analyzer, based on the finite element, to generate numerical solutions. The models developed were validated using experimental data from a properly designed, constructed, and tested an evaporative cooler and subsequently used to determine the evaporative cooler performance during four different periods of the year covering the two major climatic seasons experienced in Nigeria. Results obtained showed a reduction in the storage chamber temperature by up to 9 °C from the ambient air condition which was within the range of 22–33 °C. Furthermore, it was observed that it performs best during the dry seasons as compared to the wet season. However, during both seasons, the cooling chamber temperature significantly remained below the ambient value. Thus, the evaporative cooler can serve as an effective means of reducing heat-induced post-harvest losses incurred by farmers while also helping in combating climate change since it uses only water and does not require any external energy input.

中文翻译：

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用于水果和蔬菜保鲜的多孔蒸发冷却器的瞬态性能评估

使用根据第一原理开发的数学模型来执行多孔蒸发冷却系统的瞬态性能。这些模型基于蒸发冷却器不同部分的能量和质量平衡分析。使用基于有限元的 FlexPDE 计算流体动力学分析仪对开发的模型进行求解，以生成数值解。使用正确设计、建造和测试蒸发冷却器的实验数据对开发的模型进行了验证，随后用于确定蒸发冷却器在一年中四个不同时期（涵盖尼日利亚经历的两个主要气候季节）的性能。获得的结果显示，储存室温度比环境空气条件（22-33°C）降低了高达 9°C。此外，据观察，与雨季相比，它在旱季表现最好。然而，在这两个季节，冷却室温度均明显低于环境值。因此，蒸发冷却器可以作为减少农民因热引起的收获后损失的有效手段，同时还有助于应对气候变化，因为它仅使用水并且不需要任何外部能源输入。