42.5cu.ft. Drying Chamber 1 Year Review

[indaswamp]

Homer Simpson voice “Uh can you repeat the part the thing where you talked all about the… stuff?”

Thanks bigfurmn. While it may look complicated, it really is only a few systems...airflow, cooling and dehumidification. Not that technically difficult really...

 

[JC in GB]

Thanks JC. Studying engineering, control systems are right in my wheelhouse. My weakness is the electrical systems set up and how to wire it up. I am having to read refreshers....and redo some stuff....but I am learning and getting better at it. Thanks for your help with components.

No worries. I am glad to help you with any electrical questions.

JC

 

[indaswamp]

And a big thank you JC in GB !

One issue I had with the dH system is that I was not allowing the little dH fridge to cool down enough before introducing humid chamber air. And as you know, colder the air, the less moisture it can hold.
I now have a temp. controller with the probe run into the dH fridge (as a proxy for RH%) switching the dH fans and the solenoid valve on. I am pulling the temp. down to 7.2*C; 22.5~30%RH in the dH fridge before the cycle starts. The avg. over the cycle is 8.7*C; 61.3%RH. so when that 8.7*C air warms up to chamber temp. @12.7*C, the RH% drops down to 48%RH! That is the horse power I was hoping to achieve!

 

[indaswamp]

Most recent cycle data:

Humid chamber air enters the deHumidifier @81.2%RH; Return air is entering the chamber @43.9%RH...That is the horsepower I was looking to achieve!

 

[indaswamp]

The time interval between dH cycles has changed after installing the solenoid valve. it was around every 2 hours, now it is around every 4 hours. The only thing hanging right now are the culatelli, and they are at around 44% weight loss and shelf stable so they don't put out much moisture at all...about 1-2 grams of water per day each.
So based off this, I definitely had bleed through from the dH fridge to the main drying chamber (venturi effect). I was on the fence as to whether I needed the valve. Glad I went ahead and got it. This will really help when I fill up the chamber with product.

 

[indaswamp]

Today marked the end of accelerated drying phase on the fennel salami so transferred to the big drying chamber. I dropped the set point temp. for the start of dehumidification down to 3*C to accommodate the higher evaporation rates from the added product in the chamber. The temp does rise a little over the course of the cycle. Here are the averages plugged into the calculator..

When that 6.4*C air returns to the chamber and warms up to 13*C, the RH% is 55%! So awesome! Mega horsepower for moisture removal. No way the evaporation rate will over power moisture removal from this system!

Right now, roughly 180-190grams of water being removed daily from the chamber with roughly 21Kg. of product; 12Kg. whole muscle salumi and 9kg. of salami.

All the optimization I did this summer paid off!!! I am happy!!!!!! So glad the system can maintain roughly 55%RH return humidity with 8-9X water evaporation compared to when I had just the Bresaola drying...