This technology is a sweet potato storage system consisting of airtight mobile cabins for storing sweet potatoes and a hot/cold air supply unit that provides warm or cool air to these cabins. Cabins undergoing curing are connected to the warm air supply, while those that have finished curing and require heat dissipation are connected to the cool air supply, allowing air to be distributed according to the specific process stage.
Immediately after harvest, sweet potatoes must be cured for 3 to 5 days at 30–33°C and 90–95% relative humidity to form a cork layer over wounds, which improves storability. However, quality often suffers because they are moved to storage without sufficient heat dissipation. The curing, heat dissipation, and intake processes are labor-intensive, and with the growing shortage of rural labor, this has become a challenge. Furthermore, stacking them in plastic crates often leads to crushed sweet potatoes at the bottom and poor ventilation, reducing marketability.
This technology forms a single refrigeration cycle with a condenser and evaporator separated by a refrigerant compressor and expansion valve. It simultaneously generates warm air from the condenser's heat and cool air from the evaporator's cooling effect, distributing them to multiple supply units. The cabins are equipped with casters for mobility and feature insulated sidewalls, requiring only a change in the supply connection to match the process stage. Applicable to post-harvest processing facilities at sweet potato distribution centers, agricultural cooperative storage, and facilities for root vegetables like potatoes and onions that require curing, this system utilizes waste condensation heat for curing, saving energy and equipment costs while allowing a small staff to manage multiple cabins simultaneously.
This invention was developed with support from the Ministry of Education's project for developing photoautotrophic systems for the production of disease-free sweet potato seedlings.
N/A
