Investigation of flow and thermal performance of an industrial airfryer

Consuming fried foods is one of today's indispensable habits. The traditional frying method carries many negative health and environmental consequences. Consequently, devices developed as alternative methods to traditional frying are attracting significant interest in both the domestic and industrial sectors. Air fryers are a prominent example of these devices. The aim of this thesis is to determine the necessary design parameters for an industrial air fryer with high circulation and thermal efficiency. Within this framework, the main focus of the thesis is to determine the optimal design criteria in terms of energy efficiency for the industrial type of air fryer, which is widely used in domestic applications. In this context, an industrial air fryer was first designed. In the next stage, the optimal design criteria for the air fryer in terms of energy efficiency and thermal performance were investigated using passive flow methods using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. In the research, 16 adjustments were made to the existing geometry. Of these adjustments: - Four industrial air fryers were designed, and the flow fields and mesh designs of these designs were implemented. - CFD simulations were conducted to determine the effect of geometric parameters on circulation efficiency. - The effect of alternative passive flow control methods on optimal circulation and thermal efficiency was determined. The data obtained during the thesis were used to determine the design criteria for an optimal industrial air fryer in terms of thermal performance and energy efficiency.