Development and Field Implementation of BECOOL: A Forced-Air Agitated Post-Roasting Coffee Bean Cooling System for Micro-Roasteries

Abstract

Rapid cooling after coffee roasting is required to terminate residual thermal reactions and limit uncontrolled post-roast development. This study reports the development and field implementation of BECOOL (Bean Cooling System for Optimal Quality), an appropriate-technology cooling unit developed for Under Construction Roastery in Sidoarjo, Indonesia. The work followed an applied engineering development approach consisting of partner-needs assessment, CAD design, fabrication, internal running test, field installation, and operational evaluation. The fabricated system integrates a perforated stainless-steel cooling chamber, a rotating agitator, forced-air extraction through a blower and ducting path, and a 0.5 HP drive coupled to a WPX50 gearbox. The field record documents that the combined airflow and continuous agitation reduced hot post-roast beans toward room temperature in less than 3 min. Because continuous time-temperature logger data were not retained in the field report, the transient profile was not invented as an empirical result. Instead, a clearly identified first-order engineering reconstruction was performed using a conservative three-minute upper-bound scenario and a comparable literature boundary condition of 170°C to 35°C at 30°C ambient temperature. The reconstructed minimum cooling constant was 0.0185 s⁻¹. The results indicate that a locally fabricated forced-air and agitation architecture is technically feasible for micro-roastery post-roast handling, while repeated instrumented trials, airflow measurement, energy analysis, moisture/color testing, and sensory evaluation remain necessary for definitive quality-performance claims.