2 Heat and Mass Transfer in

Thermal Food Processing

Lijun Wang and Da-Wen Sun

CONTENTS
2.1 Introduction.............................................................................................................................34
2.2 Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transfer...............................................................................34
2.2.1 Heat Transfer...............................................................................................................34
2.2.1.1 Basic Heat Transfer Modes...........................................................................34
2.2.1.2 Heat Transfer with Phase Changes............................................................... 36
2.2.1.3 Heat Transfer with Electromagnetic Waves.................................................. 38
2.2.1.4 Heat Transfer during Ohmic Heating........................................................... 39
2.2.1.5 Heat Transfer during Infrared Radiation...................................................... 39
2.2.1.6 Heat Transfer during High-Pressure Processing..........................................40
2.2.2 Mass Transfer.............................................................................................................. 41
2.2.2.1 Molecular Diffusion...................................................................................... 41
2.2.2.2 Convective Mass Transfer............................................................................. 41
2.2.3 Unsteady-State Heat and Mass Transfer...................................................................... 43
2.2.4 Overview of Solution Methods.................................................................................... 43
2.3 Heat and Mass Transfer Applied to Thermal Food Processing............................................... 48
2.3.1 Pasteurization and Sterilization................................................................................... 48
2.3.1.1 Pasteurization and Sterilization of Liquid Foods......................................... 48
2.3.1.2 Pasteurization and Sterilization of Particle–Liquid Foods........................... 49
2.3.2 Dehydration and Drying.............................................................................................. 49
2.3.2.1 Air Drying.................................................................................................... 49
2.3.2.2 Spray Drying................................................................................................. 50
2.3.2.3 Microwave and Radio Frequency Drying..................................................... 50
2.3.3 Cooking and Frying..................................................................................................... 51
2.3.3.1 Air Convection Cooking............................................................................... 51
2.3.3.2 Microwave and Radio Frequency Cooking.................................................. 51
2.3.3.3 Ohmic Heating.............................................................................................. 51
2.3.3.4 Frying............................................................................................................ 52
2.4 Challenges in Modeling Heat and Mass Transfer.................................................................... 52
2.4.1 Mechanisms in Heat and Mass Transfer...................................................................... 52
2.4.2 Judgment of Assumptions in Models........................................................................... 54
2.4.3 Surface Heat and Mass Transfer Coefficients............................................................. 54
2.4.4 Food Properties............................................................................................................ 55
2.4.5 Shrinkage of Solid Foods during Thermal Processes................................................. 55
2.5 Conclusions.............................................................................................................................. 56
Nomenclature.................................................................................................................................... 56
References......................................................................................................................................... 58

33
34 Thermal Food Processing: New Technologies and Quality Issues

2.1  INTRODUCTION
Thermal processing techniques are widely used to improve eating quality and safety of food prod-
ucts, and to extend shelf life of the products. These thermal processing techniques involve the
production, transformation, and preservation of foods. Sterilization and pasteurization are heating
processes to inactivate or destroy enzymatic and microbiological activity in foods. Cooking (includ-
ing baking, roasting, and frying) is a heating process to alter the eating quality of foods and to
destroy microorganisms and enzymes for food safety. Dehydration and drying are heating processes
to remove the majority of water in foods by evaporation (or by sublimation for freeze drying) for
extending the shelf life of foods due to a reduction in water activity.
When a food is placed in contact with a liquid or solid medium of different temperatures or
concentrations, a potential for a flux of energy and/or mass appears. The principles of many food
thermal processes are based on heat and mass exchanges between the food and processing medium.
There is a need for qualitative and quantitative understanding of the heat and mass transfer mech-
anisms underlying various unit operations of food thermal processes. This is important for the
development of new food sources and food products, for more economical and efficient processing
of foods, and for better food quality and safety. If the mechanism of a process is well understood,
mathematical models can be developed to present the process. Experiments can virtually be car-
ried out on mathematical models under broad experimental conditions in an economical and time-
saving manner. With process models, quantitative calculations and predictions can be made for
more reliable design, optimization of design and operating conditions, and evaluation of process
performance. Therefore, advances of food thermal processes may become possible on the basis of
improved understanding of heat and mass transfer mechanisms.
This chapter first briefly presents the fundamental mechanisms and physical laws of heat and
mass transfer. A review is then conducted on the applications of the engineering principles and
physical laws of heat and mass transfer for analyzing the unit operations of thermal processes in the
food industry. Finally, future improvements in understanding of heat and mass transfer mechanisms
in food thermal processes and development of heat and mass transfer models for describing food
thermal processes are discussed.

2.2  FUNDAMENTALS OF HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER

2.2.1  Heat Transfer
2.2.1.1  Basic Heat Transfer Modes
Many unit operations of thermal food processes involve the transfer of heat into or out of a food.
Heat may be transferred by one or more of the three mechanisms of conduction, convection, and
radiation. Most of industrial heat transfer operations involve a combination of these but it is often
the case that one mechanism is dominant.
Conduction is the transfer of heat through solids or stationary fluids due to lattice vibra-
tion and/or particle collision. The heat flux due to conduction in the x direction through a uni-
form homogeneous slab of materials as shown in Figure 2.1a is given by Fourier’s first law of
conduction:

dT
q = − kA (2.1)
dx

Fourier’s law of heat conduction may be solved for a rectangular, cylindrical, or spherical coordi-
nate system, depending on the geometrical shape of the object being studied.
Convection uses the movement of fluids to transfer heat. The movement, which causes heat trans-
fer, may occur in natural or forced form. Natural convection creates the fluid movement by the
Heat and Mass Transfer in Thermal Food Processing 35

Boundary layer
T
T Cross area: A Ts Bulk fluid
dT Total surface
T1 area: A2
dx

Cross area: A
T∞
q
q
T2
T1
T2
Total surface
area: A1
x x
x1 x2
(a) (b) δ (c)

FIGURE 2.1  Schematic of three basic heat transfer modes: (a) Heat conduction through a uniform slab.
(b) Heat convection through a vertical wall. (c) Heat radiation between a surface (1) of a body and the sur-
roundings (2).

difference between fluid densities due to the temperature difference. Forced convection uses exter-
nal means such as agitators and pumps to produce fluid movement. Convection heat transfer is the
major mode of heat transfer between the surface of a solid material and the surrounding fluid. For
analyzing convection heat transfer, a boundary layer is normally assumed near the surface of the
solid material as shown in Figure 2.1b. Heat is transferred by conduction through this layer. The
layer contains almost all of the resistance to heat transfer because of relatively low thermal conduc-
tivities and rapid heat transfer from the outer edge of the boundary layer into the bulk of the fluid.
Using the boundary layer concept, the rate of convective heat transfer may be written as

q = kA
(Ts − T∞ ) = A (Ts − T∞ ) (2.2)
δ δ/k

However, as the thickness of the boundary layer, δ, can neither be predicted nor measured easily, the
thermal resistance of the boundary layer cannot be determined. δ/k is thus replaced with the term
1/hc, in which hc is a film heat transfer coefficient. Equation 2.2 can then be rewritten as

q = hc A (Ts − T∞ ) (2.3)

Radiation does not require a medium for transferring heat but uses electromagnetic waves emitted
by an object for exchanging heat. The energy emitted from a surface depends on the temperature of
the surface, which can be described using the Stefan–Boltzmann law:

q = σAεTK4 (2.4)

When the energy exchanges between two bodies by radiation, the energy emitted by one is not
completely absorbed by the other as it can only absorb the portion that it intercepts. Therefore,
a shape factor, F, is defined. The radiative energy exchange between a surface, 1, of a body and the
surroundings, 2, can be determined by

q = σF12 A1e TK41 − TK42 ( ) (2.5)

If the surface, 1, is enclosed by the surroundings, 2, as shown in Figure 2.1c, then F12 = 1. Similar to
convective heat transfer coefficient, a radiative heat transfer coefficient may be expressed as
36 Thermal Food Processing: New Technologies and Quality Issues

q = hr A (TK 1 − TK 2 ) (2.6)

where

(
hr = σe TK21 + TK22 (TK 1 + TK 2 ) ) (2.7)

2.2.1.2  Heat Transfer with Phase Changes

Most of foods such as raw meats and vegetables have high moistures. Water itself is widely used as
processing medium in food processes. Water normally exists in one of three states: solid, liquid, and
gas. The transition between two states is called a phase transformation or phase change. During
phase transformation, the temperature of pure water keeps constant with added energy because all
energy is used to transform water from one state to another. As water is widely present in foods
and is used as processing medium, it is necessary to discuss the heat transfer with phase changes of
water in the food industry.
During food thermal processes, the water in the food may experience phase changes. Frying and
grilling of foods involve phase change from liquid water to vapor. There is an evaporation front,
which divides the food body into two parts of the outer crust and the internal core regions as shown
in Figure 2.2. The evaporation front moves toward the center as frying and grilling processes pro-
ceed. If a frozen food is used during frying and grilling, there will be two moving boundaries: the
thawing front and the evaporation front.
The heat transfer mechanisms across the moving boundary must account for the latent heat of
phase change of water. The moving front of phase change in the food can be tracked by the energy
balance on the front, which is given by [1]

 ∂T   ∂T  dS ( t )
− k1  + k2  = λρX w (2.8)
 ∂x  1  ∂x  2 dt

t > 0, x = S ( t ) (2.9)

Water is also widely used as processing medium. Boiling and condensation involve phase change
between liquid water and vapor. Boiling heat transfer is particularly important in processing

dT dT
dx dx
T 1 2

T2

T1 q
Tb
Internal core region

Outer crust

Evaporation
front, S(t)

x
x1 x2

FIGURE 2.2  Schematic of heat transfer with phase changes (frying).

Heat and Mass Transfer in Thermal Food Processing 37

operations such as evaporation in which the boiling of liquids takes place either at submerged sur-
faces or on the inside of vertical tubes as in a climbing film evaporator. The heat flux changes
dramatically as a function of the temperature difference between the surface and the boiling liquid,
rising to a peak value and falling away sharply. This is caused by the strong dependence between
the heat transfer coefficient and the temperature difference, which is shown in Figure 2.3. In order
to avoid the danger of overheating and damaging the walls of the heater, equipment should ideally
be operated in the nucleate boiling zone, just below the critical temperature difference as shown in
Figure 2.3 [2]. Vapor condensation is also used in food thermal processes. Consider the food steril-
ization process used in canned foods, if steam is used as a heating medium, the condensing vapors
on the metal surface of containers result in a significantly higher heat transfer than if hot water is
used to heat the cans. A vapor condenses on a cold surface in one of two distinct ways: film conden-
sation and drop condensation. Presence of noncondensable gases affects the rate of condensation
and the film heat transfer coefficient may be reduced considerably [2].
The heat flux due to phase change of boiling and condensation can be expressed as

q = hA (Ts − T∞ ) (2.10)

The heat transfer coefficients experienced when a liquid is vaporized or when a vapor is condensed
are considerably greater than that for heat transfer without a phase change. However, it is rather
more difficult to measure heat transfer coefficients of phase changes.
The heat transfer coefficient in nucleate boiling may be calculated by a correlation. Kutateladze’s
correlation is a commonly used one, which is given by [2]

0.7
 hb  0.5  qmax P 
 k  ψ = 0.0007  αλρ σ Ψ Pr −0.35 (2.11)
 v 

where

σ
Ψ= (2.12)
g (ρl − ρv )

Interface
evaporation Nucleate boiling Film boiling
Boiling heat transfer coefficient

Critical
temperature difference

Temperature difference between surface and liquid

FIGURE 2.3  Relationship between boiling heat transfer coefficient and temperature difference.
38 Thermal Food Processing: New Technologies and Quality Issues

 σg (ρl − ρv ) 
0.25

qmax = 0.16λρv   (2.13)

 ρ2v 

The film heat transfer coefficient for condensation can be predicted from the Nusselt theory, which
gives the mean film coefficient by [2]

0.25
 ρ2 k 3 gλ 
hcd = 0.943  for a vertical surface (2.14)
 µL ∆T 

0.25
 ρ2 k 3 gλ 
hcd = 0.725  for a horizontal tube (2.15)
 µd ∆T 

2.2.1.3  Heat Transfer with Electromagnetic Waves

Microwave and radio frequency are widely used in the food industry. Microwave energy is a type of
electromagnetic waves with frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz. Radio frequency is a rate
of oscillations in the range of about 3 kHz–300 GHz, which are alternating currents to carry radio
signals. Microwaves are nonionizing electromagnetic waves and commercial microwave heating
applications use frequencies of 2450 MHz, sometimes 915 MHz in the United States and 896 MHz
in Europe. During conventional heating, the energy is transferred to the material through convec-
tion, conduction, and radiation of heat from the surfaces of the materials. However, during micro-
wave and radio frequency heating, the energy is delivered directly to the product through molecular
interaction with an electromagnetic and electric field.
Microwaves and radio frequency are transmitted as waves, which can penetrate foods and interact
with the polar molecules such as water in the foods to be converted to heat. Electromagnetic spectrum
is normally characterized by wavelength (λ) and frequency (ν). The depth of penetration into a food
is directly related to frequency and the lower frequency waves penetrate more deeply. As microwave
and radio wave can penetrate into foods, they can heat foods quicker than the food heated through
conduction from the outer surface. Once microwave and radio wave energy have been absorbed by
foodstuffs, heat is transferred throughout the food mass by conduction or convection. The rate of
energy conversion per unit volume can be considered as a source term in a heat transfer model.
The conversion of microwave and radio frequency energy to heat depends on the properties of
the energy source and the dielectric properties of the foodstuffs. The power dissipation or rate of
energy conversion per unit volume, S, is given by [2–5]

S = 5.56 × 10 −15 E 2 vε′′ (2.16)

where

ε′′ = ε′ tan β (2.17)

However, the suitability of a food for microwave and radio frequency heating is crucially dependant
on the penetration characteristics. The microwave and radio wave electric field strength is a function
of penetration depth, which can be given by

E = E0e −2 α ′x (2.18)
Heat and Mass Transfer in Thermal Food Processing 39

where

( )
0.5
2π  ε′ 
α′ = 1 + tan 2 β − 1  (2.19)
λ  2 

2.2.1.4  Heat Transfer during Ohmic Heating

Ohmic heating is a rapid and relatively uniform heating method. The basic principle of ohmic heat-
ing is that electric energy is converted to thermal energy within a conductor. Like microwave heat-
ing, the increase of food temperature during ohmic heating is caused by the heat generated inside
an electrically conductive food material when a current is applied across the material. The internal
heat generation rate on a volume basis, S, is given by [6,7]
2
S = σ ∇V (2.20)

where
σ is the electric conductivity
V is the voltage
|∇V| is the gradient of electric potential

The electric field distribution within an ohmic heating cell can be calculated using the following
Laplace equation [6,7]:

∇ ( σ∇V ) = 0 (2.21)

The electric conductivity is a function of temperature. For most aqueous materials, the electric con-
ductivity increases linearly with temperature, which can be calculated by [8]

σ = σ 0 (1 − mT ) (2.22)

where
σ0 is the electric conductivity at a reference temperature
m is a constant

2.2.1.5  Heat Transfer during Infrared Radiation

Infrared radiation can achieve contactless heating. Advantages of infrared over convective heating
with hot air or water are higher heat transfer coefficients [9]. Infrared power absorption by foods
has been treated by two formulations: zero penetration and finite penetration depth [10]. With the
assumption of zero penetration, the infrared energy is absorbed by the surface of a food object
and converted into heat on the surface, which is further transferred into the food by conduction.
Therefore, on the boundary of a heat transfer model, there is [9,11]

(
k ∇T = qinf,s = σε T∞4 − Ts4 ) (2.23)

where
k is thermal conductivity of the food
σ is the Stefan–Boltzmann constant (5.669 × 10 −8 W/m2 K4)
ε is emissivity
T is temperature in Kelvin
40 Thermal Food Processing: New Technologies and Quality Issues

The formulation of finite penetration depth assumed that the infrared energy from heaters sud-
denly impinges upon a food surface and directly penetrates into the food by approximately 1 mm
under the surface. Therefore, all of the infrared energy is completely absorbed from the food surface
into the depth of 1 mm, which is called the penetrating layer. The interior of the food from the depth
of 1 mm through the core of the food is called the conductive layer [12]. The heat transfer in the
penetrating layer can be described by Fourier’s equation of heat conduction with an inner heat gen-
eration term covering the infrared heat generation [12]. The inner heat generation in the penetrating
layer can be calculated by an exponential decay model [13]:

qinf ,s  x dx 
S ( x) =
δ inf ( x )
exp  −
 ∫ 
δ inf 
(2.24)
0

where
qinf,s is the surface infrared flux
δinf is infrared penetration depth

2.2.1.6  Heat Transfer during High-Pressure Processing

High-pressure processing technology has been used to destroy microorganisms and extend the
shelf of foods. The compression during high-pressure processing of food generates heat, result-
ing in the increase of temperature in the pressure vessel. At an initial temperature of 25°C and a
pressure from 150 to 600 MPa, the temperature increases were measured at 2.6°C–2.9°C/100 MPa
for water, 2.9°C–3.5°C/100 MPa for honey, 3.2°C/100 MPa for ground beef and whole milk, and
6.6°C–9.2°C/100 MPa for vegetable oil [14]. Therefore, for a high-pressure sterilization process,
the heat generated by the compression can provide additional synergetic sterilization effects. The
heat generated by compression during high-pressure processing is dissipated by a combination of
conduction and convection within the pressuring fluid in the chamber [15]. High-pressure compres-
sion or expansion is usually assumed to be adiabatic. The thermodynamic equation governing the
adiabatic high-pressure compression or expansion is given by [16]

 ∂V 
T dS = c p d T − T  dP = 0 (2.25)
 ∂T  P

where
T is the temperature (K)
P is pressure (MPa)
V is the specific volume (m3/kg)
cp is the specific heat of the product (kJ/kg K)

The temperature variation produced by an adiabatic pressure change is thus expressed as [16,17]

dT TV β
= (2.26)
dP cP

where β is thermal expansivity (1/K).

The internal heat generation rate on a volume basis, S, during high-pressure compression or
expansion is given by [15]
Heat and Mass Transfer in Thermal Food Processing 41

dP
S = βT (2.27)
dt

Due to the internal heat generation, temperature gradients are established in food products during
compression. Modeling heat transfer in high-pressure food processes is a useful tool to optimize the
processes [17–19]. The main challenge in modeling heat transfer during high-pressure processing
is the lack of appropriate thermophysical properties of food materials under pressure [17]. Accurate
thermophysical properties including density, specific heat, thermal conductivity, and thermal expan-
sivity of a food product under pressure are needed for modeling heat transfer during high-pressure
processing. The methods for measuring those thermophysical properties of foods under pressure
can be found in the literature [16,20].

2.2.2  Mass Transfer

Mass transfer is concerned with the movement of materials in fluid systems including gases or liq-
uids. Mass transfer may take place according to two mechanisms: molecular diffusion or convective
mass transfer. When there is a concentration gradient of the considered component between two
points of the system, mass transfer is produced by molecular diffusion. When the entire mass moves
from one point to another, the transfer is produced by convection.

2.2.2.1  Molecular Diffusion

Diffusion is the process by which matter is transported from one part of a system to another as
a result of random molecular motion. Although no molecule has a preferred direction of motion,
observation indicated that molecules transfer from a region of higher concentration to a region of
lower concentration. The mass flux can be described by Fick’s first law:

dC A
J A = − DA (2.28)
dx

where D is diffusivity, which is defined as the constant of proportionality in Fick’s law.

The diffusion of fluids within the pore spaces of a porous solid is of some interest to food pro-
cessing such as drying. It is possible to quantify an effective diffusivity which describes the transfer
of gas or liquid within a solid porous food. Effective diffusivities of moisture in some solid foods
are listed in Table 2.1 [21].
In Equation 2.28, concentrations can be expressed in a number of ways such as molar concentra-
tion, partial pressure, mass concentration, and mass and mole fractions. The corresponding units of
different concentrations differ considerably.

2.2.2.2  Convective Mass Transfer

During food processes, mass may be transferred between distinct phases across a phase boundary.
Whitman assumed that two laminar films exist on each side of the interface when a gaseous solute
transfers from a gas phase to a liquid phase or mass transfers between two liquid phases as shown in
Figure 2.4 [2]. According to Whitman’s theory, the resistance to mass transfer is contained within the
two films and the concentration gradients across each film are linear. Whitman’s two-film theory is
the earliest and most generally one to account for interphase mass transfer. Mass transfer within the
films is assumed to be due solely to molecular diffusion and thus Fick’s law can be applied directly
to each film. Integrating over the linear concentration gradient, the Fick’s law can be expressed as [2]
42 Thermal Food Processing: New Technologies and Quality Issues

TABLE 2.1
Effective Diffusivities in Solid Foods
Moisture Content Temperature Diffusivity
(%, By Dry Base) (K) ×1011 (m2/s)
Starch gel 10 298 0.1
Starch gel 30 298 2.3
Blanched potato 60 327 26.0
Air-dried apple 12 303 0.65
Freeze-dried apple 12 303 12.0
Fish muscle 30 303 34.0
Raw minced beef 60 333 10.0
Cooked minced beef 60 333 12.0

Source: Saravacos, G.D., Mass transfer properties of foods, in: M.A. Rao,
S.S.H. Rizvi, eds., Engineering Properties of Foods, 2nd edn.,
Marcel Dekker, New York, pp. 169–221, 1994.

Phase interface

PgA
Liquid
Concentration

Gas

PiA

CiA

ClA

x
δg δl
Gas film Liquid film

FIGURE 2.4  Whitman’s two-film diffusion theory. (From Smith, P.G., Introduction to Food Process
Engineering, Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York, pp. 163–170, 179–186, 191–217, 2003.)

DgA
JA = −
δg
( PiA − PgA ) = − DδlA (ClA − CiA ) (2.29)
l

However, the thickness δg and δl cannot be measured or predicted independently. In order to over-
come this difficulty, the terms of DgA/δg and DlA/δl are replaced by a gas film mass transfer coef-
ficient, kg, and a liquid film mass transfer coefficient, kl, respectively.
The partial pressure and molar concentration on the interface cannot be determined indepen-
dently because of the uncertainty of the interface position and the impossibility of measurement
of interfacial concentration. Therefore, an overall gas and liquid mass transfer coefficients are
introduced based on the concentration differences which can be determined. Equation 2.29 can be
rewritten as

( )
J A = − K g PA∗ − PgA = − K l ClA − C A∗ ( ) (2.30)
Heat and Mass Transfer in Thermal Food Processing 43

where
PA∗ is the partial pressure of A in the gas phase, which is in equilibrium with the bulk liquid
concentration
ClA and C A∗ are molar concentrations of A in the liquid phase which is in equilibrium with the
bulk partial pressure, PgA

The equilibrium relationships are determined by Henry’s law, which are expressed as

PA∗ = HClA (2.31)

PgA
C A∗ = (2.32)
H

2.2.3  Unsteady-State Heat and Mass Transfer

For steady state heat and mass transfer, there is no change in temperature or concentrate of the mate-
rial with time. However, in the majority of food thermal processing applications, the food tempera-
ture or concentrate of a food component is constantly changing, and unsteady-state heat and mass
transfer is more commonly found. Heat and mass transfer follows the same pattern, which can be
described in a generalized manner. The generalized governing equation of unsteady-sate heat and
mass transfer can be expressed as

∂φ ∂φ ∂φ ∂φ ∂  ∂φ  ∂  ∂φ  ∂  ∂φ 
+ ux + uy + uz = α + α + α +S (2.33)
∂t ∂x ∂y ∂z ∂x  ∂x  ∂y  ∂y  ∂z  ∂z 

where
ϕ is temperature for heat transfer and concentration for mass transfer
α is diffusivity (for heat transfer α = k/(ρc) and for diffusion α = D)

In order to find the solution of Equation 2.33, it is necessary to know the initial and boundary
conditions. The initial conditions give what happens at the start. The initial conditions may be the
same initial temperature or concentration, ϕ|t = 0 = ϕ 0. The initial conditions may also be an initial
profile of temperature or concentration, ϕ|t = 0 = ϕ 0(x,y,z). The boundary conditions give what hap-
pens at the boundaries of the phase to be investigated. The boundary conditions may be (1) a con-
stant, ϕ|Γ = ϕs; (2) a flux, ϕ|Γ = qs; (3) a convection, ϕ|Γ = h(ϕs − ϕ∞); or (4) a combination of flux and
convection, ϕ|Γ = qs + h(ϕs − ϕ∞).
Sometimes, depending on the geometry of the product to be studied, it is useful to consider
alternative coordinate systems such as the cylindrical coordinate and spherical coordinate systems.
However, whichever system is used, the intrinsic mechanisms and physical laws of heat and mass
transfer remain the same.

2.2.4  Overview of Solution Methods

Variables such as temperature and moisture used in modeling the unsteady-state thermal pro-
cesses depend on time and position. The equations governing the physical mechanism of unsteady-
state heat and mass transfer are thus of a partial differential type as shown in Equation 2.33. An
­analytical solution of the partial differential equation is continuous. However, the possibility of
analytical solution is restricted to rather simple forms of the governing equations, boundary and
44 Thermal Food Processing: New Technologies and Quality Issues

initial conditions. Numerical methods have been widely used to solve the partial differential equa-
tions governing the heat and mass transfer. Numerical methods can generate discretized solutions
for the partial differential equations.
Finite difference (FD) method is simple to formulate a set of discretized equations from the
transport differential equations in a differential manner [22]. The FD method is normally used
for simple geometries such as sphere, slab, and cylinder (Table 2.2). The FD method has been
widely used to solve heat and mass transfer models of many food processes [23–41]. There are a
number of important publications which have improved the knowledge of the FD scheme for pre-
dicting the heat and mass transfer during food processes [42,43]. Additional information can be
found in a review paper by Wang and Sun [44]. Table 2.2 gives a summary of recent development
of FD models for simulating food thermal processes. However, for foods with irregular shapes,
the surface temperature predictions by the FD method are less satisfactory due to geometric
simplification.
Finite element (FE) method may perform better than the FD method for irregular geome-
tries, complex boundary conditions, and heterogeneous materials. The FE method involves dis-
cretizing a large domain into a large number of small elements, developing element equations,
assembling the element equations for the whole domain, and solving the assembled equations.
The FE discretization of the governing differential equations is based on the use of interpolat-
ing polynomials to describe the variation of a field variable within an element. Although the
spatial discretization is different for the FE method compared with FD method, it is usual to
employ an FD method for the time progression in a transient problem [45,46]. The FE method
has been successfully used to solve the heat and mass transfer models of food processes [47–73].
Additional information can be found in two review papers by Wang and Sun [44] and Puri and
Anantheswaran [74]. A summary of various FE methods developed recently for analyzing food
thermal processes is listed in Table 2.3. However, the FE method is complex and computationally
expensive than the FD method.
Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a simulation tool for the solution of fluid flow and
heat transfer problems. In CFD calculation, the continuity equation, momentum conservation
equation (also known as the Navier–Stokes transport equations), and energy conservation equa-
tion are numerically solved to give predictions of velocity, temperature, shear, pressure profiles,
and other parameters in a fluid flow system [75]. In the last few years, there has been continuous
progress in the development of CFD codes. Some of the common commercial codes include CFX
(http://www.ansys.com/products/fluid-dynamics/cfx/), Fluent (http://www.fluent.com/), Phoenics
(http://www.cham.co.uk/), and Star-CD (http://www.cd.co.uk). The computational procedure of
most of commercial CFD packages is based on finite volume (FV) numerical method. In fact, the
FV method was derived from the FD method. In the FV method, the domain is divided into dis-
crete control volumes. The key step of the FV scheme is the integration of the transport equations
over a control volume to yield a discretized equation at its nodal points [76]. Although CFD has
been applied to industries such as aerospace, automotive, and nuclear for several decades, it has
only recently been applied to the food processing industry due to the rapid development in com-
puter and commercial software packages. A review of CFD in the food industry has been given by
Scott and Richardson [77] and Xia and Sun [78]. Langrish and Fletcher reviewed the applications
of CFD in spray drying [79]. Applications of CFD in the food industry include analyses of air flow
in ovens and chillers, fluid flow of particle foods in processing systems, convection flow patterns
in containers during thermal processing such as sterilization, and modeling of vacuum cooling
process [80–96]. The transport equations of CFD can be applied to both laminar and turbulent
flow conditions. The eddy viscosity models such as κ−ε approach, and second-order closure mod-
els are used to describe the flow turbulence if the effects of turbulence on the effective viscosity
need to be considered. A summary of various CFD models developed recently for analyzing food
thermal processes is presented in Table 2.4.
Heat and Mass Transfer in Thermal Food Processing 45

TABLE 2.2
Summary of FD Method in Thermal Food Processing
Temperature-
Heat Mass Dependent
Processes References Affiliation Model Model Dimension Properties Foods
Dehydration [100] Ciudad √ 1D √ Potato
and drying Universitaria,
Argentina
[102] University of Illes √ 3D √ Aloe vera
Balears, Spain
[101] University of √ 3D √ Sugar film
Wisconsin-
Madison, USA
[24] University of √ √ 1D √ Solid foods
Reading, United
Kingdom
[39] Swedish Institute √ √ 1D √ Bread
for Food and
Biotechnology
[38] Hong Kong √ √ 1D √ Vegetables
University of
Science and
Technology
Pasteurization [26,30] Higher Institute of √ 1D Mushroom
and Food and
sterilization Flavour
Industries,
Bulgaria
[23] Memorial √ 3D Various
University of
Newfoundland
and McGill
University,
Canada
[41] North Carolina √ 2D-axi Cucumber
State University,
USA
Cooking and [35,36] University of √ 2D-axi √ Shrimp
frying Florida, USA
[28,29] North Carolina √ √ 1D Potato
State University
and University of
California,
Davis, USA
[40] Archer Daniels √ √ 1D-axi √ Hamburger
Midland Co., patty
USA, and
University of
California,
Davis, USA
(continued)
46 Thermal Food Processing: New Technologies and Quality Issues

TABLE 2.2 (continued)

Summary of FD Method in Thermal Food Processing
Temperature-
Heat Mass Dependent
Processes References Affiliation Model Model Dimension Properties Foods
Others [140] Universidad √ 1D-axi √ Twigs of
Nacional de yerba
Misiones, mate
Argentina
[128] Middle East √ 1D √ Potato
Technical
University,
Turkey, and Ohio
State University,
USA

Source: Adapted from Wang, L.J. and Sun, D.-W., Trends Food Sci. Technol., 14, 408, 2003.

TABLE 2.3
Summary of FE Method in Thermal Food Processing
Temperature-
Heat Mass Dependent
Processes References Affiliation Model Model Dimension Properties Foods
Dehydration [103] University of √ √ 2D √ Starch
and drying Saskatchewan,
Canada, and
Utah State
University,
USA
[60–64] University √ √ 2D-axi √ Grain
College
Dublin,
Ireland, and
China
Agricultural
University
[65] Purdue √ √ 2D-axi √ Biscuits
University,
USA
Pasteurization [124,126,129] Universidad √ 2D-axi Various
and Católica
sterilization Portuguesa,
Portugal, and
University
College Cork,
Ireland
Cooking and [58] University of √ 2D-axi √ Chicken
frying Arkansas,
USA
(continued)
Heat and Mass Transfer in Thermal Food Processing 47

TABLE 2.3 (continued)

Summary of FE Method in Thermal Food Processing
Temperature-
Heat Mass Dependent
Processes References Affiliation Model Model Dimension Properties Foods
[54] Technical √ 2D-axi √ Meat
University of
Nova Scotia,
Canada
[59] Cornell √ 2D-axi √ Various
University,
USA
[115]
[51,52,111,112] Pennsylvania √ √ 2D and 3D Solid foods
State
University,
USA
[119,126,​ Katholieke √ 2D-axi Various
120–123] Universiteit
Leuven,
Belgium
[73] University of √ √ 2D-axi √ Hamburger
California, patty
Davis, USA
Others [130] University of √ 2D Carrot
Tennessee,
USA
[138] Katholieke √ 3D √ Various
Universiteit
Leuven,
Belgium

Source: Adapted from Wang, L.J. and Sun, D.-W., Trends Food Sci. Technol., 14, 408, 2003.

TABLE 2.4
Summary of CFD in Thermal Food Processing
Processes References Affiliation Foods
Drying [108] NIZO Food Research, the Netherlands Particle foods
[106] National Centre for Scientific Research, Greece Fruits and vegetables
[84] INRA, France Sausage
Pasteurization [80,81,86] University of Auckland, New Zealand Canned liquid foods
and sterilization [82] University of Birmingham, United Kingdom Various
[96] Indian Institute of Technology, India Canned liquid foods
Heating [109,110] Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium Various
Others [132] Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium Various
[131] Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique and Various
Institut de Mecanique des Fluides de Toulouse, France

Source: Adapted from Wang, L.J. and Sun, D.-W., Trends Food Sci. Technol., 14, 408, 2003.
48 Thermal Food Processing: New Technologies and Quality Issues

2.3  HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER APPLIED TO THERMAL FOOD PROCESSING

During thermal food processing, heat must be transferred between a heat source or sink and
the inside zone of the food usually through an interface such as food surface or container wall.
External heat transfer between the source or sink and the interface may occur by any of the heat
transfer mechanisms (including conduction, convection, radiation, and phase changes). Internal
heat transfer from the interface to the inside zone of foods is usually by conduction of solid foods
or by conduction and convection of liquid foods. If microwave and radio frequency are used, heat
can also travel to the inside zone by penetrating radiation. Moisture, water vapor, nutrients, and
flavor must first travel to the food surface by any of internal mass transfer mechanisms such as
diffusion. Then they must travel from the food surface to the ambient by external mass transfer
processes such as convective mass transfer. For a series of the mechanisms of external heat
transfer, internal heat transfer, internal mass transfer, and external mass transfer, the step with
the greatest effect on the rate will be the slowest one, which is the rate-determining step [97].
Heat transfer through solid foods is normally modeled by Fourier’s equation of heat conduction,
and mass transfer is generally described by Fick’s law of diffusion [98]. For thermal processes
of fluid foods, the conservation of mass, momentum, and energy in a fluid should be considered
together. The continuity equation and Navier–Stokes equations are used to describe fluid flow
[76]. The actual conditions imposed by the processing equipment are considered as the boundary
conditions of the governing equations. Most heat and mass transfer models can only be solved
analytically for simple cases. Numerical methods are useful for estimating the thermal behavior
of foods under complex but realistic conditions such as variation in initial temperature, nonlinear,
and nonisotropic thermal properties, irregular-shaped bodies and time-dependent boundary con-
ditions. In solving the models, the FD and FE methods are widely used. In recent years, the FV
method was the main computational scheme used in commercial CFD software packages. CFD
has been increasingly used to simulate thermal processes of foods for analyzing complex flow
behavior [44,75].

2.3.1  Pasteurization and Sterilization

Pasteurization and sterilization are widely used in the food industry to inactivate microorganisms
present in foods for ensuring food safety and extending the shelf life of foods. In aseptic processing,
the products are first thermally treated, then carried to a previously sterilized container, and sealed
under sterile environment conditions. The thermal processing of packed products is carried out in
equipment that uses steam or hot water as the heating fluid. The pasteurization and sterilization
techniques are initially used in liquid foods such as milk and fruit juices. Recently it has also been
applied to particulate food products [99].

2.3.1.1  Pasteurization and Sterilization of Liquid Foods

Sterilizing process of canned liquid foods is a typical example of fluid flow with heat transfer. CFD
model can thus be used to predict transient flow patterns and temperature profiles in a can filled
with liquid foods. For simulating the sterilizing process of canned liquid foods, the energy equa-
tion needs to be solved simultaneously with the continuity and momentum equations in a CFD
model [80,81,86]. Continuous sterilization processes of single-phase mixtures such as milks and
fruit juices have become more and more common. The continuous process is called the HTST
(high-temperature-short-time) sterilization process, which gives the same level of sterility but a
reduced quality loss as compared to batch sterilization process. For optimizing the quality of foods
during continuous sterilization, the laminar flow of liquid foods in circular pipes with uniform wall
temperature can be described by a CFD model [82].
Heat and Mass Transfer in Thermal Food Processing 49

2.3.1.2  Pasteurization and Sterilization of Particle–Liquid Foods

Sterilization of canned solid particle foods with a brine solution in a container is a typical liquid–
solid thermal process. Blanching of fresh vegetables and sous vide processing of particulate foods
are also heating practices in a liquid–solid systems. In this system, the low-viscosity brine liquid is
heated by convection and the solid particle foods by conduction. A heat conduction model can be
used to simply determine the temperature distribution in a canned particle body. Meanwhile, the
temperature of brine liquid in the heated cans, which is variable with the temperature outside of the
cans, can be simply described by the regular regime differential equation:

dTl Tm − Tl
= (2.34)
dt Φ

where the thermal inertia, Φ, which characterizes the temperature lag of the brine liquid from the
temperature of heating medium, is experimentally determined by monitoring the temperature of the
brine with linearly increasing, holding, and linearly decreasing the temperature of the medium [26,30].
For liquid–solid thermal process, as heat transfer coefficient of surface convection is normally
very large due to good circulation of brine liquid in the container, the effect of the coefficient on the
temperature profiles of foods is normally assumed to be negligible. This means that if the coefficient
is big enough, the total heat transfer rate is controlled by conduction through the particle food body.
For this reason, the heat transfer coefficient can arbitrarily be set at a very high value in a simula-
tion, for example, 5000 W/m2 K [23,41].

2.3.2  Dehydration and Drying

Dehydration, or drying, is a unit operation of food thermal processing most commonly used for
food preservation. Reduction of water in foods during drying can achieve better microbiological
preservation and retard many undesirable reactions. Drying can also decrease packaging, handling,
storage, and transport costs due to the decrease of food weight. Drying process is mainly character-
ized by moisture loss in foods. In most cases, the removal of water from a food is achieved by blow-
ing a dry air flow, which transports water from the surface of the product to the air stream. However,
spray drying, freeze drying, microwave drying, far-infrared drying, and other methods are also used
for drying some special products. Drying of food materials is normally a complex process involving
simultaneous coupled heat and mass transfer in the materials. It is important to know the mecha-
nisms related to the movements of water inside and outside the food [99].

2.3.2.1  Air Drying

Air drying is the most popular drying method in the food industry. For a drying process with a small
Biot number, a uniform temperature profile in foods can be assumed in simulation. This uniform
temperature can be determined by a heat balance between the dried food body and drying medium
[100,101], or be assumed to be the air temperature [102]. The moisture transfer through the foods
is normally described by the differential equation of Fick’s law of diffusion, which is expressed as

∂X w
= ∇ ( D∇X w ) (2.35)
∂t

The diffusion coefficient is important for the accuracy of model prediction. The diffusion coeffi-
cient can be regressed as a function of temperature and concentration by using data in the literature
[101]. Alternatively, the diffusion coefficient can be determined by Arrhenius law as [24,100,102]
50 Thermal Food Processing: New Technologies and Quality Issues

 E 
D = D0 exp  − a  (2.36)
 RTK 

and Ea and D 0 are varied during simulation until a reasonable agreement between predicted and
experimental results is obtained.
However, for a drying process with a big Biot number, a coupled mass and heat transfer should
be taken into account in the simulation. For drying of a composite food system, simulation found
that the predicted temperature, moisture, and pressure distributions in the composite food system
by the coupled model agreed with experimental data. However, there was a big difference between
the predicted values by the uncoupled model and experimental data [103].
In most cases, it is often assumed that moisture diffuses to the outer boundaries in a liquid form
and evaporation takes place only on the surface. The diffusion models do not separate liquid water
and water vapor diffusion [24]. However, in some cases, inner water evaporation during drying
is significant and therefore simultaneous heat, water and vapor diffusion should be considered in
simulation [39]. For example, for predicting the drying process of breads, simultaneous heat, water
and vapor diffusion through breads was described by using three governing equations, respectively.
The three governing equations of heat, moisture, and vapor were connected by the equilibrium
of local moisture evaporation and vapor condensation, which is determined by the relationship
between saturated vapor pressure and local temperature [39]. Simulations on drying process of
vegetables and fruits using the coupled heat, water and vapor diffusion model confirmed that the
assumption of evaporation–condensation front in the drying model was valid for drying of porous
moisture materials with big permeability such as banana. However, the assumption of ­evaporation–
condensation front was invalid and more comprehensive analysis was necessary if the permeability
of dehydrated foods and vegetables was below 10 −19 m2 [38]. To model coupled heat and mass
transfer in porous foods, two types of formulations are usually developed: one involving distributed
evaporation through the whole food object and the other involving a sharp moving interface where
evaporation occurs [104,105].
On the surface of a food body, external mass transfer is normally assumed to be proportional
to the vapor pressure difference between the surface and the drying media [24]. The surface mass
transfer coefficients are affected by the properties of air, operating conditions, design of the dryer,
and the product. Pressure profiles and velocity of heated air above products in an air dryer can be
determined by a CFD model [106]. In this case, the turbulent flow, which is characterized by rela-
tively high velocity and the presence of many obstacles in the air dryer, can be described by the
Chen–Kim κ−ε model [107].

2.3.2.2  Spray Drying

During spray drying, coupled heat, mass, and pressure transfer phenomenon occurs. The drying of
droplets is influenced by external and internal transport phenomena alike. For simulating gas flow
in a spray dryer and calculating the trajectories and the course of the atomized particles, CFD is
widely used [79]. The κ−ε turbulence model is used to calculate the gas flow field. The differential
equation that describes the diffusion process in spherical particles is then solved simultaneously
with equations for external heat and mass transfer [108].

2.3.2.3  Microwave and Radio Frequency Drying

Microwave is used in drying of some heat-sensitive foods [56,65]. The heat and moisture transfer
during microwave can be described by Fourier’s equation of heat conduction with inner heat gen-
eration and Fick’s law of diffusion, respectively [65]. In modeling the coupled heat and moisture
transfer through porous materials during microwave-assisted vacuum drying, a combination of
liquid water and vapor transfer should be taken into account in the equation of mass transfer.
Heat and Mass Transfer in Thermal Food Processing 51

Meanwhile, heat transfer can be described by Fourier’s equation of heat conduction with an inner
heat generation term covering latent heat of water evaporation and source heat of microwave power.
However, as moisture transfer is caused by the temperature gradient in foods, the equation of mois-
ture transfer can even be simplified into an isothermal equation if the temperature gradient is too
small [56].

2.3.3  Cooking and Frying

2.3.3.1  Air Convection Cooking
Air convection-heating oven is popular cooking equipment. For predicting transient temperature
and moisture distribution in chicken patties of regular shapes in a cooking oven, a coupled heat
and mass transfer model was found to give better prediction than that of single heat transfer model
[58]. In some cases, if it is difficult to find data for mass diffusivity and mass transfer coefficient,
a volumetric moisture loss rate due to evaporation can be experimentally determined and the heat
removed due to moisture loss can then be incorporated into Fourier’s equation of heat conduction
as inner heat generation [54].
With powerful computers available, heating and cooking of solid foods in an industrial convec-
tion-type oven can be modeled as a fluid flow and heat transfer problem. CFD offers an efficient
and effective tool to analyze the performance of industrial convection-type oven such as hot-air
electric forced convection ovens. In the CFD models, the electric heating coils and the fan can be
modeled in the momentum equation (the Navier–Stokes equations) as a distributed resistance and a
distributed body force in the region of the flow domain where the coils and fan are positioned. The
value of turbulent viscosity in the momentum equation can be obtained by using the standard and
renormalization group version of the κ−ε turbulence model [109,110].

2.3.3.2  Microwave and Radio Frequency Cooking

Microwave- and radio wave-heated and cooked foods are becoming increasingly popular in the
food market and at home. For modeling microwave and radio wave heating process, the heat trans-
fer through a solid food body can also be described by Fourier’s equation of heat conduction
with inner heat generation due to the microwave and radio wave energy absorbed by the food
components. The microwave and radio wave power density absorbed at any location in foodstuffs
can be derived as a function of dielectric properties and geometry of the food given by Equation
2.16. Meanwhile, heat losses on the surface of food body by convention and evaporation can be
included in the boundary conditions. For simulating microwave and radio wave heating of solid
food with rectangular and cylindrical shapes, FE analysis may be a powerful tool to numerically
solve the model [52]. During microwave heating, a big moisture loss sometimes occurs. In this
case, a coupled heat and mass transfer model should be developed and additional moisture transfer
through a solid food body can be modeled by the diffusion equation of Fick’s law [51]. The mois-
ture evaporation rate on surface can be obtained by using drying experiment and regressed as a
function of temperature [111,112].

2.3.3.3  Ohmic Heating

For modeling ohmic heating process, the heat transfer through a solid food body can also be
described by Fourier’s equation of heat conduction with inner heat generation due to the conversion
of electric energy into heat to be absorbed by the food components. The general governing equation,
which is derived from Equation 2.33, is given by

∂T
ρc p = ∇ ( k ∇T ) + S (2.37)
∂t
52 Thermal Food Processing: New Technologies and Quality Issues

The inner heat generation rate can be calculated by Equation 2.20. A heat transfer model was
developed to describe the ohmic heating of liquid foods such as chicken noodle soup in a flex-
ible pouch package. The model was solved using commercial CFD software Fluent to optimize
the design of electrodes for uniform heating of the material [6]. A heat transfer model based on
Equation 2.37 can also be developed to quantify the temperature distribution in a solid food during
ohmic heating [7].

2.3.3.4  Frying
When foods are fried, crust formation is easily observed in many foods. The crust layer increases
in thickness as the frying process proceeds, and the interface between the crust and the core region
becomes a moving boundary. For a phase change problem in frying, one side of the interface is
crust and the other is core region. Fourier’s law of heat conduction can be used to describe the heat
transfer on both sides of the interface:

∂T1
ρ1c p1 = ∇ ( k1∇T1 ) (for frozen ) (2.38)
∂t

∂T2
ρ2c p 2 = ∇ ( k2∇T2 ) (for unfrozen ) (2.39)
∂t

The interface between two phases is tracked by Equation 2.8. It should be stressed that the crust
and core regions have significantly different thermophysical properties. Because the phase change
in foods occurs over a range of temperature, the thermophysical properties of foods experience
extreme discontinuities at the phase change temperatures. These discontinuities cause instability in
the numerical solutions. Alternatively, the enthalpy formulation technique based on the relationship
between enthalpy and temperature is used to model the phase change problem. One advantage of
the enthalpy formulation is that it is not necessary to track the moving interface. Other advantages
include the relative stability and simplicity of the method. Using the enthalpy method, Equations
2.38 and 2.39 can be replaced by one single equation as [113]

∂H
ρ = ∇ ( k ∇T ) (2.40)
∂t

During frying, there occurs significant mass transfer as the movement of fat/oil and moisture into
or out of the food. A set of mass transfer model based on Fick’s law of diffusion is widely used to
describe the moisture and oil/fat movement during frying. Both mass and heat transfer models are
coupled for simulating the frying process of foods [73,113].

2.4  CHALLENGES IN MODELING HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER

Although continuous progress has been made in recent years in improving the accuracy of the
modeling, much research work still needs to be carried out. The following identifies several pos-
sible areas where further research could be performed in order to further improve the accuracy of
model prediction.

2.4.1  Mechanisms in Heat and Mass Transfer

Drying of moisture and porous foods is widely used in the food industry. Drying involves coupled
heat and mass transfer through a porous media. It is still difficult to predict the moisture transfer rate
Heat and Mass Transfer in Thermal Food Processing 53

through a porous media because the mechanisms involved are complex and not completely under-
stood [104,105]. As a result, the design of drying process remains largely an art based on experience
gained from trial and error testing. Often, the controlling resistance is from internal mass transfer
and the internal mass transfer may occur through the solid phase or within the void spaces. Several
mechanisms of internal mass transfer including vapor diffusion, moisture diffusion and then sur-
face evaporation, hydrodynamic flow, and capillary flow have been proposed. The fundamental
transport modes of molecular diffusion, capillary diffusion, and pressure-driven Darcy flow were
given in the literature [104]. However, modeling of drying processes is complicated because there is
nearly always more than one mechanism to the total flow [114].
During microwave heating, the heating patterns can be uneven. Food factors such as dielectric
properties, size, and shape play more important role as compared to conventional heating because
they affect not only the magnitude of heat generation but also its spatial distribution [115]. Modeling
of microwave heating process involves solutions of electromagnetic equation and the energy equa-
tion. Lambert’s law is a simple and commonly used power formulation, according to which the
microwave power is attenuated exponentially as a function of distance of penetration into the sam-
ple [116,117]. Although Lambert’s law is valid for samples thick enough to be treated as infinitely
thick, it is a poor approximation in many practical situations. In such cases, a rigorous formulation
of the heating problem requires solving Maxwell’s equations, which govern the propagation of elec-
tromagnetic radiation in a dielectric medium [116,117]. During microwave heating, a large tempera-
ture change may cause a significant variation in dielectric properties, resulting in big change in the
heating pattern. Therefore, a coupled Maxwell’s equation with the heat transfer model is necessary
to describe the microwave heating process. Besides, the potential for nonuniformity in the micro-
wave heating process should be comprehensively described. Also, there occurs moisture accumula-
tion at the food surface during microwave heating [13]. Therefore, the challenge is to understand the
mechanism of microwave heating, gain insight into the changes in heating patterns, and verify the
temperature distribution during microwave heating, and to develop a coupled heat, moisture, and
electromagnetic transfer model.
Turbulence is a phenomenon of great complexity and has puzzled theoreticians for over
100 years. What makes turbulence so difficult to tackle mathematically is the wide range of
length and time scales of motion even in flows with very simple boundary conditions. No sin-
gle turbulence model is universally accepted as being superior for all classes of problems.
The standard κ­– ε model is still highly recommended for general purpose CFD computation.
The mechanism of κ­– ε models is derived for equilibrium flows in which the rates of production and
destruction of turbulence are nearly balanced [76]. This assumption has been proven to be valid
only in flows with a high Reynolds number and relatively far from the wall in the boundary layer. At
low Reynolds numbers (lesser than 30,000), it was known that simplified turbulence models, such as
κ­– ε models or even the modified κ­– ε models by the near-wall treatment based either on a wall func-
tion or on Wolfshtein’s low Reynolds number, are rough approximations of reality. In many cases,
these semiempirical models will fail to predict the correct near-wall limiting behavior near the
product surface. However, κ­– ε models remain popular because of their availability in user-friendly
codes, which allows a straightforward implementation of the models, and because they are cheap in
terms of computation time. Predictions by general codes based on κ­– ε model are often very differ-
ent from experimental data. As the shape of many food products is very complex, the experimental
determination of heat transfer coefficients remains at the time quicker and much more reliable
than predictions. The calculation based on the current CFD codes has to be used with caution and
more research is needed to improve near-wall modeling particularly around blunt bodies placed in
a turbulent flow. A full treatment of turbulence would require more complex models such as large
eddy simulations (LESs) and Reynolds stress models (RSMs). However, LES models require large
computing resources and not of use as general-purpose tools. As the RSM accounts for the effects
of streamline curvature, swirl, rotation, and rapid changes in strain rate in a more rigorous man-
ner compared to the κ­– ε models, it has greater potential to give accurate predictions for complex
54 Thermal Food Processing: New Technologies and Quality Issues

flows. However, the fidelity of RSM predictions is still limited by the closure assumptions used to
model various terms in the exact transport equations for the Reynolds stresses. The modeling of
the pressure–strain and dissipation-rate terms is particularly challenging. Therefore, the RSM with
additional computational expense might not always yield results that are clearly superior to simpler
models in all cases of flows. The mathematical expressions of turbulence models may be quite com-
plicated and they contain adjustable constants that need to be determined as best-fit values from
experimental data. Therefore, any application of a turbulence model should not be beyond the data
range. Besides, the current turbulence models can be used to guide the development of other models
through comparative studies.

2.4.2  Judgment of Assumptions in Models

Accurate modeling of a thermal process of foods is complex. For simplification and saving of com-
putational time, some assumptions made in the modeling are necessary. Most of assumptions come
from the geometrical dimension and shape, surface heat and mass transfer coefficients, food materi-
als properties, and volume change during thermal processes. Before simulation, whether or not to
use a model of coupled heat and mass transfer or coupled heat transfer and fluid flow should also
be determined.
Sensitivity analysis can make judgment for the acceptability of an assumption in the modeling.
Some research has been carried out to investigate the sensitivity of variables in interest such as
temperature on operating conditions of a thermal system and thermal properties of foods [118–126].
Findings from the research include that the time and location-dependent variations in operating
conditions such as variable temperature and surface heat transfer coefficient cause the detachment
of the thermal and geometric centers during processing of foods [118]. For simulating a thermal
process with low heat transfer coefficient, small deviations in the coefficient may result in large
deviations in the core temperature of foods [119,126]. The disturbances of different means but with
the same scale of fluctuation in processing medium temperature resulted in comparable center tem-
perature variation [122]. For a typical sterilization process, it was found that thermal–physical prop-
erties were the most important sources of variability [120,121,123]. It is stressed from the findings of
sensitivity analyses in the publications that more efforts should be made to judge the acceptability
of an assumption in the modeling.

2.4.3  Surface Heat and Mass Transfer Coefficients

Heat and mass transfer coefficients are important parameters in modeling heat and mass trans-
fer during food thermal processes. The heat transfer coefficients of surface convection are
mostly calculated using a correlation between a set of dimensionless numbers: Nusselt number
(Nu = hcL/k), Prandtl number (Pr = cpμ/k), Reynolds number (Re = ρLu/μ), and Grashof number
(Gr = L3ρ2gβΔT/μ2) for flow across a body [31,49,66–68]. The surface mass transfer coefficient
can be determined by using the Lewis relationship of heat and mass transfer coefficients, which
is expressed as [127]

h
= 64.7 Pa/K (2.41)
K pλ

It should be noted that such correlations are normally restricted to a given range of operating condi-
tions and reasonable accuracy can only be ensured under the given range of operating conditions.
More attention should be paid to select a suitable correlation for a given case.
The heat transfer coefficients of surface convection can also be determined by fitting predicted
temperatures to experimental data. The coefficient is determined by a trial and error method until
Heat and Mass Transfer in Thermal Food Processing 55

the predicted model gives a good fit with experimental data [128,129]. For an aseptic system of
fluid-particle foods, the coefficient of each particle can be determined by a trial and error matching
of predicted temperature contours from a numerical heat transfer model with magnetic resonance
imaging (MRI) images [130].
For simplicity, an average heat transfer coefficient of surface convection is used in most of the
simulations. However, with the advance of CFD technology, a CFD model can offer an effective
and efficient tool to calculate the average and local heat transfer coefficients of surface convection
with an acceptable cost [96,131]. Verboven et al. used a 2D CFD model (CFX package) to investigate
the variation in heat transfer coefficient around the surface of foods. Their simulations found that
around the rectangular-shaped foods, there was a large variation in the local surface heat transfer
coefficients. Using the local coefficients instead of the average surface coefficient caused changes in
temperature in the foods to be considerably slower especially for slab-shaped foods and the coldest
point was also no longer at the geometric center [132].

2.4.4  Food Properties

The food is introduced into a model through its properties. These properties including thermal
conductivity, density, specific heat capacity, diffusivity, and porosity can identify the uniqueness of
the food to the model. Food products are complicated materials. Their properties vary with species,
process treatment, temperature, concentration, etc. All these factors will increase difficulties in
describing and predicting the properties of a product in modeling heat and mass transfer.
Thermal properties are another one of the most important factors determining the accuracy of
model predictions. Part of thermal properties of food products can be found in publications avail-
able [127,133–137].
The thermal properties of foods can be directly measured by experiments [23,41]. For measuring
physical properties, heat transfer models can be used to optimize the experimental design [138]. The
prediction accuracy of a model can be significantly improved by including temperature- and compo-
sition-dependent thermal properties [58,139]. However, it is difficult for experimental measurement
to obtain a detailed description of the relationship between thermal properties and temperature and
compositions of foods. Alternatively, thermal properties of foods can be calculated from the compo-
sitions of foods and the thermal properties of each composition [27,31,66–68]. The compositions of
foods can be measured before and/or after processing and the variation in the compositions during
processing can be determined by mass transfer models. The main compositions of foods usually are
water, protein, and fat and other compositions such as salt and ash are very small. The temperature-
dependent thermal properties of these compositions can be measured or found in literatures [127].
It should be noted that the calculations for thermal properties from food compositions are based on
empirical or semiempirical relationship. More attention should be paid to select suitable correlation
equations for a given case.
Thermal properties of foods can also be inversely found by using analytical or numerical heat
transfer models and experimental temperature history. For determining a thermal property, an
assumed value of the thermal property is first used to solve the numerical model. The predicted
temperatures for given locations are compared with their corresponding measured values. The value
of the thermal property is acceptable if the minimum difference between the predicted and mea-
sured temperatures is achieved [140].

2.4.5  Shrinkage of Solid Foods during Thermal Processes

Shrinkage in foods occurs due to moisture loss during thermal processes. Effects of shrinkage on
the accuracy of models are sometimes significant [141]. Shrinkage is normally taken into account in
models of drying processes [24,100,102]. Shrinkage can be expressed as functions of moisture and
the functions are determined by experiments [24,141].
56 Thermal Food Processing: New Technologies and Quality Issues

2.5  CONCLUSIONS
Changes in temperature and concentration during thermal processes are always initiated by a trans-
fer to or from the surface of the product. The transfer rate may be controlled by internal resistance,
external resistance, or both. Transfer of both heat and mass takes place according to several mecha-
nisms. In most cases, more than one of these mechanisms are involved. In some processes, transfer
of both heat and mass occurs simultaneously. It is important to understand heat and mass transfer
mechanism for the improvement of existing food thermal processes and for the development of new
and better processes.
The physical laws of heat and mass transfer have widely been used to describe food thermal pro-
cesses, producing a large number of mathematical models. Some assumptions such as simplified
geometrical shape, constant thermal–physical properties, constant surface heat and mass transfer
coefficients, and no volume change during processing were widely used in modeling. However,
more research should be conducted to justify the acceptability of those assumptions and to improve
the accuracy of models by finding more information on surface heat and mass transfer coeffi-
cients, food properties, and shrinkage during processing. Before heat and mass transfer models can
become a quantitative tool for correctly analyzing thermal processes, determination of thermal–
physical propensities and surface mass and heat transfer coefficients remains an important area to
be studied.

NOMENCLATURE
A Area (m2)
cp Specific heat capacity (kJ/kg K)
C Concentration (kg/m3 or kmol/m3)
C* Concentration in equilibrium with the bulk gas partial pressure (kg/m3 or kmol/m3)
d Diameter (m)
D Mass diffusivity (m2/s)
D 0 Pre-exponential factor in Arrhenius equation (m2/s)
Dg Mass diffusivity in the gas phase (kmol/N m s)
D l Mass diffusivity in the liquid phase (m2/s)
e Emissivity (−)
E Electric field strength (V/m)
Ea Activation energy (J/kg·mol)
F12 View factor, fraction of radiation leaving surface 1 and arriving at surface 2 (–)
g Acceleration due to gravity (m/s2)
h Heat transfer coefficient (W/m2 K)
hb Boiling heat transfer coefficient (W/m2 K)
hc Convection heat transfer coefficient (W/m2 K)
hcd Condensation heat transfer coefficient (W/m2 K)
hr Radiation heat transfer coefficient (W/m2 K)
H Enthalpy (J/kg) or Henry’s constant (J/kmol)
J Diffusive flow rate (kg/m2 s or kmol/m2 s)
k Thermal conductivity (W/m K)
Kg Gas mass transfer coefficient (kmol/N s)
Kl Liquid mass transfer coefficient (m/s)
Kp Surface mass transfer coefficient related to pressure (kg/Pa m2 s)
L Length (m)
P Pressure (Pa)
P* Partial pressure in equilibrium with the bulk liquid concentration (Pa)
Pr Prandtl number (–)
Heat and Mass Transfer in Thermal Food Processing 57

q Heat rate (W)

qmax Peak heat flux (W/m2)
qs Heat flux (W/m2) or mass flux on the surface (kg/m2 s or kmol/m2 s)
R Gas constant (8.314 J/mol K)
S Source term (W/m3) or entropy (J/K)
S(t) Position of moving boundary at time, t (m)
t Time (s)
T Temperature (°C)
TK Absolute temperature (K)
ΔT Temperature difference (°C)
u Velocity (m/s)
V Specific volume (m3/kg)
x, y, z Orthogonal coordinates (m)
X Moisture content (%)

Greek symbols
α Thermal diffusivity (m2/s)
α′ Attenuation factor (1/m)
β Thermal expansion (1/K) or loss angle (–)
δ Thickness (m)
δinf Infrared penetration depth (m)
ε′ Resistive part of permittivity (–)
ε″ Capacitive part of permittivity (–)
λ Latent heat (J/kg) or wavelength (m)
μ Viscosity (Pa s)
∇· Divergence of a vector
∇ Vector operator
ν Frequency (Hz)
ϕ Temperature or concentration (–)
Φ Thermal inertia (s)
ψ Group defined by Equation 2.12
ρ Density (kg/m3)
σ Stefan–Boltzmann constant (W/m2 K4) or surface tension (N/m)

Subscripts
Γ Boundary
∞ Processing medium
0 initial
1 Surface or phase 1
2 Surface or phase 2
A Component A
b Boiling
c Convection
cd Condensation
g Gas
i Interface
inf Infrared
K Temperature in Kelvin
l Liquid
m Medium
58 Thermal Food Processing: New Technologies and Quality Issues

max Maximum
P Pressure
s Surface
v Vapor
w Water
x, y, z Orthogonal coordinates

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