Two Dimensional Heat Conduction in Food Undergoing Freezing: Predicting Freezing Time of Rectangular or Finitely Cylindrical Food

Abstract

ABSTRACT Since there was no procedure available for estimating freezing time of rectangular or finitely cylindrical food through manual calculations, the present study was initiated to develop such a procedure. For this development, our computerized model was used together with statistical techniques. A design for screening tests was used to identify eight dimensionless groups, which influences significantly the freezing rate, out of 22 independent groups. Among the eight groups, only two were related to the thermophysical properties of food. Through the joint application of a central composite design of experiments and of the computerized model, algebraic formulae containing the eight significant groups were derived for the freezing time estimation. Their validity was verified through experimental freezing processes.