Experimental study and numerical modeling of the freezing process of marine products.

DIMA J.B, ; SANTOS M.V ; BARÓN P.; CALIFANO A; ZARITZKY N.

FOOD AND BIOPRODUCTS PROCESSING

INST CHEMICAL ENGINEERS

Año: 2014 vol. 92 p. 54 - 66

0960-3085

An increasing interest in the exploitation of new Patagonian marine crabs was manifested by the industry, due to theircommercial value as frozen products. In the present work the freezing of two products: crab meat in plastic pouchesand crab claws was experimentally conducted and numerically modeled. Non linear, non-stationary heat conduction partial differential equations were solved to simulate the freezing of pouches, using a computational program infinite elements coded by the authors. The freezing of crab claws was simulated considering the irregular geometryof the system and two domains with different thermal properties (crab meat in contact with a calcareous layer)using Heaviside and Gaussian functions, to obtain a smoother specific heat curve. Heat transfer coefficients in theindustrial tunnel freezer were determined from independent experiments. The influence of the freezing rate on thesize of the ice crystals was determined by histological observations. Numerical models were satisfactorily validatedby means of experimental time?temperature curves obtained at industrial scale in freezing tunnels. Tracking of the warmest point paths in each product was performed. These simulations are of great value for food process designand can help to optimize and control the freezing of new products