Direct Measurement of Heat Transfer Rates and Coefficients in Freezing Processes by the Use of Heat Flux Sensors

Abstract

Heat exchange is often complex to assess in freezing equipment. Either the extensive calculation procedures based on product time-temperature data, or the lack of accurate thermophysical properties, or even the non-uniform processing conditions in industrial equipment, results in increased difficulty in calculating accurate heat exchange parameters. The present study aims to solve this kind of problem by introducing the use of heat flux sensors (or fluxmeters) for an online measurement of heat exchange parameters during freezing processes. Since food products often have irregular, moist and greasy surfaces, bad attachment of the sensors can lead to low accuracy in heat flux measurement. First, a technique was improved in this particular and a numerical procedure based on matching the experimental and simulated temperature histories was used to calibrate the sensors attached to Tylose R gels submitted to freezing and thawing cycles. Following this, the sensors were applied directly to a vegetable product undergoing freezing in a static freezer to measure the instantaneous product heat release rate and the local heat transfer coefficient. A fluxmeter-plastic transducer was also developed and used, coupled to an anemometer to map axially and transversally the local effective heat transfer coefficient and air speed profiles in a Super-Contact freezing tunnel. Results were compared with numerical simulations and showed good agreement. Irregular air speed distribution and low efficiency heat transfer zones were accurately detected, providing information for equipment optimization.