Impact of pretreatments on the solid/liquid expression behavior of canola seeds based on the simplified computational method

Abstract

The impacts of expression parameters (pressure and temperature) and pretreatments (dehulling, flaking, cooking and their combination) on the consolidation behaviour of canola seeds were studied using a laboratory hydraulic press. It was demonstrated that the expression kinetics of treated seeds follows filtration-consolidation behaviour. For these samples, the simplified computational method used in this work allowed the determination of the filtration diffusivity (consolidation coefficient b). Results showed that flaking and cooking enhance the expression kinetics and increase the consolidation coefficient. However, dehulling reduces the pressing performance. Model adjustment showed that experimental data coincide reasonably well with the model for ν < 2.85 demonstrating the co-existence of primary and secondary consolidation.