Simulation of the Magnetic Freezing Process Applied to Foods

Abstract

Magnetic field (MF) freezing of foods is an innovative process already developed at the industrial level. However, the real interaction among the variables taking place in the process is not yet given in the literature because the MF distribution inside the volume of the processing cell is still not well studied. This fact jeopardizes both drawing correct conclusions about the synergy produced by the programmed combination of physical agents and achieving an optimal design of the processing device. Three different representative magnetic freezing processes applied to foods are here dealt representing the modeling of the distribution of the MF around the foods. One of them is based on the application of a static MF produced from magnets in a laboratory freezer. Another one is promoted by the action of an oscillatory magnetic field (OMF) produced by an iron core inductor device disposed also in a laboratory freezer. The third one also is based on the action of an OMF produced by using air core inductor coils simulating the performance of a commercial food freezer. With the aim of understanding the interactions between foods and MF necessary to support beneficial actions of its presence during freezing, analytical, numerical modeling, and experimental procedures have been studied and are here reviewed. Taking into account the accuracy afforded by using modeling and considering also the difficulty of performing experimental determinations of MF inside the volume of the device during a real freezing process, the modeling procedure seems to be a very suitable and practical tool to know about the MF distribution in it. Due to the very different behaviors of the MF vectors that can be found depending on the design of the freezer and the location of the sample inside, it is recommended to perform a previous specific mathematical modeling for each planned MF freezing process applied to foods.