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Numerical Simulation of Physical Systems in Food Engineering

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A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Engineering and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 September 2021) | Viewed by 16330

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Chiara Cevoli

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Guest Editor

Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
Interests: numerical simulation; CFD; artificial neural networks; chemometrics; physical properties

Dr. Angelo Fabbri

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Guest Editor

Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
Interests: CFD; food processing simulation; neural networks; physical properties of food materials industrial plants; agricultural machinery

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The design and optimization of a food process represent a challenge in food engineering. Most food processes are characterized by the interactions among transport phenomena (momentum, heat, and mass transfer) and other physics. For an optimal design, it is essential to study and determine these interactions. In this framework, numerical simulation could be a useful alternative. The numerical model, which is the base of a simulation, consists of a set of differential equations able to describe the physics of the problem, solved by a numerical method, on a geometrically defined domain. Due to continuous progress in computational power and in the development of more versatile and easy-to-use software packages, an increase in the use of numerical simulations by food engineers was observed. Numerical simulation was used to study and optimize several food processes, such as drying, cooking, mixing, sterilization, chilling, and cold storage.

For this Special Issue, you are invited to submit original research on the application of numerical simulation in the food engineering sector to design, optimize, and innovate food processes.

Dr. Chiara Cevoli
Dr. Angelo Fabbri
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Foods is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

numerical simulation
finite elements
modeling
food processes
heat transfer
mass transfer

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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20 pages, 6732 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Study on Periodic Pulsation Characteristics of Corn Grain in a Grain Cylinder during the Unloading Stage

by Han Tang, Changsu Xu, Xin Qi, Ziming Wang, Jinfeng Wang, Wenqi Zhou, Qi Wang and Jinwu Wang

Foods 2021, 10(10), 2314; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10102314 - 29 Sep 2021

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2026

Abstract

The fluctuation effect of corn grain often occurs during the unloading stage. To accurately explore the periodic pulsation characteristics of corn grain during the unloading stage, a discrete model of corn grain was established, and the effectiveness of the discrete element method in simulating the corn grain unloading stage was verified by a 3D laser scanner and the “spherical particle filling method”. The grain cylinder was divided into six areas, and the periodic pulsation characteristics at different heights were explored through simulation tests. The results showed that the faster the average speed of corn grain changes in unit time, the more significant the periodic pulsation characteristics were as the height of grain unloading increased. The corn grain pulsateon in the grain cylinder exhibited gradual upward transmission and gradual amplification in the process of transmission. The average velocity decreased with increasing height. The direct cause of pulsation was the variation in the average stress between grain layers. Simulation analysis of grain unloading for different half cone angles of the grain cylinder was carried out. The change in corn grain average velocity over time in the area below 20 mm of the upper free surface was extracted. The results showed that the speed of the top corn grain increased with increasing the half cone angle, and the periodic pulsation phenomenon became more obvious with increasing the half cone angle at half cone angles of 30–65°. A half cone angle of 65–70° marked the critical state of corn grain flow changing from funnel flow to overall flow in the grain cylinder. This study provides a method for studying the periodic pulsation characteristics of different crops during the grain unloading stage and provides a technical reference for the safe design of grain unloading equipment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Numerical Simulation of Physical Systems in Food Engineering)

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11 pages, 15671 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Finite Element Modelling for Predicting the Puncture Responses in Papayas

by Nurazwin Zulkifli, Norhashila Hashim, Hazreen Haizi Harith, Mohamad Firdza Mohamad Shukery, Daniel Iroemeha Onwude and Masniza Sairi

Foods 2021, 10(2), 442; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10020442 - 18 Feb 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2888

Abstract

This study aims to develop a finite element (FE) model to determine the mechanical responses of Exotica papayas during puncture loads. The FE model of the puncture-test was developed using the ANSYS 19.1 software. The proposed framework combined the finite element method and statistical procedure to validate the simulation with the experimental results. Assuming the elastic-plastic behaviour of papaya, the mechanical properties were measured through tensile test and compression test for both skin and flesh. The geometrical models include a quarter solid of papaya that was subjected to a puncture test with a 2 mm diameter flat-end stainless-steel probe inserted into the fruit tissues at 0.5 mm/s, 1 mm/s, 1.5 mm/s, 2 mm/s, and 2.5 mm/s. The FE results showed good agreement with the experimental data, indicating that the proposed approach was reliable. The FE model was best predicted the bioyield force with the highest relative error of 14.46%. In conclusion, this study contributes to the usage of FE methods for predicting the puncture responses of any perishable fruit and agricultural products. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Numerical Simulation of Physical Systems in Food Engineering)

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16 pages, 3671 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of Electric Field Distribution on the Heating Uniformity of a Model Ready-to-Eat Meal in Microwave-Assisted Thermal Sterilization Using the FDTD Method

by Yoon-Ki Hong, Roger Stanley, Juming Tang, Lan Bui and Amir Ghandi

Foods 2021, 10(2), 311; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10020311 - 03 Feb 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3385

Abstract

Microwave assisted thermal sterilization (MATS) is a novel microwave technology currently used in the commercial production of ready-to-eat meals. It combines surface heating of high-temperature circulation water with internal microwave heating in cavities. The heating pattern inside the food packages in a MATS process depends heavily on the electric field distribution formed by microwaves from the top and bottom windows of the microwave heating cavities. The purpose of this research was to study the effect of the electric field on 922 MHz microwave heating of ready-to-eat meals as they moved through the microwave chamber of a pilot-scale MATS system using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. A three-dimensional numerical simulation model was developed as a digital twin of the MATS process of food moving through the microwave chamber. The simulation showed that the electric field intensity of the MATS microwave cavity was greatest on the surface and side edge of the cavity and of the food. There was a strong similarity of the experimental heating pattern with that of the electric field distribution simulated by a computer model. The digital twin modeling approach can be used to design options for improving the heating uniformity and throughput of ready-to-eat meals in MATS industrial systems. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Numerical Simulation of Physical Systems in Food Engineering)

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23 pages, 1126 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Non-Isothermal Moving-Boundary Model for Continuous and Intermittent Drying of Pears

by Alessandra Adrover, Claudia Venditti and Antonio Brasiello

Foods 2020, 9(11), 1577; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods9111577 - 30 Oct 2020

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1594

Abstract

A non-isothermal moving-boundary model for food dehydration, accounting for shrinkage and thermal effects, is proposed and applied to the analysis of intermittent dehydration in which air temperature, relative humidity, and velocity vary cyclically in time. The convection-diffusion heat transport equation, accounting for heat transfer, water evaporation, and shrinkage at the sample surface, is coupled to the convection-diffusion water transport equation. Volume shrinkage is not superimposed but predicted by the model through the introduction of a point-wise shrinkage velocity. Experimental dehydration curves, in continuous and intermittent conditions, are accurately predicted by the model with an effective water diffusivity

D_{eff} (T)

that depends exclusively on the local temperature. The non-isothermal model is successfully applied to the large set of experimental data of continuous and intermittent drying of Rocha pears. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Numerical Simulation of Physical Systems in Food Engineering)

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Review

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32 pages, 1170 KiB

Open AccessReview

Modelling Volume Change and Deformation in Food Products/Processes: An Overview

by Emmanuel Purlis, Chiara Cevoli and Angelo Fabbri

Foods 2021, 10(4), 778; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10040778 - 05 Apr 2021

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 5211

Abstract

Volume change and large deformation occur in different solid and semi-solid foods during processing, e.g., shrinkage of fruits and vegetables during drying and of meat during cooking, swelling of grains during hydration, and expansion of dough during baking and of snacks during extrusion and puffing. In addition, food is broken down during oral processing. Such phenomena are the result of complex and dynamic relationships between composition and structure of foods, and driving forces established by processes and operating conditions. In particular, water plays a key role as plasticizer, strongly influencing the state of amorphous materials via the glass transition and, thus, their mechanical properties. Therefore, it is important to improve the understanding about these complex phenomena and to develop useful prediction tools. For this aim, different modelling approaches have been applied in the food engineering field. The objective of this article is to provide a general (non-systematic) review of recent (2005–2021) and relevant works regarding the modelling and simulation of volume change and large deformation in various food products/processes. Empirical- and physics-based models are considered, as well as different driving forces for deformation, in order to identify common bottlenecks and challenges in food engineering applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Numerical Simulation of Physical Systems in Food Engineering)

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