Palm | Kelapa Sawit

ABSTRACT: The objective of this study is to obtain a mathematical model to describe the phenomena of heat and mass transfer taking place during pressurization of a food model. High-pressure experiments were carried out in agar gel samples.

During all the experiments, the tempera- ture evolution in the centre and in the surface of the samples were recorded. The mathe- matical model took into account free convection arising in the pressure medium after com- pression as it is known its influence in the thermal evolution of the processed food. Per- formed simulations performed showed good agreement between experimental and predicted temperature profiles for all the studied processes. Modelling of high-pressure processes is important for their optimization and their general implantation in the food industry.