ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the fundamentals of heat transfer in food processing. Heat transfer is a significant transport phenomenon encountered in many unit operations in food processing. Among different heat transfer processes, cooling is applied to reduce enzymatic activity and rate of microbial growth. Heat transfer is the transfer of energy as a consequence of temperature differences between two objects. Hence, it travels from higher to lower temperature regions by conduction, convection, or thermal radiation. Free convection heat transfer is the result of buoyancy forces induced by density differences due to the effect of temperature. Forced convection heat transfer, on the other hand, occurs when the fluid motion is caused by an external force. Thermal and physical properties of foods are important for modeling and optimization of heat transfer processes. The chapter examines continuity, energy and momentum equations for thermal energy transport and deals with required equations and assumptions for conduction and convection heat transfer.
