ABSTRACT
The solution of a partial differential equation is dependent on the initial and boundary conditions. A partial differential equation (PDE) differs from an ordinary differential equation (ODE) in the fact that it describes the change in the dependent variable with respect to more than one independent variable in the system. The classification of the linear second-order PDEs is generally made by the form of the family of curves; namely elliptic, hyperbolic, and parabolic; that each of the equation represents. In most of the applications in food and agricultural engineering, the dependent variable is either temperature or moisture content. In general, as the time step is reduced or the number of grid points is increased, the accuracy gets better. The programs developed earlier are limited to handling only one type of boundary condition, namely Cauchy conditions, and only one method at a time.
