Mass transfer coefficients determination from industrial processes of meat drying

摘要

Diffusivity is one of the most important parameter for modelling drying of stuffed meat products. The knowledge of this parameter is difficult to obtain beforehand as it depends on the characteristics of the product (water content, fat content, salt content, temperature, etc). The aim of this study was to determine the diffusivity coefficients of a commercial type of “salami” using data from its industrial process. Diffusivity coefficients were found by minimizing the error between the weight drying curve obtained from the real process and the curve obtained by simulating the drying process with a mathematical model. Internal mass and heat transfer were modelled using Fick's and Fourier's law respectively. External mass and heat transfer coefficients were calculated using Nusselt adimensional numbers. The drying process was divided into several stages. For each stage a diffusivity value was found. Results showed that diffusivity values lie in the range of values found in previous studies. An exponential equation was found to be the best function to fit the diffusivity data. This function can be reused to simulate the drying of the same product under different process conditions in order to optimize the process in simulation.