NUMERICAL MODEL FOR HEAT AND FLUID FLOW IN FOOD FREEZING

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to describe the fluid mechanics and heat transfer in the freezing process of a plate-shaped portion of salmon meat inside a refrigeration chamber. Forced convection from the food to the air is calculated from continuity, linear momentum, and energy equations conjugated to the heat conduction with liquid-solid phase transformation of the water content inside the food, formulated by apparent specific heat. The finite volume method with staggered variables locations in a generalized system of coordinates is used for the discretized equations. Time dependent results of local velocity vectors, pressure distribution, and freezing curves are presented.