Performance Analysis of Contact Baking of Flat Bread in an Indirect-Heating Oven

Abstract

A significant portion of Iranian flat breads are produced in semi-industrial, indirect-heating ovens. Therefore, an efficient oven design and a proper selection of operating conditions are crucial to improve the product quality and reduce energy consumption. In the present study, a mathematical model is developed to simulate a semi-industrial, indirect-heating, continuous oven performance during contact baking of an Iranian flat bread, referred to as Taftoon. Individual modes of heat transfer are considered among various components of the baking system to estimate the system performance and the bread quality in terms of design and operating conditions. The predictions of this model are in good agreement with the experimental data. Numerical results indicate that conduction is the primary heat transfer mechanism. Furthermore, the effects of dough thickness, conveyer speed, and input air velocity on the quality of the bread are studied and appropriate ranges for the parameters are determined.

Keywords:

• Contact baking
• Flat bread
• Heat transfer
• Mathematical modeling
• Optimization

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The experimental set-up was partially supported by the Shiraz Nan Company manager, to whom the authors are indebted. Also, the authors would like to express their gratitude to Eng. Varzandeh and the Professional Group of Mehrpazhooh for their valuable assistance in conducting the experiments.