HEAT, MASS, MOMENTUM TRANSFER THEORIES: CONDUCTION,

CONVECTION AND RADIATION AS APPLIED TO FOOD ENGINEERING.

HEAT TRANSFER

The most common processes found in a food processing plant involve heating and cooling of

foods. In the modern industrialized food company, we commonly find unit operations such as

refrigeration, freezing, thermal sterilization, drying, and evaporation which are known for their

high energy consumption. These unit operations involve the transfer of heat between a product

and some heating or cooling medium. Heating and cooling of food products is necessary to

prevent microbial and enzymatic degradation. In addition, desired sensorial properties—colour,

flavour, texture—are imparted to foods when they are heated or cooled. The study of heat

transfer is important because it provides a basis for understanding how various food processes

operate.

One generalized equation of any transfer process is,

𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒
𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑓𝑒𝑟 =
𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒

Heat transfer is a dynamic process in which heat is transferred spontaneously from one body to

another cooler body. The rate of heat transfer depends upon the differences in temperature

between the bodies. The greater the difference in temperature, the greater the rate of heat

transfer.

The generalized equation can be reframed for heat transfer as,

 𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒
𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑓𝑒𝑟 =
𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑢𝑚

TYPES OF HEAT TRANSFER MECHANISMS/MODES OF HEAT TRANSFER

By understanding how heat is transferred, you can improve cooking methods and food safety.

Heat can be transferred in three main ways: conduction, convection, and radiation. In thermal

processes, the heat transfer occurs either by one mechanism or in combination of two or three

mechanisms. Each of these mechanisms works differently, affecting how heat is distributed in

food. But of course, one mode of heat transfer plays a dominating role.

Conductive Heat Transfer

Conduction H.T is the transfer of thermal energy from more energetic to less energetic particles

due to their interactions.

Conduction is the transfer of heat through direct contact. For example, when cooking a steak in a

pan, the heat from the metal surface directly transfers to the food. Also, when a metal spoon is

used to fry yam in hot oil or an aluminum cup is used to transfer hot water from a cooking pot to

a bucket, the handle of the spoon and cup respectively becomes hot after a while. The heat of the

hot oil or boiling water has been transferred to the handle of the metal spoon or cup. This heat

has traveled through the metal by a process called conduction.

Conduction is the mode of heat transfer in which the transfer of energy takes place at a molecular

level. There is the transfer of vibration energy from one molecule to the adjoining molecules

closely associated in a solid mass. Free electrons in molecular level might carry the thermal
energy and electrical energy with in a system. Physical movement of body does not take place in

conduction. Example: - heating of metal body or metal pan on stove. In clearer terms, it is the

process by which heat is passed along a stationary solid material, the heated particles remaining

stable. There are two commonly accepted theories that describe conductive heat transfer.

According to one theory, as molecules of a solid material attain additional thermal energy, they

become more energetic and vibrate with increased amplitude of vibration while confined in

their lattice. These vibrations are transmitted from one molecule to another without actual

translatory motion of the molecules. Heat is thus conducted from regions of higher temperature

to those at lower temperature.

The second theory states that conduction occurs at a molecular level due to the drift of free

electrons. These free electrons are prevalent in metals, and they carry thermal and electrical

energy. For this reason, good conductors of electricity such as silver and copper are also good

conductors of thermal energy. Note that in conductive mode, there is no physical movement of

the object undergoing heat transfer.

Conduction is the common mode of heat transfer in heating/cooling of opaque solid materials.

From everyday experience, we know that on a hot day, heat transfer from the outside to the

inside through the wall of a room depends on the surface area of the wall (a wall with larger

surface area will conduct more heat), the thermal properties of construction materials (steel will

conduct more heat than brick), wall thickness (more heat transfer through a thin wall than thick),

and temperature difference (more heat transfer will occur when the outside temperature is much

hotter than the inside room temperature). In other words, the rate of heat transfer through the

wall may be expressed as;

 (surface area) (temperature difference)
qα
wall thickness

Or

A dT
qα
dx

Or, by inserting a constant of proportionality,

dT
q = −k𝐴
dx

Where,

qx is the rate of heat flow in the direction of heat transfer by conduction (W); k is thermal

conductivity (W/ [m OC]); A is area (normal to the direction of heat transfer) through which heat

flows (m2); T is temperature (OC); and x is length (m), a variable.

The above equation is also called FOURIER’S LAW FOR HEAT CONDUCTION, after

Joseph Fourier, a French mathematical physicist. According to the second law of

thermodynamics, heat will always conduct from higher temperature to lower temperature.

EXAMPLE

One face of a stainless-steel plate 1 cm thick is maintained at 110OC, and the other face is at

90OC. Assuming steady-state conditions, calculate the rate of heat transfer per unit area through

the plate. The thermal conductivity of stainless steel is 17 W/ (m OC).

Given Thickness of plate = 1 cm = 0.01 m

Temperature of one face = 110OC

Temperature of other face = 90OC

Thermal conductivity of stainless steel = 17 W/ (m OC).

Approach

For steady-state heat transfer in rectangular coordinates we will use the above equation to

compute rate of heat transfer.

Solution 1. From Equation above

dT
q = −k𝐴
dx

(110 − 90)
q = −(17)X (1)
(0 − 0.01)

q = 34, 000 W

Convective Heat Transfer

When a fluid (liquid or gas) comes into contact with a solid body such as the surface of a wall,

heat exchange will occur between the solid and the fluid whenever there is a temperature

difference between the two. During heating and cooling of gases and liquids the fluid streams

exchange heat with solid surfaces by convection. The magnitude of the fluid motion plays an

important role in convective heat transfer. For example; cooling of hot soup by blowing air over

it. If air is flowing at a high velocity past a hot soup or baked potato, the latter will cool down

much faster than if the air velocity was much lower. Also, if a beaker is filled about two-thirds
full with water and some pieces of filter paper are sprinkled on the surface. When the extreme

right end of the bottom of the beaker is heated with a small gas flame, it is observed that the

pieces of paper begin to move towards the left of the beaker, down to the bottom left, across to

the right and then upwards, in a cyclic way. The direction of water in this case shows the

direction of heated water.

Therefore, convection is the process by which heat energy is transferred in a liquid or gas

by the actual movement of the heated fluid. Heat transfer due to convection involves the

energy exchange between a surface and an adjacent fluid. A distinction must be made between

forced convection, wherein a fluid is made to flow past a solid surface by an external agent such

as a fan or pump, and free or natural convection wherein warmer (or cooler) fluid next to the

solid boundary causes circulation because of the density difference resulting from the

temperature variation throughout a region of the fluid. The rate equation for convective heat

transfer was first expressed by Newton in 1701, and is referred to as the NEWTON RATE

EQUATION OR NEWTON’S ‘‘LAW’’ OF COOLING.

This equation is

𝑞 = ℎ𝐴𝑇𝑠 − 𝑇∞

𝑞/𝐴 = ℎ∆𝑇

where q is the rate of convective heat transfer, in W or Btu/h; A is the area normal to direction of

heat flow, in m2 or ft2 ; ∆T is the temperature difference between surface and fluid, in K or OF;

and h is the convective heat transfer coefficient, in W/m2. K or Btu/h ft2 OF.
Radiative Heat Transfer

Radiation heat transfer occurs between two surfaces by the emission and later absorption of

electromagnetic waves (or photons). It is the transfer of heat energy by electromagnetic waves,

which transfers heat from one body to another. In contrast to conduction and convection,

radiation requires no physical medium for its propagation. It operates independently of the

medium through which it occurs and depends upon the relative temperatures, geometric

arrangements and surface structures of the materials that are emitting or absorbing heat.

It can even occur in a perfect vacuum, moving at the speed of light, as we experience everyday

solar radiation. Liquids are strong absorbers of radiation. Gases are transparent to radiation,

except that some gases absorb radiation of a particular wavelength (for example, ozone absorbs

ultraviolet radiation). An example of radiant heat transfer is when a foodstuff is passed below a

bank of electric resistance heaters that are red hot (electric grill) or baking of bread in an oven.

Solids are opaque to thermal radiation. Therefore, in problems involving thermal radiation with

solid materials, such as with solid foods, our analysis is concerned primarily with the surface of

the material. This is in contrast to microwave and radio frequency radiation, where the wave

penetration into a solid object is significant. All objects at a temperature above 0 Absolute emit

thermal radiation. Thermal radiation emitted from an object’s surface is proportional to the

absolute temperature raised to the fourth power and the surface characteristics. More specifically,

the rate of heat emission (or radiation) from an object of a surface area A is expressed by the

following equation:

𝑞 = 𝜎𝜀𝐴𝑇4A
where σ is the Stefan Boltzmann1 constant, equal to 5.669 X 10-8 W/(m2 K4 ); TA is temperature,

Absolute; A is the area (m2 ); and ε is emissivity, which describes the extent to which a surface is

similar to a blackbody. For a blackbody, the value of emissivity or epsilon is 1.

EXAMPLE

Calculate the rate of heat energy emitted by 100 m2 of a polished iron surface (emissivity =

0.06). The temperature of the surface is 37OC.

Given

Emissivity ε = 0.06

Area A = 100 m2

Temperature = 37OC = 310 K

Approach

We will use the Stefan Boltzmann law, to calculate the rate of heat transfer due to radiation.

Solution 2. From Boltzmann’s equation

𝑞 = 𝜎𝜀𝐴𝑇4

q = (5.669 X 10-8 W/ [m2 K4]) (0:06) (100 m2) (310 K) 4 = 3141 W

FACTORS AFFECTING THE HEAT TRANSFER CHARACTERISTICS OF FOOD

There are many factors, which affect the heat transfer into the food. Generally, the surface heat

transfer coefficient is very high and is not a limiting factor in heat transfer. The following factors

influence the rate at which heat penetrates into food;

 I. Type of product. Liquid or particulate food (for example peas in brine), where natural

convection current is established, heat faster than solid food (for example meat pastes and

corned beef), where heat is transferred by conduction.

II. Size of the container. Heat penetration to the centre is faster in small containers than in

large ones.

III. Agitation of the container. End-over-end agitation and to a lesser extent axial agitation

increase the effectiveness of natural convection and thereby increases the rate of heat

penetration in viscous or semi-solid foods (E.g. beans in tomato sauce)

IV. Temperature of the retort

V. Shape of the container (tall containers promote convection currents in convective heating

foods).

VI. Type of container (heat penetration is faster through metal than through glass or plastics

owing to differences in thermal conductivity).