CHAPTER 6

SIZE REDUCTION

6.1. PRINCIPLES OF SIZE REDUCTION

6.1.1. Introductory Aspects

In many food processes it is frequently necessary to reduce the size of solid materials for different
purposes. In this case, size reduction may aid other processes such as expression and extraction, or
may shorten heat treatments such as blanching and cooking. Comminution is the generic term used
for size reduction and includes different operations such as crushing, grinding, milling, mincing, and
dicing. Most of these terms are related to a particular application, e.g., milling of cereals, mincing
of beef, dicing of tubers, or grinding of spices. The reduction mechanism consists of deforming the
food piece until it breaks or tears. Breaking of hard materials along cracks or defects in their structure
is achieved by applying diverse forces.
The objective of comminution is to produce smaller particles from larger ones. Smaller particles
are the desired product either because of their large surface or because of their shape, size, and number.
The energy efficiency of the operation can be related to the new surface formed by the reduction
in size. The geometric characteristics of particles, both alone and in mixtures, are important for
product evaluation after comminution. In an actual process, a given unit does not yield a uniform
product, whether the feed is uniformly sized or not. The product normally consists of a mixture of
particles, which may contain a wide variety of sizes and even shapes. Some types of equipment are
designed to control the magnitude of the largest particles in their products, but the fine sizes are not
under such control. In some machines, fines are minimized, but they cannot be totally eliminated. In
comminuted products, the term “diameter” is generally used to describe the characteristic dimension
related to particle size. As described in Chapter 2, the shape of an individual particle is conveniently
expressed in terms of the sphericity s , which is independent of particle size. For spherical particles
s equals unity, while for many crushed materials its value lies between 0.6 and 0.7.
The different types of particle size distributions have been discussed extensively in Chapter 2.
No single distribution applies equally well to all comminuted products, particularly in the range of
coarser particle sizes. For finer particles, however, the most commonly found distribution follows a
log-normal function (Herdan, 1960), which is the most useful among the different types of functions
(Beddow and Meloy, 1980).

6.1.2. Forces Used in Size Reduction

As previously mentioned, in comminution of food products the reduction mechanism consists
of deforming the food piece until it breaks or tears, and such breaking may be achieved by applying
diverse forces. The types of forces commonly used in food processes are compressive, impact,
attrition or shear and cutting. In a comminution operation, more than one type of force is usually
acting. For example, crushing, grinding, and milling take place in powdered sugar, flour, mustard,
and cocoa production. Table 6.1 summarizes these types of forces in some of the mills of common
use in the food industry.

157
158 Food Powders

Table 6.1. Types of force used in size reduction equipment.

Force Schematic diagram Principle Example of equipment

Compressive Nutcracker Crushing rolls

Impact Hammer Hammer mill

Attrition File Disc attrition mill

Cut Scissors Rotary knife cutter

Compressive forces are used for coarse crushing of hard materials. Coarse crushing implies
reduction to a size of about 3 mm. Impact forces can be regarded as general purpose forces and may
be associated with coarse, medium and fine grinding of a variety of food materials, such as during the
breakage of nuts. Shear or attrition forces are applied in fine pulverization, when the size of products
can reach the micrometer range. Sometimes a term referred to as ultra-fine grinding is associated
with processes in which the sub-micron range of particles is attained. Finally, cutting gives a definite
particle size and may even produce a definite shape.

6.1.3. Mechanical Resistance Involved in Size Reduction

Mechanical resistance refers to all the properties that describe the behavior of a solid material
as it deforms and breaks under the influence of an applied stress (Loncin and Merson, 1979). The
deformation of a certain food material can be elastic when the applied stress remains below a limiting
value, or inelastic. The material experiences elastic deformation when it returns to its original shape
when the force is removed. If the stress exceeds the elastic limit, the material undergoes permanent
(inelastic) deformation until it reaches the yield point when it begins to flow (region of ductility)
under the action of the applied stress until it finally breaks. This process defines the elastic stress
limit, yield stress, breaking stress, and the region of ductility.