CHARACTERIZATION OF HEAT PENETRATION DATA

The temperature history of the product undergoing the process depends on

several factors related to
1) the heating process (still vs. agitated cook; in-package vs. aseptic processing)
2) the heating medium [steam, water (immersion or spray), with or without air
overpressure, steam/air mixtures],
3) the heating conditions (retort temperature, initial temperature, loading
pattern),
4) the product type (solid, semi-solid, liquid, particulate liquid; thermophysical
properties of the product)
5) the container type, shape, and size.
 the thermocouple is generally
placed at the geometric
center of a cylindrical
container for foods of the type
heated by conduction and is
placed along the vertical axis
about 1/3 height from the
bottom for foods of the type
heated by convection.

Typical heat penetration curves for conduction and convection heating products.
most formula methods for heat penetration parameters (fh and jch) were obtained
from a plot of the logarithm of the temperature difference between the retort (Tr)
and the product (T) [i.e., log (Tr – T)] vs. heating time (on linear abscissa),

Semi-logarithmic heat penetration curve.

Heat penetration curve on a semi-log paper.
Cooling curve on a semi-log scale.
 THE RETORT COME-UP TIME (CUT)

• Autoclaves or retorts do not reach the specified operating temperature

immediately
• after the steam is turned on  but require a certain time to reach the operating
conditions.
• The time measured from “steam-on” until the unit reaches the specified operating
temperature is called the “come-up period” (denoted by different symbols as l,
CUT, or tc)
• the CUT should preferably be less than 0.5 fh.
• .
Come-up time correction of heat penetration curve.
 Problem 1
A solid food in a cylindrical container is cooled in a 4 C immersion water cooler.
Estimate the fc and jc factors if the following data were obtained for temperature
at the geometric center of the container.

Time Temperature
(min) (C )
0 58
5 48 Cooling medium temperature: 4 C
10 40
15 26
20 25
25 19
30 15
35 12
40 10
45 9
50 7.5
55 7
60 6.5
Determine the heat penetration parameters, jch, fh, jcc, fc for a canned food
that exhibited the following heating data when processed in a retort at 250 F. It
took 3 minutes from introduction of steam to the time retort reached 250 F.
Cooling water temperature is 60 F. Z-value is 18 F

ln TR  T    t  ln  jc TR  Ti 
2.303
fh

log TR  T     log  jc TR  Ti 

t
fh

Calculate the temperature at various times during heating and cooling of this
product processed at Tr = 251◦F if T0 = 160◦F, and t = 35 minutes from steam
introduction. Cooling from t=35 minutes to 50 minutes.Tc = 70◦F. Retort come-up
time = 3 minutes. Calculate the Fo of this process using the general method and
Simpson’s rule for graphical integration of the lethality.
The following data represent the temperature at the slowest heating point in a
canned food processed at a retort temperature of 250 F. Calculate the F0 value
for this process. What will be the required process time to have a lethality equal
to an F0 of 9 minutes. Z-value is 18 F

243
 Soal
Estimate the temperature at the geometric center of a food product
contained in a 303 x 406 can exposed to boiling water at 100 °C for
30 min. The product is assumed to heat and cool by conduction. The
initial uniform temperature of the product is 35 °C. The properties of
the food are thermal conductivity k = 0.34 W/m °C; specific heat cp =
3.5 kJ/kg °C; and density  = 900 kg/m3. The convective heat transfer
coefficient for the boiling water is estimated to be 2000 W/m2 °C.
Jawab
1. Estimation the temperature ratio for infinite cylinder
hdc
Biot number  dc: radius = 0.081/2 = 0.0405
k
hdc 2000 * 0.0405
N Bi    238
k 0.34
1
 0.004
N Bi
 Fourier number of infinite cylinder
k  t 
N Fo   2 
c p dc 
0.34 *1800
  0.118
900 * 3.5 *1000 * 0.0405 
2

Temperature ratio can be estimated from Fig. 4.36

1/NBi =0.004 and NFo = 0.118

 Ta  T 
   0.8
 Ta  Ti inf initecylinder
2. Estimation the temperature ratio for infinite cylinder
dc: half-height = 0.11/2 = 0.055
hdc 2000 * 0.055
N Bi    323.5
k 0.34
1
 0.003
N Bi

Fourier number of infinite slab

k  t 
N Fo   2 
c p dc 
0.34 *1800
  0.064
900 * 3.5 *1000 * 0.055 
2
 Temperature ratio can be estimated from Fig. 4.37
1/NBi =0.003 and NFo = 0.064
 Ta  T 
   0.99
 Ta  Ti inf inite slab

Temperature ratio for a finite cylinder is computed using Eq. (4.135)

 Ta  T 
   0.8 * 0.99  0.792
 Ta  Ti  finite cylinder

T  Ta  0.792Ta  Ti 
 100  0.792100  35
 48.4
Temperature at geometric center of the can after 30 min  48.4 °C
Estimate the time to reach the geometric center temperature of a food
product contained in a 303 x 406 can (50 °C) when it exposed to
boiling water at 100 °C. The product is assumed to heat and cool by
conduction. The initial uniform temperature of the product is 35 °C.
The properties of the food are thermal conductivity k = 0.34 W/m °C;
specific heat cp = 3.5 kJ/kg °C; and density  = 900 kg/m3. The
convective heat transfer coefficient for the boiling water is estimated
to be 2000 W/m2 °C.