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Lecture 1a Slide No. 1 Slide No. 2

Aim of This Lecture

What are Unit Operations?
Why unit operations are useful and important?
FOOD UNIT OPERATIONS
 The particularities of unit operations in food
Basic Concepts and Definitions processing.
 Primary dimensions and physical variables.
 Understand units for measurement: base units
and derived units.
Dr. Dang Quoc Tuan
Food Technology Department  Understand SI units and engineering units.
International University - VNU

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Introduction to Slide No. 3 Slide No. 4

An example: Beer Brewing

Unit Operations and Processes
• Physical, Chemical and Biochemical operations
• Unit Operations
• Unit processes
Food processing,
complicated and
differing

Physical
processes
Chemical or
biochemical
reactions
Are divided into a
series of steps,
called ‘Unit
Operations’

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Slide No. 5 Slide No. 6

An example: Clarification: to remove

production of milk powder particles from milk

Milk→Clarification (Centrifugal Sediment

particles

separation) Milk out

→ Standardization →Heating →
Evaporation →Spray drying→Milk
powder Centrifugal clarifier bowl, to
remove particles from milk

Incoming
milk

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Slide No. 7 Slide No. 8

Standardization: to adjust the Heating: to sterilize

content of fat in milk

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Slide No. 9 Slide No. 10

Falling-film evaporator Spray dryer: to get milk

powder

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Slide No. 11 Slide No. 12

Characteristics of unit operations Classification of unit operations

 Physical processes, no chemical or According to the intrinsic scientific rules,
biochemical reactions appear. unit operations are classified into:
 Most food processing includes a combination
of unit operations and/or chemical and  Momentum transfer (fluid dynamics)
biochemical operations.  Heat transfer
 The individual operations in different food  Mass transfer
processing have common techniques and are
based on the same scientific principles. Obey conservation laws
 And also the equipments are universal.

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Slide No. 13 Slide No. 14

Unit Operations Mixing

Unit operation: A single physical operation
common to many processes. Each unit
operation is based on defined physical • Mixing: The production of a
properties. homogenous mass from two or more
Food engineers have identified six unit operations components
commonly used in food processing.

• Mixing • Separation
• Heat transfer • Mass transfer
• Size adjustment • Fluid flow

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Slide No. 15 Slide No. 16

Heat Transfer

Heat transfer: The transfer of energy in

the form of heat into or out of a product
– Heating
Tube-and-shell exchanger
• Pasteurization, sterilization
• Boiling, baking
• Canning….
– Cooling
• Freezing, refrigeration
– Evaporation
Double-pipe exchanger
Plate heat exchanger
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Slide No. 17 Slide No. 18

Evaporation Mass Transfer

Mass transfer: The transfer of mass into or
out of a substance based on physical
properties
– The transfer of a chemical compound from one
phase to another
Examples:
Evaporation: liquid gas
Diffusion: high concentration low concentration

Falling-film evaporator

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Mass Transfer Slide No. 19 Slide No. 20

Absorption
Also called ‘separation engineering’,
Applicable to homogeneous mixtures.
Different from ‘mechanical separations’
 Absorption,
 Adsorption,
 Drying,
 Distillation,
 Extraction
 Evaporation
 Salt diffusion through cheese curd
 Smoke diffusion through meat, etc. absorption adsorption

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Slide No. 21 Slide No. 22

Spray Drying Freeze Drying

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Slide No. 23 Slide No. 24

Mechanical separations Disinfection

Heterogeneous mixtures Non-heat Pasteurization
Separating based on the difference of
size, density and shape

Filtration, sedimentation and sieving MF or UF

Distillation, evaporation: separation of

components on the basis of difference Capillary membrane
in boiling point mass transfer

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Slide No. 25 Slide No. 26

An example: concentration of Size Adjustment

vegetable and fruit juices Size Adjustment: Altering the particle size of a
Multiple-effect RO, MD food or food component
evaporation • Reduction of the size of particles in a food
Energy intensive Less energy consumption – Grinding
High temperature Low temperature – Cutting
Loss of flavor Flavor retention – Slicing
Problem of fouling and Additional cost on membrane – Milling
cleaning cleaning and replacement
• Combining smaller particles into a larger
mass
Alternative Solution: Membrane-evaporation combined
technology
Curds  Cheese

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Slide No. 27 Slide No. 28

Fluid Flow Fluid flow by pumping

Rotary lobe pump
• Fluid flow: Transfer of a fluid from one point to
another • Some pump types:
– Gravity flow – Positive Displacement
– Pumping
Rotary lobe
– Filtration/Sedimentation
– Mixing/ Homogenization Piston
Progressing cavity
Piston pump – Centrifugal
Centrifugal pump
Factors affecting pump
choice?

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Slide No. 29 Slide No. 30

What are the unit operations for...

What are the unit operations for making...
• Meat grinder
• Cookies?
• Canned diced tomatoes?
• Smokehouse/oven • Homogenized, pasteurized milk?

• Curing solution injector

• Tumbler
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Chemical and biochemical operations

Slide No. 31
Unit Processes Slide No. 32

Operations that affect safety which are not physical unit Many food processes involve combinations of
operations more than one unit operation and/or chemical or
Chemical biochemical operations
Addition of acid (as vinegar in salad dressing)
Addition of salt •Homogenization
Addition of large amounts of sugar – lowers water
– Fluid flow •Evaporation
activity (fudge sauce)
Addition of preservatives, flavors, colors, etc.) – Size reduction
– Fluid flow
Fermentation/enzymatic reactions – Heat transfer
Yogurt
– Heat transfer
Pickles – Mass transfer
•Pasteurization
Cheese
Olives – Fluid flow
Chemical and biochemical operations are important in – Heat transfer
the processing of many foods.
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Slide No. 33 Slide No. 34

Unit Processes - Examples Unit & Dimensions

Unit Conversion
Dimension: A physical entity that can be measured or observed
•Cheesemaking Secondary dimensions: Combinations of primary dimensions

– Fluid flow Primary dimensions Secondary dimensions

– Mixing - Fermentation Length (L) Volume

Time (T) Speed
– Heat transfer – Chemical addition Temperature (K) Molarity
Mass (M) Molality
– Size (salt, coloring) Electric Current: Ampere Density
Luminous Intensity: Pressure
adjustment – Enzymatic Candela Viscosity
– Mass transfer reactions (rennet) Amount of Substance: Specific Heat
Mole Heat transfer coeff.
– Separation Power

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Slide No. 35 Slide No. 36

SI & Engineering Units Base Units

• The MKS system: 1. Length: m, cm, in, ft
– Meter-Kilogram-Second 2. Mass: kg, gm, lbm
• Systeme International d’Unites – SI 3. Time: s (sec), min, hr
– Based on MKS extension, adopting 4 more 4. Temperature: K, oC, oF, oR
base units (7 base units); sci. literature 5. Electric Current: A (6.25 x 1018 charged
• The CGS system: particles)
– Centimeter-gram-second 6. Mass Quantity: mole
• American Engineering System (English Units, 7. Light Intensity: candela
Imperial Units):
– Foot-Pound-Minute
– Commonly used the US industry, official in only
few countries
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Slide No. 37 Slide No. 38

Derived Units
• Area: square meter, m2
• Volume: cubic meter, m3
• Speed, velocity: meter per second, m/s
• Acceleration: meter per second squared, m/s2
• Density, mass density: kilogram per cubic meter,
kg/m3
• Current density: ampere per square meter, A/m2
• Magnetic field strength: ampere per meter, A/m
• Concentration (amount of substance): mole per
cubic meter, mol/m3
• Luminance: candela per square meter, cd/m2

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Slide No. 39 Slide No. 40

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Slide No. 41 Slide No. 42

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Slide No. 43 Slide No. 44

Further Readings:
• R. Paul Singh, Dennis R. Heldman. 2009. Introduction to
food engineering. Academic Press. 4th Ed (Ch. 1)
• Earle, R. L. & Earle, M.D.1983. Unit operations in food
processing. Pergamon Press, Toronto, Canada. 2nd Ed
(Ch. 1).

HW:
• S&H (Ch.1, p. 60): 1.4,
1.5, 1.10
• E&E (Ch.1, p. 12): 4, 6, 8

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