SIZE REDUCTION – EQUIPMENT FOR

SIZE REDUCTION, CARE AND

MAINTENANCE

Unit operation in which the average size of solid pieces of

food is reduced by the application of:
– grinding
– compression
– impact forces
Related terms
 Homogenization or Emulsification
- Reduction in size of globules of immiscible liquids
 Atomization
- Size reduction of liquids by droplets
 Extrusion, Agglomeration or Forming
- Size enlargement
 Benefits in food processing

– Increase in the surface area to volume ratio of the food

– Increases the rate of drying, heating or cooling
– improves the efficiency and rate of extraction of liquid components
– Eg. Fruit juice, cooking oil extraction
– When combined with screening, a predetermined range of particle sizes
is produced which is important for the correct functional or processing
properties of some products
– Eg. Icing sugar, spices, corn starch
– A similar range of particle sizes allows more complete mixing of
ingredients
– Eg. Dried soup and cake mixes
Methods

– Chopping, cutting, slicing and dicing

– Large to medium (Cheese and sliced fruit for canning)
– Medium to small (Diced carrot)
– Small to granular (minced meat, flaked fish or nuts and
shredded vegetables)
– Milling to powders or pastes
– Grated products
– Emulsification and homogenization
SIZE
REDUCTION
OF SOLID
FOODS
 OUTLINE

– Introduction (Theory and Definition)

– Factors that affect energy input in food
– Equipment Used and its application
– Size reduction of Fibrous Food (Equipment Used and its application)
– Size reduction of Dry Food (Equipment Used and its application)
– Effects on Food
– Summary and Conclusion
 Size Reduction

 is the unit operation in which

average size of solid pieces of
food is reduced by application of
grinding and cutting ,
compression or impact forces.
 Has little or no preservative
effect
Grinding-reduce the size of solid
 Used to improve the eating
materials by mechanical action, dividing
quality or suitability of foods
them into smaller particles. Ex. milling of
further processing
grains to make flour, grinding of corn for
manufacture of corn starch, the grinding
of sugar and the milling of dried foods,
such as vegetables.
Cutting- Cutting is used to break
down large pieces of food into
Comminution
smaller pieces suitable for the production of
further processing, such as in the
preparation of meat for retail
powders and
sales and in the preparation of fine particles
processed meats and processed
vegetables.
 Diff. Methods of size reduction
according to particle size range

1. Chopping, cutting, slicing and dicing

a. Large to medium (stewing steak, cheese and slice fruit for canning)
b. Medium to small (bacon, slice beans, diced carrot)
c. Small to granular (mince or shredded meat, flake fish or nuts,
shredded vegetables)
2. Milling to powder or paste of increasing fineness (grated products,
spices, flours, fruit nectars, powdered sugar, starches, smooth paste)
Size Reduction of
SOLID FOODS
Theory
Stress is applied to a food; the resulting internal strains are first absorbed
to cause deformation of the tissues. Amount of energy needed to
fracture a food is determined by its hardness and tendency to crack – in
turn depends on the structure of the food. Fewer the lines of weakness
in a food, the higher are the energy input needed to cause fracturing.
Harder foods absorb more energy and require a greater energy input to
create fractures. Extent of size reduction, the energy expanded and the
amount of heat generated in the food depend on both the size of the
forces that are applied and the time that food is subjected to the forces.
Compression forces are used to fracture friable or crystalline foods.
Combined impact and shearing forces are necessary for fibrous foods.
Shearing forces are used for fine grinding of softer foods.
Theory
3 types of force used to reduce size of foods
1. Compression forces
2. Impact forces
3. Shearing (or attrition) forces

* Friable or crystalline foods - compression force

*fibrous foods - combine impact and shearing
*fine grinding and softer foods - shearing force
 When stress (force) is applied to
food, it cause deformation of tissues. Continuation...

On many occasion the strain does not

 When strain exceed to exceed a certain level named the
elastic stress limit, the food ELASTIC STRESS LIMIT.

is permanently deformed.
 When stress is removed, the
tissues is return to their
the energy required depends upon original shape and released
the hardness of the material and also the stored energy as heat
upon the tendency of the material to
crack - its friability.
 extent size reduction, energy expended
amount of heat generated in the food
The harder the food, the therefore depend on both size of the
more energy it required and forces and the time that the food is
absorb to create fractures. subjected to the force.
Factors that affect energy input in food

1. Moisture content
Ex. Wheat is conditioned to optimum moisture content
before milling
Maize is thoroughly soaked & wet milled in order to
obtained starchy material

*excess moisture in dry food can lead to agglomeration

of particles w/c block the mill. Very dry food create
dust that can cause health hazard and is extremely
inflammable and potentially explosive.
2. Heat sensitivity of food - determine the permissible temperature
rise and the necessity to cool the mill.
Ex. In cryogenic grinding, liquid nitrogen and solid carbon dioxide are
mixed with food (ex. Spices) before milling, to cool product and to
retain volatiles or other heat sensitivity components. Solid carbon
dioxide is also used to cool meat during size reduction in the
manufacture of sausage meat.
3. Quantum of the forces that are applied

4. Time that food is subjected to the forces

 Equipment Used and its application
Equipment Type of product fineness

1 2 3 4 5 a b c d
1. soft, brittle,
Slicers * * * *
crystalline
Dicers * * * * 2. Hard, abrasive
Shredders * * * * 3. Elastic, tough,
cuttable
Bowl Choppers * * * * *
4. Fibrous
Pre crushers * * * * 5. Heat
Hammer mills * * * * * *
sensitive,
greasy
Fine impact mills * * * * * *

a. Coarse lumps
Classifier mills * * *
b. Coarse grits
Air jet mills * * * * c. Medium fine
Ball mills * * to fine
d. Fine to
Disc mills * * * *
ultrafine
Roller mills * * * *
Pulpers * * *
Size reduction of Fibrous foods

Most meats,
fruits, and
vegetables fall
into general
category as
“fibrous foods”
Grinding

Classified in to two
• Plain grinding
- Milled to a free flowing meal consisting of sufficiently
uniform particle size
• Selective grinding
– Grinding operation is carried out in various stages
depending upon the differences in structural and mechanical
properties of components of grain
Size reduction machinery

• Crushers
• Grinders
• Fine grinders
• Cutting machines
Crushers

• Squeeze or press the material until it breaks

• Mostly used to break large pieces of solid materials into
small lumps
• Use of crushers in agricultural operations is limited

Types:
– Jaw crushers
– Gyratory crushers
 Jaw crusher
• Feed is admitted between two jaws, which are open at the top like V
• One of the jaws is fixed and vertical, while the other is the swinging jaw
• This jaw reciprocates in a horizontal plane and makes the angle of 20-30° with
the fixed jaw
• Movable jaw is operated by an eccentric unit so as to impart great compressive
force
• Solids which has to be broken is caught between the two jaws
• Large lumps of solid materials are caught between the upper parts of the jaws
• Subsequently broken and dropped into the narrower space below
• Broken pieces are further reduced next time when jaws come closer.
• No. of strokes given to the movable jaw ranges between 250 to 400 times per
minute
 Gyratory crusher

• Jaws between which the solid materials fed are circular

• Material is being crushed at all times at some point
• Solids are caught between V shaped space between the head and casing
• Material is repeatedly broken in sufficiently small pieces to pass out from the
bottom.
• Speed of crushing ranges between 125 to 425 gyrations per minute
• Discharge from the gyratory crusher is continuous
• Less maintenance is required as compared to jaw crusher
• Power requirement is low
Crushing rolls

• Mainly used for extraction of juice from sugarcane

Two types:
– Smooth roll crusher
– Serrated or toothed roll crusher
 Smooth roll crusher

• Two heavy smooth faced roll rotating towards each other at same speed on
parallel horizontal axes
• Size of the material caught by the rolls depends upon the coefficient of
friction between the material and the roll surface
• Used to make grits or meal from food grains
• One of the rolls should be spring loaded to avoid any damage to roll surface
• Extensively used for making food grains flakes
 Serrated or toothed roll crusher

• Rolls are serrated as per need

• Much more versatile than smooth roll crusher
• Best example – Break and reduction rolls of wheat milling
• Disintegrators are toothed roll crushers in which the corrugated rolls are
rotating at different speeds
• Size reduction is by compression, impact and shear and not by compression
alone, as in the case of smooth roll crushers
• Can accommodate larger particles than smooth roll crushers
Crushing efficiency
• Ratio of the surface energy created by crushing to the
energy absorbed by the solid
Grinders

• Used to mill the grains into powder

Types
– Attrition mill
– Hammer mill
– Impactors
– Rolling compression mill
 Attrition mill
• Also known as burr mill
• Grains are rubbed between the grooved flat faces of rotating circular disks
• Axis of the roughened disks may be horizontal or vertical
• One plate is stationary and fixed with the body of the mill while the other one is
rotating disk
• Material is fed between the plates and is reduced by crushing and shear
• Mills with different patterns of grooves, corrugations on the plates perform a
variety of operations
• Overfeeding
– lowers grinders performance
– Increases heat generation during milling
• Disks are 20-137 cm in diameter and operated at 350 to 700 rpm
 Attrition mill
• Used for making whole grain and dehusked grain flour
• Use in spice grinding is limited
• Double runner disks type attrition mills are also available
• Used for grinding of soft materials
• Both disks are driven at high speed in opposite direction
• Operated between 1200 to 7000 rpm
• Capacity is large
Salient features
• Fineness of grinding is controlled by the type of plates and the gap between them
• Spacing between the plates is adjustable
• Arrangement is spring loaded
– to avoid damage to plates in case of overloading
– to overcome the damage to plates by foreign material coming along with the
feed
• Lower initial cost
• Lower power requirements
 Hammer mill

• Used for various types of size grinding jobs

• Size reduction takes place by impact force
• Consists of high speed rotor rotating inside a cylindrical casing
• Shaft is usually kept horizontal
• Materials are fed into the mill from the top of the casing and is broken by the
rotating hammers and fall out through a screen at the bottom
• Feed is broken by the fixed or swinging hammers, pinned to a rotor
• Hammers are rotated between 1550 to 4000 rpm, strike and grind the material until
it becomes small enough to pass through the bottom screen
 Hammer mill

• Fineness of grinding is controlled by the screen size

• There is less chances of damage of hammer in swinging hammer mill
• Can grind tough fibrous solids, steel chips, food grains, hard rock etc.
• Assumed to reduce size by impact of hammers
 Hammer mill

Salient features
• Simplicity and versatility in design
• Less chances of damage due to foreign objects
• High power requirement
• Capacity and power requirement depend on the nature of feed to be ground
• Used for poultry feed grinding, spices grinding
• Suitable for grinding of wet sorghum and millets
• Also used for potato, tapioca, banana flour making
 Ball mill
Cylindrical or conical shell slowly rotating about a horizontal axis.
• Half of its volume is filled with solid grinding balls
• Shell is made of steel lined with high carbon steel plate, porcelain or silica
rock.
• Size reduction is achieved by impact of the balls when they drop from near
the top of the shell
• Energy consumed in lifting the balls is utilized for grinding job
• When the ball mill is rotated , the balls are carried by the mill wall nearly to
the top
• Balls are released by the gravitational pull and drop to the bottom and picked
up again
• Centrifugal force keeps the ball in contact with the mill wall.
 Ball mill

• Due to centrifugal force, if the speed of rotation of mill is faster, the balls are
carried to more distance.
• Centrifuging: In case of too high speed, balls stick to mill wall and are not
released
Critical speed:
Rotational speed at which centrifuging occurs
• At this speed, no impact occurs hence little or no grinding results
• Operating speed must be kept less than the critical speed
• Speed at which the outermost ball released from the mill wall depends on
the interaction of gravitational and centrifugal forces
 Roller mills

• Roller mills are similar to roller crushers

• They have smooth or finely fluted rolls, and rotate at differential speeds.
• They are used very widely to grind flour.
• Because of their simple geometry, the maximum size of the particle that can pass
between the rolls can be regulated.
• If the friction coefficient between the rolls and the feed material is known, the
largest
particle that will be nipped between the rolls can be calculated, knowing the
geometry of the particles.
 5 main type of size reduction equipment

1. SLICING EQUIPMENT- consist of

rotating or reciprocating blades
which cut the food as it passes
beneath
2. DICING EQUIPMENT- is for
vegetables, fruits and meats. The
food is first slice and cut into strips
by rotating the blades.
3.FLAKING EQUIPMENT- for flaked fish, nuts or
meats is similar slicing equipment. Adjustment
of the blade type and spacing is used to produce
the flakes.
4. SHREDDING EQUIPMENT- typical equipment is a modified hammer mill
5. PULPING EQUIPMENT- is used for juice extraction from fruits and vegetables
and for pureed and pulped meats.
– Bowl chopper- is used to chop meats and harder fruits and
vegetables into a coarse plup (ex. For sausage meat or mincement
preserve)

1.Cutting blades
2.Cover
3. Rotating cutter
bowl
4.Casing
5.Rotating unloader
disc
6.Main motor drive
 Size reduction of dry foods
Equipments:

1. Ball mills- consists of slow rotating, horizontal steel cylinder w/c is half filled with steel balls 2.5-15 cm in
diameter.
- if slow speed, shear force is used
- if higher speed, impact force is used
Rod mill- used rod instead of balls to overcome problems associated with the balls sticking in adhesive
foods.
Ball Mill and Rod Mill
2. Disc mills- different design of disc mills and each
type employs shearing forces for fine grinding or
shearing and impact forces for coarser grinding.
(a) single-disc mills- food passes through an
adjustable gap between a stationary casing
and grooved disc w/c rotates at high speed.
(b) Double-disc mills- w/c two disc rotate in
opposite directions to produce greater
shearing forces
(c) Pin-and-disc mills- w/c have intermeshing pins
fixed either to the single disc and casing or to
double discs
Double Disc Mill

Pin-And-Disc
Mill
3. Hammer mills-
-a horizontal cylindrical chamber is
lined with toughened steel breaker
plate. A high-speed rotor inside the
chamber is fitted with hammers
along its length.
-food is disintegrated mainly by
impact forces as the hammers drive
it against the breaker plate.
4. Roller mills
-two or more steel rollers revolve
toward each other and pull particles
of food through the “nip”.
-the main the force is compression but
if the rollers rotated at different
speed additional shear force is exerted
-size of the nip is adjustable for
different foods
Type of Type(s) of forces Peripheral velocity Typical products
equipment (ms-1)

Pin-and-disc mill impact 80-160 Sugar, starch, cocoa powder,

nutmeg, pepper, roasted nuts

Wing beater mill Impact and shear 50-70 Alginates, pepper, paprika, dried
vegetables

Disc-beater mill Impact and shear 70-90 Milk powder, lactose cereals,
dried whey

Vertical toothed disc mill shear 4-18 Frozen coffee extract

17, Rye, maize, wheat, pepper,
juniper berry

Cutting granulator Impact and shear 5-18 Fish meal, dry fruit and
vegetables

Hammer mill Impact and shear 40--50 Sugar, tapioca, dry vegetable,
dried mill, spices, pepper

Ball mill Impact and shear 40-50 Food colours

Roller mill Compression and shear 40-50 Sugar cane, wheat

Chocolate refining
 Effects on foods
 texture of many food (ex. Bread, hamburger or juices) is controlled by the
conditions during size reduction
 There is indirect effect on the aroma and flavour of foods
 Has little or no preservative effect on food

– disruption of the cells and resulting to increase surface area promotes

oxidative deterioration and higher rates of microbiological and enzymatic
activity.
Sensory
Characteristics
 Loss of volatile constituents from spices
and some nuts w/c is accelerated if
temperature is allowed to rise during
milling.
 Release of cellular materials provide a
suitable substrate for microbial growth
that can result off-flavours and aromas.
Nutritive Value
 oxidation of fatty acids and
vitamin A during size
reduction.
Losses of Vit. C and thiamin
in chopped or sliced fruits and
vegetables are substantial
Summary
 Size reduction is the unit operation in which average size of solid pieces of food is
reduced by application of grinding and cutting , compression or impact forces.
 Grinding-reduce the size of solid materials by mechanical action, dividing them
into smaller particles
 Cutting- Cutting is used to break down large pieces of food into smaller pieces
 3 types of force used to reduce size of foods
Compression forces
Impact forces
Shearing (or attrition) forces
Summary

 When stress (force) is applied to food, it cause deformation of tissues.

 When strain exceed to elastic stress limit, the food is permanently
deformed.
 the energy required depends upon the hardness of the material and also
upon the tendency of the material to crack - its friability.
 extent size reduction, energy expended amount of heat generated in
the food therefore depend on both size of the forces and the time that
the food is subjected to the force.
 2. Factors that affect energy input in food:
MOISTURE CONTENT
HEAT SENSITIVITY OF FOOD
Summary
 Most meats, fruits, and vegetables fall into general category as
“fibrous foods”
 5 main type of size reduction equipment are . slicing equipment,
dicing equipment, flaking equipment, shredding equipment, pulping
equipment
 4 types size reduction of dry foods are Ball mill, rod mill, Disc mill,
Hammer mills, Roller mills
 There is indirect effect on the aroma and flavour of foods
 Has little or no preservative effect on food
 In terms of Sensory characteristics, there is Loss of volatile
constituents from spices and some nuts w/c is accelerated if
temperature is allowed to rise during milling
 Nutritive Value, oxidation of fatty acids and vitamin A during size
reduction. Losses of Vitamin C and thiamin in chopped or sliced
fruits and vegetables are substantial
Conclusion

 The harder the food, the more energy it required and absorb to create
fractures.
 It depends upon the type of food, what force will be used to create
fracture
 extent size reduction, energy expended amount of heat generated in
the food therefore depend on both size of the forces and the time that
the food is subjected to the force.