Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Food and Bioproducts Processing, cilt.137, ss.64-83, 2023 (SCI-Expanded)
© 2022 Institution of Chemical EngineersRadio frequency (RF) processing, with its volumetric heating ability and a longer wavelength, is applied in industrial thawing and tempering processes for larger-sized frozen food products. However, overheating problems are observed at corners and edges of (specifically the sharp-edged foods) with a significant temperature non-uniformity, and tempering is preferred with its limited temperature increase right below the freezing point in most cases. The distance between the electrodes, charged electrode potential, and sample-electrode moving conditions in industrial-scale systems were investigated for temperature uniformity in the literature, but there has not been a confirmed solution presented for thawing yet. Therefore, air impingement coupled with RF heating was presented in this computational study using a previously (experimentally) validated model. Computational studies were carried out using Comsol Multiphysics for process design purposes, and RF system geometries included single and double cavity configurations with an air impingement speed of 0.5 and 2.5 m/s in a slot jet application. Significant temperature distribution uniformity was obtained within the samples even at higher electrode potentials, and air impingement coupled RF systems were presented for industrial-scale process conditions. 2750 V potential and 2.5 m/s air impingement speed were the optimal process condition for both single and double cavity RF systems. The results of this study are expected to be further used for system design and process optimization for industrial-scale RF thawing applications.