Studying the operation of innovative equipment for thermomechanical treatment and dehydration of food raw materials

• Main Authors: Oleg Burdo, Igor Bezbakh, Nikolay Kepin, Aleksandr Zykov, Igor Yarovyi, Aleksander Gavrilov, Valentyna Bandura, Igor Mazurenko
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: PC Technology Center 2019-10-01
• Series: Eastern-European Journal of Enterprise Technologies
• Subjects: rotary thermosyphons; infrared drying; microwave evaporation; fruit; vegetable slices; process modeling
• Online Access: http://journals.uran.ua/eejet/article/view/178937
• ISSN: 1729-3774; 1729-4061

The paper reports results of investigating innovative equipment for the integrated processing of food raw materials, which would make it possible to implement the local energy influence directly on the particles of a dispersed material, the near-boundary layer, the moisture retained in the product's solution or capillaries. The analysis of food raw materials processing techniques has been performed, their benefits and shortcomings have been identified. It was found that product quality, energy consumption and cost are mainly determined at the stages of thermal processing, drying. We have examined innovative equipment based on rotary thermosiphons for evaporating food non-Newtonian liquids. An experimental bench has been designed, and the procedure for studying the hydrodynamics of condensate motion in condensers of rotary thermosyphons of various structures has been devised. The experimental bench represents a model of the device with a rotary thermosiphon made of glass. The result of our study is the established rotational frequency, at which a condensate is locked by the centrifugal force for a branched condenser. Results from visualization of vapor-condensate movement have been presented. The innovative equipment for the evaporation of food non-Newtonian liquids under SHF radiation conditions has been investigated. Experiments involved food products and model systems. We have determined the degree of an increase in the concentration of non-aquatic components. Evaporation rate under conditions of SHF radiation is almost constant. The innovative equipment for drying fruit- and vegetable-based slices under conditions of IR radiation has been examined. An experimental bench has been designed and the research procedure has been devised. We have proposed the structure of an equation for calculating the mass transfer coefficient. The database of experimental findings has been generalized in the equation by similarity numbers. The equation makes it possible to calculate a mass transfer coefficient with error within ±15 %. The influence of IR radiation power on the kinetics of the process of drying fruit and vegetable slices has been determined. We have compared experimental data on slice drying under conditions of SHF and IR radiation