Freezing Time
Freezing Time
Freezing Time
6 Time Calculation
Gauri S. Mittal
University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
CONTENTS
I. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
II. Freezing Load . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
A. Calculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
B. Freezing Rate and Thermal Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
III. Freezing Time or Rate Prediction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
A. Planks Equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
B. Nagaoka et al. Equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
C. Levy Equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
D. Cleland and Earle Equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
E. Cleland et al. Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
F. Pham Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
G. Modified Pham Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
IV. Thawing Time Prediction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
IV. Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Nomenclature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
I. INTRODUCTION
The purposes of food freezing are: (i) preservation of food; (ii) reducing the activity of enzymes and
microorganisms; (iii) reducing the amount of liquid water for microbial growth; and (iv) reducing
water activity (aw) of foods. Many types of freezers are used for this purpose. Some of these are: (i)
air blast freezers, batch, or continuous; (ii) still air freezers; (iii) belt freezers; (iv) spiral belt free-
zers; (v) fluidized bed freezers; (vi) plate freezers a series of flat plates kept cool by circulating a
coolant; (vii) liquid immersion freezers chilled brine or glycol is used, can also be sprayed; and
(viii) cryogenic freezers liquid N2 or liquid CO2 is used (the boiling point for N2 is 21968C and
for CO2 is 2798C).
Product quality is influenced by ice-crystal size and configuration during the freezing operation.
The advantages of fast freezing operation can be lost during the storage because of the formation of
large ice crystals by joining small crystals. Hence, complete product freezing in the freezer is more
important [1]. The process of ice-crystal formation is based on two operations: (1) nucleation or
crystal formation it influences the type of crystal structure formed in a food product and ice-
crystal nucleation is created by supercooling below initial freezing point, similar to crystallization
process; (2) rate of crystal growth is also supercooling-driven, which depends on (i) diffusion
rate of water molecules from the unfrozen solution to the crystal surface, (ii) the rate at which
heat is removed, and (iii) temperature of the solution.
127
2006 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
128 Freezing Loads and Freezing Time Calculation
where Ms is the mass of solids, Cps the specific heat of solids, Mu the mass of unfrozen water, Cpu
the specific heat of unfrozen water, MI the mass of ice or unfrozen water, Lv the latent heat of freez-
0
ing, CpI the specific heat of ice, and Cpu the specific heat of unfrozen water below TF. Enthalpy com-
position charts for different food materials using experimental data were provided [2,3]. One
example is given in Figure 6.1.
FIGURE 6.1 Riedel plot for grape juice. (From L Riedel, Kaltetechnik 9:38 40, 1957.)
Refrigeration [4], is the total time required to lower the temperature of a food material at its thermal
center to a desired temperature below the initial freezing point. Other definitions are:
1. The time required to reduce the product temperature at the slowest cooling location from
the initial freezing point to some desired and specified temperature below the initial freez-
ing point.
2. International Institute of Refrigeration [4] definition: It is the ratio between the minimum
distance from the surface to the thermal center and the time elapsed between the surface
reaching 08C and the thermal center reaching 58C colder than the temperature of initial ice
formation at the thermal center (cm/h).
A. PLANKS EQUATION
Planks equation was derived based on energy balance principle [9]. Heat condition through frozen
region is written as: (Figure 6.2)
TS TF
q kI A (6:2)
X
Total resistance
X 1
Rt (6:4)
k I A hc A
or
DT T1 TF
q(overall) (6:5)
Rt (X=kI A 1=hc A)
dX
qA rL V (6:6)
dt
dX
the velocity of the freezing front (6:7)
dt
or
dX (T1 TF )A
A rLV (negative heat transfer) (6:8)
dt (X=kI 1=hc )
or
tF a=2
LV r 1 X
dt dX (6:9)
0 T 1 TF 0 hc k I
or
LV r a a2 LV r a a2
tF (6:10)
T1 TF 2hc 8kI TF T1 2hc 8kI
General form:
rLV Pa Ra2
tF (6:11)
TF T1 hc kI
where TF is the initial freezing point of the product, TS the surface temperature, kI the thermal con-
ductivity of frozen food, X the thickness of frozen food, hc the convective heat transfer coefficient, A
the surface area, T1 the ambient temperature, Lv the latent heat of freezing, and r the food density.
P and R values for different shaped foods are:
For brick-shaped material, Figure 6.3 provides P and R for different b1 and b2 values [20].
Example 1: Lean beef block with dimensions of 1 m 0:25 m 0:6 m, hc 30 W=(m2 K),
T0 58C, T 108C, T1 308C, r 1050 kg/m3 , LV 333:22 kJ/kg, m.c. 74:5%,
kI 1:108 (W/m K), TF 1:758C. Find freezing time using Planks equation.
10
9 0.15
8 0.10
40
7
0.95
2 6
0.9
R
38
5 0.85
0.8
36
4
0.75
34
3 0.7
32
0.65
30 P
0.6
2
28
0.55
26
0.5 24
22
0.45 20
18
1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1
FIGURE 6.3 P and R values for different b1 and b2. (From AJ Ede. Modern Refrigeration 52:52-55, 1949.)
Solution:
0:6 1
b1 2:4, b2 4, [ P 0:3, R 0:085
0:25 0:25
(1050)(333:22 0:745)(1000 J/kJ) 0:3(0:25) 0:085(0:025)2
t 18:7 h
1:75 (30)3600 s/h 30 1:108
1. It neglects the time required to remove sensible heat above the initial freezing point.
2. It does not consider the gradual removal of latent heat over a range of temperatures during
the freezing process.
3. Constant thermal conductivity assumed for frozen material.
4. It assumes the product to be completely in liquid phase.
Many modifications were suggested on Planks equation to improve its accuracy. Some of these
are given in the subsequent sections.
where Ti is the initial food temperature, T the final frozen food temperature, Cpu the specific heat of
unfrozen food, and CPI the specific heat of frozen food.
C. LEVY EQUATION
Levy [22] considered the following definition of enthalpy to modify Planks equation:
Example 2: Use modified Planks equation to calculate the freezing time for the lean beef block of
1m 0:6m 0:25m, hc 30W=(m2 K), T0 58C, T 108C, T1 308C, r 1050 kg/m3 ,
TF 1:758C, tF ?
Solution:
0:6 1
b2 2:4, b1 4, [ P 0:3, R 0:085
0:25 0:25
Cpu 3:52 kJ=kg K, CPI 2:05 kJ=kg K, kI 1:108 W=m K
(1050)(297:59)(1000) 0:3(0:25) 0:085(0:025)2
tf 22:41 h
1:75 (30)3600 30 1:108
CPI (TF T1 )
NSte Stefan number (6:15)
DHref
rDHref Pa Ra2 1:65NSte T T1
tF 1 ln (6:16)
E(TF T1 ) hc kI kI Tref T1
Cpu (Ti TF )
NPK Planks number (6:17)
DHref
where Tref is the reference temperature and E is 1 for an infinite slab, 2 for an infinite cylin-
der, and 3 for a sphere. Tref is taken as 2108C and DHref is enthalpy change from TF to Tref.
0:15 NSte 0:35, 0:2 NBi 20, and 0 NPK 0:55.
Example 3 (Cleland and Earle [23] approach): Lamb steak (slab) 0:025 m thick, Ti 208C, T
108C, T1 308C, r 1050 kg/m3 , TF 2:758C, kI 1:35 W/m K, hc
20 W=(m2 K), E 1 for slab, tF ? Cpu 3 kJ=kg K, CPI 1:75 kJ=kg K, DH 240 kJ=kg.
Solution:
rDHref Pa Ra2 1:65 NSte T T1
tF 1 ln
TF T1 hc kI kI Tref T1
252:7(1000)(1050) 0:607(0:025) 0:189(0:025)2
(1) 2:289 h
(2:75 30)3600 20 1:35
F. PHAM METHOD
Pham method [13] involves total of precooling, phase change, and tempering times.
1 X3
(1 NBii =ai )
tf DHi a (6:21)
E i1 2DTi hc
where
DH1 Cpu (Ti Tf, ave ) (6:22)
(Ti T1 ) (Tf;ave T1 )
DT1 , a1 6 (6:23)
ln ((Ti T1 )=(Tf;ave T1 ))
hc a hc a
NBii 0:5 (6:24)
kI ku
DH3 CPI (Tf;ave Tave ), NBi3 NBi2 (6:25)
(Tf;ave T1 ) (Tave T1 )
DT3 (6:26)
ln ((Tf;ave T1 )=(Tave T1 ))
hc a
DH2 DHf , DT2 Tf;ave T1 , NBi2 , a2 4 (6:27)
kI
T T1
Tave T , a3 6, Tf;ave TF 1:5 (6:28)
2 4=NBi3
temperature, Ti; (ii) uniform and constant ambient conditions; (iii) a fixed value of final
product temperature, T; and (iv) convective surface heat transfer is following Newtons law of
cooling.
For infinite slab, the freezing time (tslab) is given by
ra DH1 DH2 NBi
tslab 1 (6:29)
2hc DT1 DT2 4
Equation (6.21) is valid for the following ranges: 0:02 , NBi , 11, 0:11 , NSte , 0:36, and
0:03 , NPK , 0:61.
The thawing time is given by for thawing to Tf 08C:
1:4921Cpu a2 0:5 0:125 1:0248 0:2712 0:061
tslab NSte NPK (6:30)
ku NBi NSte NSte
Equation (6.30) is valid for the following ranges: 0:3 , NBi , 41, 0:08 , NSte , 0:77, and
0:06 , NPK , 0:27.
where
where Cpu is the specific heat of unfrozen product (J/(kg K)), CPI the specific heat of the frozen
product (J/(kg K)), hc the convective heat transfer coefficient (W/(m2 K)), T1 the ambient temp-
erature (8C), TF the initial freezing temperature (8C), r the product density (kg/m3), kI the thermal
conductivity of frozen product (W/(m K)), ku the thermal conductivity of unfrozen product
(W/(m K)), DH the enthalpy change due to freezing (moisture content) (333 220) (J/kg), R
the characteristic dimension (m), that is radius of cylinder of sphere or half thickness of slab or
other geometries, NBi the Biot number, NSte the Stefan number, NPK the Plank number, and T
the final product temperature (8C).
For other shapes than infinite slab, the following modification is used:
tslab
tellipsoid (6:37)
E
1 2=NBi 1 2=NBi
E 1 (6:38)
b21 2b1 =NBi b22 2b2 =NBi
where V is the volume (m3) and A the smallest cross-sectional area that incorporate R (m2).
A V
b1 and b2 (6:39)
p R2 b1 (4=3pR3 )
Notes:
1. For Equations (6.11), (6.12), (6.16), (6.20), (6.21), (6.29), (6.30), and (6.34), a is slab
thickness or diameter of cylinder or sphere, or the smallest dimension of brick-shaped
or dissimilar products.
2. DH (moisture content) (latent heat of fusion); DH 0 for modified Planks equations such
as Levys [22] and Nagaoka et al. [21], and DH10 DH CPI (TF 10).
hc a 30(0:125)
NBi 3:3845
kI 1:108
CPI (TF T1 ) 2:05(1:75 30)
NSte 0:234
DHref 248:25
Cpu (Ti TF ) 3:52(5 1:75)
NPK 0:0955
DHref 248:25
T3 1:8 0:263T 0:105T1 1:8 0:263(15) 0:105(30) 5:295
T i T3 (5 5:295)
DT1 T1 (30) 35:1475
2 2
DT2 T3 T1 5:295 30 24:705
A 0:25(0:6)
b1 3:056
pR2 p(0:125)2
V 0:25(0:6)(1)
b2 4 4 3
6:0
b1 3 pR 3
3 p(3:056)(0:125)
tslab
tellipsoid
E
1 2=NBi 1 2=NBi
E 1
b21 2b1 =NBi b22 2b2 =NBi
1 2=3:3845 1 2=3:3845
1 2 1:4939
3:0562 2(3:056)=3:3845 6 2(6)=3:3845
1. Power law approach to modifying Planks equation as proposed by Calvelo [26] and
Cleland [28]: This and other methods are valid for the following ranges:
0.6 , NBi , 57.3, 0.08 , NSte , 0.77, and 0.06 , NPK , 0.27.
1:4921rCpu a2 0:5 0:125 1:0248 0:2712 0:061
tslab NSte NPK (6:40)
ku NBi NSte NSte
where
hc a
NBi (6:41)
kI
CPI (T1 TF )
NSte (6:42)
DH10
Cpu (TF Ti )
NPK (6:43)
DH10
Here DH10 is the enthalpy change for the temperature change from 0 to 2108C.
rCpu a2 P R
t (6:44)
kI E NBi NSte NSte
P 0:50:7754 2:2828NSte NPK (6:45)
2
R 0:1250:4271 2:1220NSte 1:4847NSte (6:46)
rX 3
(1 ha=4kI )
t DHi a (6:47)
E i1 2DTi hc
where
(Ti Tf;ave )
DT1 T1 , k1 kI (6:49)
2
DH3 Cpu (Tave Tf;ave ) (6:50)
(Tave Tf;ave )
DT3 T1 , k3 ku (6:51)
2
DH2 DHf (6:52)
(T T1 )
DTave T , (6:55)
2 4=NBi
rCpu a2 1 1 0:0244 0:6192NPK
tt 0:8941
ku E 2NBi NSte 8NSte NSte NBi
Cpu (Tave T)
1 (6:56)
DH10
IV. CONCLUSIONS
Many equations and models have been suggested to calculate freezing time of foods. Whenever a
freezing time prediction method is used, some inaccuracy will be inevitable. This may arise from
one of the three sources: (a) inaccuracy in thermal data; (b) inaccurate knowledge of freezing con-
ditions, particularly the surface heat transfer coefficient; and (c) inaccuracy arising from assump-
tions made in the derivation of the prediction equation. The best freezing time prediction
method will be the one in which the error arising from the category (c) is the least. The method
should require as few input data as possible, and preferably should avoid lengthy or complex oper-
ations or reference to grasp and table. Three important parameters affecting the freezing time pre-
diction are Lv, hc, and D. The parameter hc is the most difficult one to measure accurately, and
therefore, is a major source of error.
NOMENCLATURE
A smallest cross-sectional area that incorporate R (m2)
A surface area (m2)
CPI specific heat of the frozen product (J/(kg K))
Cps specific heat of solids (J/(kgK))
0
Cpu specific heat of unfrozen water below TF (J/(kg K))
Cpu specific heat of unfrozen product (J/(kg K))
E shape factor
hc convective heat transfer coefficient (W/(m2 K))
DH enthalpy change due to freezing (moisture content)
(333220 J/kg)
DH freezing load or enthalpy change (J/kg)
D HI sensible heat removed from the frozen water (J/kg)
DHL enthalpy change due to latent heat (J/kg)
DHs enthalpy change of product solids (J/kg)
DHu sensible heat removed from unfrozen water (J/kg)
DH10 enthalpy change for the temperature change from 0 to
2108C J/kg)
kI thermal conductivity of frozen product (W/(m, K))
ku thermal conductivity of unfrozen product (W/(m, K))
kW thermal conductivity of unfrozen food (W/(m, K))
Lv latent heat of freezing (J/kg)
MI mass of ice or unfrozen water (kg)
MS mass of solids (kg)
Mu mass of unfrozen water (kg)
NBi Biot number
NPK Plank number
NSte Stefan number
R characteristic dimension (m), that is radius of cylinder
of sphere or half thickness, of slab or other geometries
tslab freezing time (s)
T final frozen product temperature (8C)
TF initial freezing temperature (8C)
Ti initial food temperature (8C)
Tref reference temperature (8C)
TS surface temperature (8C)
T1 ambient temperature (8C)
V volume (m3)
X thickness of frozen food (m)
r product density (kg/m3)
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