Preservation of food

Preservation is the action taken to retain nutrients and

quality of perishable foods until final use
All living organisms are carrying on respiration, the
biochemical oxidation of organic nutrients.
Principal reaction of combustion of carbohydrates
C6H12O6 + 6O2

6CO2+ 6H2O + heat

Preservation techniques cannot improve deterioration

but only can slow down deterioration to an acceptable
rate

Refrigeration- An effective
preservation method
Refrigeration works because the respiration and metabolic rate of living
organisms retard when their temperature is decreased below an
optimum range

Group

Temperature ,C
Min

Optimum

Max

Psychrophiles

-8 to 0

10 - 20

25-30

Mesophiles

5-25

20-40

40-45

Thermophiles

25-40

50-60

70-80

The rate of reaction is approximately halved for every 10C decrease

below the optimum range
Most common micro organisms in perishable foods are mesophiles
Source: C.J. Bern, 1992
Iowa state university, USA

Refrigeration- An effective preservation

method (cont,d)
More quickly the product is cooled, the longer it
will remain marketable
Every hour lost before cooling to storage
temperature result in a loss of one day or more
of shelf life

Source: farm Structure FACTSHEET

(British Columbia, Ministry of agriculture and food, 1989)

Refrigerator and cold

storage plants
A machine for producing cold
Refrigerators and cold storage
plants
are
used
for
the
manufacturing of ice and for
cooling of perishable foods in the
storage chambers

Cold storage plants

Principle of refrigeration
Any reversible heat engine acts as a
refrigerator when the cycle is run in reverse
direction by means of external power
The reversible engine becomes a heat pump
which pump heat from a cold body and
delivers it to a hot body

Compression

Heat
rejection

Heat engine
cycle

Expansion

Heat
addition

Compression

Heat
addition

Refrigeration
cycle

Compression

Heat
rejection

Compressor

Refrigerator

Air refrigeration
cycle

Warm water
out

Condenser
Cold water
in

Evaporator

Air compression refrigerators

Advantages
1.Air is easily available and is free of cost
2.The system is lighter in weight
3.No environmental pollution
Disadvantages
1.Heat carrying capacity per kg of air is very small as it
does not change its shape
2.COP is quite low
3.More volume is required for the given capacity

Vopor compression refrigerators

Advantages
1. Smaller in size for the given capacity of refrigerator
2. Less running cost
3. Can be employed over large range of temperatures
4. COP is quite high
Disadvantages
1. Initial cost is high
2. Prevention of leakage is a major problem
3. Frion 12, Frion 22, Mathene, ammonia, mathane,
SO2,CO2are used as refrigerants and cause
environmental pollution

Click on the picture or browse the following link

http://members.fortunecity.com/rickteuscher/thermodynamics/RefrigCycle.html
to view ideal vopor compression refrigeration cycle

Vapor compresseion refrigeration

Click on the picture or browse the following link

http://www.hvacprotech.org/toc/reefer_cycle.html
to see the principle of operation of vapor compress refrigeration system

Laws of thermodynamics
First law of thermodynamics
Heat and work are mutually convertable

Second Law of thermodynamics

Heat flows from a hotbody to a cold body unaided but
it is impossible for the heat to flow from a cold body to
hot body without the aid of external work

Units of Heat
Calorie (Cal)
It is the amount of heat energy required to raise the temperatre of one
gram of water through 1C
I kCal = 1000 Calories (1 kg through 1C)
British Thermal Unit (BTU)
It is the abount of heat energy required to raise the temperature of 1
pound (lb) of water through 1F
Centigrade heat unit (CHU)
It is the amount of heat energy required to raise the temeperature of
one pound of water through 1C
Joule
It is the amount of heat energy required to raise the temperature of
1/4.187 gram of water through 1C
I kJoule(kJ) = 1000 Joules

Work and Power

Work
Product of force into displacement; Work = force*displacement (F*d)
Joule
When a force of one Newton is acted upon a body and produces a displacement of one
meter. Then it is called one joule work
1 joule = 1N.m; and 1 kiloJoule (kJ) = 1 KN.m
Other units of work are erg and foot pound
kWh= 3600 kJ
Power
It is the unit of power. Power =Work/time
Watts (W)
The rate of workdone @1Joule/sec
kiloWatts (kW) is the rate of workdone @ 1kJ/sec
Other units are horse power. 1 horsepower = 33000 ft-lb/min or 550 ft-lb/sec

Sensible and latent heat

Sensible heat (Qs)
Amount of heat energy required to raise the temperature of a substance
by increasing its internal energy
Mathematically
Q = m* Cp *T
Qs= Heat supplied kJoule
M = mass of a substance(kg)
Cp = specific heat (kJ/kg.K)
T = change in temperature, K

Latent heat (Ql)

Amount of heat energy
used in changing the phase of
a substance at constant presure
Ql = m*hfg
Ql = Latent heat (kJoule/kg)
m = mass of a substance (kg)
Hfg = specific latent heat of freezing (kJ/kg)

Sensible and latent heat

(Cont,d)

Units of Refrigeration
Practical unit of refrigeration is expressed in terms of
tonne of refrigeration (TR)
The amount of refrigeration effect produced by the
uniform melting of one tonne (1000 kg) of ice from and at
0C in 24 hours
The latent heat of ice is 335 kJ/kg
1 TR
= 1000 x 335 kJ / 24 hours
= 1000 x 335 /( 24 x 60)
= 232.6 kJoule/min
In actual practice, one tonne of refigeration is taken as
equivalent to 210 kJ/min or 3.5 kW (as 1kJ/sec= 1kW)

Co-efficient of performance
The ratio of heat extracted from the refrigerator to the work done on the
refrigerator
COP = Q / W
where
Q = Heat abstracted from the refrigerator
W = Amount of work on the refrigerator

Example 1
An ice plant produces 10 tonnes of ice per day at 0C using
water at room temperature of 20C. Estimate the theorical
refrigerator capacity of the plant. Also calculate theoritical
power rating of the compressor motor if the COP of the plant is
2.5

Solution
Data given
Mass of ice = 10 tonnes (10000 kg)
Initial water temperarure = 20C
Final ice temperature = 0C
Time required = 1 day = 1*24*60*60 =86400 seconds
COP = 2.5
Theoritical refrigeration capacity=??
Theoritical Power required =??

Amount of heat extracted (Q)

= sensible heat of water (20C to 0C) + latent heat of ice
= m*Cp*T + m*hfg
=10000*4.187*20 + 10000*335
= 4187400 kJoules
Rate of heat extracted (Q)
= Q / time in seconds
Rate of heat extracted (Q)
= 4187400/(24*60*60)
= 48.46 kjoule/sec
Capacity of refrigeration
= Q`/ 3.5
= 13.85 tonnes
COP
= Q/ W
= Q`/W`
Th. Power Required (W`)
= Q`/COP
= 48.46 /2.5
= 19.38 kW
This is the theoritical power required to run the plant

Example 2
A milk factory needs refrigeration plant for freshly processed
milk @ 5 tons per hour from 65C to 2C. Estimate the
theoretical cooling load and theoritical power if the COP is 3.
(Take specific heat of milk as 3.89 kJ/kg.K)

Solution
Data given
Mass of milk = 5 tonnes (5000 kg)
Temperature difference = 63C
Time required = 1 hour
COP = 3
Theoritical refrigeration capacity (Q / t) =??
Theoritical power required (W / t) =??

Amount of heat extracted (Q)

= sensible heat of water (65C2C)
= m*Cp*T
=5000*3.89*63
= 1225350 kJoules
Rate of heat extracted (Q) = Q / time in seconds
= 1225350 / 3600
= 340.38 kJoule/sec
Capacity of refrigeration
= Q`/ 3.5
= 340.38 / 3.5
= 97.25 Tonnes
COP = Q/ W or Q`/W`
W`
= Q`/COP
= 340.38/3
= 113.46 kjoule/sec
Theoretical power required = 113.46 kW

Example: Five hudred kg of fruits are supplied to a cold storage at

20C. The cold storage is maintained at -5C and the fruit get cooled to
the storage temperature in 10 hours. Estimate power required if the
COP is 2.5 and overall electro-mechanical efficieny is 90 %. Latent heat
of freezing is 105 kJ/kg and the specific heat of fruit is 1.26. Find the
refrigeration capacity and power estimation of the plant.

Solution:
Given data
m = 500 kg
Temperature difference (T)= 20 (-5) = 25C
time (t)
= 10*60*60
= 36000 seconds
hfg
= 105 kJ/kg
Cp
= 1.26 kJ/kg.K
Refrigeration capacity
= ??
COP
= 2.5
Efficiency
=90 %

Q = sensible heat of water (20C to 0C & 0C to -5C)

+ latent heat of ice
= m*Cf*T + m*hfg
= 500*1.26*25 + 500*105
Q = 68250 kJ
Rate of heat extracted (Q )

= 68250/36000

=1.896 kJ/sec
Refrigeration capacity

= Q`/ 3.5

= 1.896/3.5
=0.542 Tonnes
Power (W`)

= Q / COP

= 1.896 / 2.5
Theoritical power
Actual power
= 0.8426 kW

= 0.7584 kW

= 0.7584 / 0.9

Cold storage Data

Commodity

Temperature, C

Relative humidity, %

Shelf life

Apples

-1 to +1

85 - 90

2-7 M

Apricots

-0.5 to +1.6

78 - 85

1-2 W

Bananas

+11.7

85

2W

Beans, dried

+0.7

70

6M

Beef (fresh)

+1.75

87

3W

Beef (frozen)

-18 to -20

80 - 85

3-8 M

Butter

-10 to -1

75 - 80

6M

Cabbage

0 to +1

85 - 90

1-3 M

Carrots,
bundled

85 - 90

1-2 W

Cauliflower

0 to +2

85 - 90

2-3 W

Cucumbers

+2 to +7

75 - 85

2W

Cheese

-1 to +1.5

65 - 75

3-10 M

Cherries

+0.5 to +1

80

1-3 W

Chocolate

+4.5

75

6M

Cold storage Data, con,d

Margarine

+0.5

80

6M

Melons

+2 to +7

80 - 90

1-8 W

Milk

0 to +2

80 - 85

1W

Mutton (Fresh)

80 - 85

10 D

Mutton (Frozen)

-12 to -18

80 - 85

3-8 M

Oranges

0 to +1.2

85 - 90

8-10 M

Peas, Green

80 - 90

1-3 W

Peaches

-0.5 to +1

80 - 85

2-4 W

Parsley

+1.5

80

1-2 W

Patatoes

+3 to +6

85 - 90

6M

Poultry (Fresh)

80

1W

Poultry (frozen)

-30 to -10

80

3-12 M

Tomatoes,
Green

+10 to +20

85 - 90

3-4 W

Vegetables,
Frozen Packed

-24 to -18

--

6-12 M

D-Days

W- Weeks

M- Months

Data for fruit and vegetables

Commodity

Temperature 0C

Relative Humidity %

Shelf life according

to storage conditions

FRUITS
Banana

10 - 14

90 - 95

2 - 4 Weeks

Litchi

1-2

90 - 95

3 - 5 Weeks

Orange

0-1

85 - 90

8 - 12 Weeks

Papaya

6-7

85 - 90

1 - 3 Weeks

Pears

-2 - 0

90

8 - 28 Weeks

Pineapples

6 - 12

85 - 90

2 - 4 Weeks

VEGETABLES
Potato

3-4

90

28 - 32 Weeks

Cabbage

90 - 95

12 - 16 Weeks

Cucumber

4-7

90 - 95

10 - 15 Days

Mushroom

90

3 - 4 Days

Peas

90 - 95

1 - 3 Weeks

13 - 15

90 - 95

1 - 2 Weeks

Tomato