Heat transfer in food

processing & Food

materials 3: Fats and oils
Engineering of Food
Bettina Wolf
LOs
At the end of this session and with additional reading, a
successful student will be able to
• outline heat transfer operations applied in food factories
(you already know all about heat transfer calculations),
• appreciate fouling,
• identify a fat based on its chemistry,
• recognise whether reference is made to a fat or an oil,
and
• discuss methods for modifying solid fat content.
2
Heat transfer operations in food
factories
• Crystallisation Structure/texture creation
• Blanching, cooking, Colour creation
pasteurisation, Flavour creation
sterilisation
Process media creation
• Chilling, freezing
Deactivation of anti-
• Drying, evaporation nutritional factors
• Steam generation Shelf-life extension
• ... …

3
Classification of commonly used
heat exchangers in the food
industry

Product and Physical contact

heating/cooling between product and
streams are kept heating/cooling
separated streams

-
- Ice cream - Milk -
Milk
Cream
- Margari - Soymilk
- Ketchup
ne - Soups
- Sauces
4
Steam infusion Steam injection
• Product is added to • Steam is forced into the
steam product
• Steam condenses • Product heats quickly than
on the surface of via steam infusion
the liquid • Risk of fouling to build up
Gentle and quick in the unit and pipework
heating
Prevents exposure
to excessive
temperatures which
can help avoid burn-
on contamination.
5
Plate heat exchangers
• Stainless steel!
• Patterns pressed onto the plates
to cause increased turbulence in
product stream
• Suitable for low viscosity liquid foods (how low is low?)
• Not so suitable for liquid foods containing particulates
• Fouling will decrease heat transfer rate
• Products can be heated to within 1°C of the adjacent
media temperature, with less capital investment than
other non-contact-type heat exchangers
• Plate heat exchangers offer opportunities for energy
6
conservation by regeneration
Two-way
regenerat
ion
system
used in
processin
g grape
juice

7
Tubular exchangers
• Stainless steel!
• Parallel flow or counterflow

• Triple tube heat exchangers

8
Shell and tube heat exchangers
• Higher rates of heat transfer

See textbook for two-shell passes…

9
 Surface scraped heat exchanger
(SSHE)
• Polished stainless steel
• Scraper blades
• Insulation and heating/cooling
media zones on the cylinder
• Common media include steam,
hot water, brine, refrigerant
Ice cream freezer • Operated between -35 to 190 °C
Food applications: heating, pasteurising, • Product is pumped through
sterilising, whipping, gelling, emulsifying, annular gap
plasticising, crystallising
• Wide range of viscosities
Food examples: fruit juices, soups, citrus
concentrate, peanut butter, baked beans,
tomato paste, pie fillings in addition to • How to select rotor speed?
margarine and ice cream where aim is not 10
on plasticising:
Thermal properties in heat transfer
calculations

1) Specific heat, ……..Definition?........Unit?

2) Thermal conductivity, ……Definition?... Unit?

3) Thermal diffusivity, …..Meaning?... Unit?

11
Specific heat

• What influences the value of of a food?

• increases with moisture content

• is normally evaluated/used at constant pressure since

most food processing except for high-pressure
processing is at constant pressure

12
cp values for foods?
• Tabulated data
• Predictive equations based on mathematical fits to
experimental data
• Water is the biggest contributor
• Estimated based on composition, e.g.

= mass fraction, = carbohydrate/polysaccharide, =

protein, = fat, = ash, = water
What is not considered in this equation?
13
Thermal conductivity of foods
• High moisture foods  value close to that of water

• Dependencies and estimation approaches as for

• Anisotropic microstructures need to be considered, e.g. fibres in
meat, parallel and perpendicular to fibres will be different
14
Modes of heat transfer
• Conduction
• e.g. thermal processing of thick foods
• Convection
• forced convection - e.g. convection ovens, natural convection -
e.g. thermal processing of low viscosity foods
• Radiation
• e.g. infrared ovens

15
Fouling
• Deposition and buildup of
food components on
hot surface of heat
transfer equipment

• Consequences?

• Composition of fouling layer often not the same as of food

• e.g. milk - protein component deposits, 50-60% protein and 30-
35% minerals reported in fouling layer cf. 3% protein and less than
1% minerals in milk; protein will unfold and then polymerise on
the surface
16
Common mechanisms of fouling

17
Electrical heating of foods
• electrical conductivity, , as a measure of ability to
conduct electrical current [siemens/m or S/m]
• Types of electrical heating of foods
• Ohmic heating
• Dielectric or microwave heating

18
Ohmic heating
• Main alternating
current is
passed directly
through
conductive food
and heat
created
internally

Taghi Miri EoF lecture slides 18/19

19
 Ohmic heating Top: oven baked
Bottom: Ohmic heating
Moisture content of
baked bread samples

Taghi Miri EoF lecture slides 19/20

20
Ohmic heating
• Not suitable for foods with low electrical conductivity
such as high fat foods
Heating is rapid and more uniform than in traditional
heating systems
Often results in better quality (flavour, colour, texture)
• Further reading: https://doi.org/10.3390/app11062507,
http://dx.doi.org/10.2991/absr.k.220305.016

21
 Microwave heatingElectromagnetic spectrum

household 1 mm to 1
microwave m
12.2
The optimum cm
material
dimension
should be
smaller to the
penetration
depth so that
the entire
material is 300 MHz - 300
passed
through
GHz 2.45
microwaves to GHz 2222
 Volumetric heating • water molecules
vibrate
• higher water
food food content  faster
heating
• dielectric food
properties
determine
heating profile
• food dimension
should be
Further reading & source of figures for
• Faster, more smaller than
microwave slides:
https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-82 uniform  penetration
2107-5.00006-4
quality depth i.e. entire
. Also consult section 4.8 in the 23
food is passed
Session summary so far
We have…
 …looked at the range of heat transfer operations in
food processing,
… at the relevant food material properties, and
…introduced fouling.

24
Heat transfer operations in food
factories
• Crystallisation Structure/texture creation
• Blanching, cooking, Colour creation
pasteurisation, Flavour creation
sterilisation
process media creation
• Chilling, freezing
Deactivation of anti-
• Drying, evaporation nutritional factors
• Steam generation Shelf-life extension
• ... …

25
 Lipids
more commonly referred to as:
Fats and oils

26
What are they used for?
Non-food Food
• Soap​ • Flavour​
• saponification reaction: strong base plus fats or oils
 breakdown of ester bonds  water soluble • Heat transfer​
glycerol and salts of carboxylic acids = soap

• Paints​
• Sensory qualities​
• emulsifier, waterproofing, wetting/surface coating • Emulsifier​
• Resins​ • Staling inhibitors​
• add flexibility, flow enhancer, improve adhesion to
surfaces, water resistance, durability
Monoglycerides
• Lubricants​ interacting with
• reduce friction and wear starch
• Cosmetics​
• Fuels
27
Let’s start with an experiment
Which chocolate melts first in your mouth?​

Place simultaneously a piece of milk chocolate on the left side of your

tongue and a piece of dark chocolate on the right side of your tongue.​

28
Observation
Different types of chocolate melt at different
temperatures. ​
Why?

What is the ingredient in chocolate that melts?

There are obviously different types with different thermal properties
(i.e., melting and crystallisation behaviour)!

29
“Fats” @ room temperature (UK
climate)
…melts roughly at
body temperature ​

cocoa butter
butter

lard
olive oil 30
 EU chocolate regulations
Differential scanning calorimetry

Cocoa Butter Equivalent

31
Triacylglycerols (TAGs)
are esters derived from glycerol and three fatty acids
making up over 90% of our dietary fats.​
Glycerol O
backbone
O H2C O C

C O CH O

H2C O C

Fatty acids 32
Unsaturated fatty acids H H
H H
• straight
H
H
• kinks
CH3
Linoleic acid COOH

Elaidic acid (trans-Oleic acid)

Structure affects
packing thus melting
cis-Oleic acid temperature of TAGs

33
Fatty acid composition of some
common oils and fats
Sunflower Oil

Rapeseed Oil
SSFA
Palm Oil
MSFA
Coconut Oil
LSFA
Beef Tallow MUFA
Cocoa Butter PUFA
Milk Fat
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Where: SSFA = short-chain FAs (C4-C8), MSFA = medium-chain FAs (C10-C15), LSFA =
long-chain FAs (C16-C22), MUFA = mono-unsaturated FAs, PUFA = poly-unsaturated FAs
34
 Solid fat content
• Fat = solid
• Oil = liquid, may still have
some solid fat
• e.g., 0.089% SFC in corn oil1

Figure caption: From fundamental variables to consumers’ desired attributes: The role
of Solid Fat Content http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2013.11.012 35
1
https://doi.org/10.1002/aocs.12124
Oil modification: How to modulate
the SFC
• Hydrogenation
• Improves oxidative stability by eliminating unsaturated fatty acids
• Increases solids to make more functional and useful = Hardening

• Chemical interesterification
• Fractionation

36
Hydrogenation: Chemistry

CH2 CH2 CH2 CH2

C C C C
cis H H
H H Nickel + H H H
H
Ni Ni Ni
Hydrogen Ni Ni

CH2 H CH2 CH2

C C C C
trans
H CH2 H H
H H
+ double bond isomerisation (movement)
37
Hydrogenation: Summary &
Conclusion
 Hydrogenation is easily controlled to give a wide range of products
from liquid to 100% solid
 It eliminates linolenic acid (18:3) thereby improving oxidative stability
 It is a process associated particularly with soybean and rapeseed oils
 Hydrogenation produces trans fatty acids
• Trans fats raise LDL (low-density lipoprotein/bad) cholesterol (fatty substance in
blood). They lower HDL (high-density lipoprotein good) cholesterol. High LDL
along with low HDL levels can cause cholesterol to build up in the arteries
(blood vessels). This increases the risk for heart disease and stroke.
 Therefore, it is not a preferred approach
38
Interesterification
• Unlike hydrogenation, interesterification does not change the fatty
acid composition of an oil
• Instead, it rearranges the fatty acids on the glycerol moiety to create
new TAGs
• The traditional chemical process produces a random distribution of
fatty acids
• Enzymic interesterification can be more controlled making unique
products not possible using chemical catalysis

39
 Interesterification: Schematic

https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/10/6/1376#
40
 Chemical
interesterification:
Process

Check resource also for

Hydrogenation process

https://www.alfalaval.sg/products/process-solutions/vegetable-
oil-solutions/fat-modification-process-systems/ 41
 Enzymic
interesterificati
on: Schematic

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcatb.2011.11.021
42
 Example
solid fat content solid fat content

Theoretical ternary phase diagrams for blends composed of palm oil – sunflower oil – palm kernel oil at 10°C.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2013.11.012
43
Interesterification: Summary &
conclusions
 Interesterification reaction cannot be controlled; the properties of
the final product depend on the oil blend used
 It is a process associated particularly with palm oil, palm kernel oil
and other solid fats
 Because interesterification does not affect the fatty acid
composition, it cannot produce trans fatty acids
 It is therefore increasingly popular

44
Fractionation: Principles
• Fractionation = Fractional crystallisation
• Melt oil completely (with or without an organic solvent)
• Cool under controlled conditions until crystal nuclei form
• Allow the crystals to grow and agglomerate, i.e., group together in
larger particles
• Separate the crystals from the liquid
• The whole process takes several hours - up to 24 hours in some cases

45
 Fractionation: Process
Liquid Nucleation Crystallisation

. .
. . .
. . . .
.
. .
.
. .

Separation Agglomeration Maturation

Melting
e.g. stearin
range: 54– e.g. olein
Melting point: 18-
46
72.5 °C
Melting profiles of solid fat palm oil
fractions
100 Palm Oil

Olein
Solid Fat Content (%)

80
Stearin
60 Super Olein

40 Soft PMF
palm mid fraction

Mid-Olein
20
Hard PMF
palm mid fraction

0 Mid-Stearin
0 20 40 60 Hard Stearin
Temperature (°C)
47
Advantages of Fractionation
Environmentally friendly
Does not change fatty acids or triacylglycerols from their natural,
original, state
Meets ‘green’ aspirations of today’s consumers
No known or conceivable health issues
Relatively cheap

48
Oil modification: Summary
 Hydrogenation is mainly applicable to the modification of liquid
oils. It is in decline due to its association with trans fatty acids.
 Interesterification is replacing hydrogenation as a means of
increasing SFC. It is a process associated particularly with palm oil,
palm kernel oil and fully hydrogenated liquid oils.
 Fractionation is mainly applicable to the modification of palm oil,
palm kernel oil, milk fat and some ‘exotic’ fats. It has increased with
the increase in production of palm oil.

49
Session summary 2nd part
We have…
…covered the chemistry of a fat,
…introduced ”fat” versus “oil” terminology, and
…outlined methods for modifying solid fat content and their relative
advantages.

50
Supporting material

51
How to read a ternary phase
diagram

52