Numerical modelling of heat and mass transfer during cake baking

Abstract

Abstract This article deals with the development of a numerical multiphysics model to study heat and mass transfer phenomena as well as the swelling during the baking of a cake contained in mold. The aim of this study is to provide an effective numerical tool, experimentally validated, for a better understanding of mechanisms leading to the desired end product. Based on the governing equations for heat and mass transport and under few assumptions (homogenous medium, local thermodynamic equilibrium, ideal gas mixture…), the problem consists in solving a system of five coupled partial derivative equations. Temperature, moisture content, total gas pressure, porosity and displacement are used as state variables in this study. The swelling of dough caused by the increase of total gas pressure is predicted by a viscoelastic model. This thermo-hydro-mechanical model is implemented in finite elements code. Moreover, an experimental laboratory set-up was developed in order to continually acquire temperatures, water losses, deformation and to correctly apprehend the boundaries conditions. The numerical results are then compared with experimental data. They are overall in good agreement. Various operating conditions are tested to check the robustness of predictions.