Determining the Convective Heat Transfer Coefficient (h) in Thermal Process of Foods

Abstract

Thermal processing is the most important and utilized method for food preservation, being those carried out with the food inside the package the most appropriated for safety consumption guarantee. During processing, the packaged food is surrounded by a heat transfer medium, in general a fluid as water, steam, air or its mixtures. Therefore, the definition of the convective heat transfer coefficient (h) is important for several process studies, although the available data is scarce, especially in food thermal processes. Although there is several methods for determining the h values, the non-regular food geometries and transient characteristics of thermal processes, makes difficult using most of the methods. This work aimed to describe an appropriated method to determining the convective heat transfer coefficient (h) in thermal process of foods.