Determination of heat transfer coefficient and correlation of dimensionless number for freezing of food

This research work describes a study that was initiated to resolve deficiencies in heat transfer coefficient data for food freezing processes. Members of the food refrigeration industry were contacted to collect freezing curves and surface heat transfer data. A unique iterative algorithm was developed to estimate the surface heat transfer coefficients of foods based upon their freezing curves. Making use of this algorithm, heat transfer coefficients for various food items were calculated from the freezing curves collected during the industrial survey.;Nusselt number (Nu), Prandtl number (Pr) and Reynolds number (Re) were calculated for each of the various food items. Based on these calculated dimensionless parameters, correlations were obtained in the form of Nu = CPrmRen for various food items. Such information is important in the design and operation of cooling and freezing facilities and will be of immediate usefulness to engineers involved in the design and operation of such systems.