THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY PREDICTION FOR FOODSTUFFS: EFFECT OF MOISTURE CONTENT AND TEMPERATURE

A wide variation of the reported experimental data of thermal conductivity of solid food materials makes difficult their utilization in food processing applications. The published values of thermal conductivity of various foods were classified and analyzed statistically to reveal the influence of material moisture content and temperature. Empirical models, relating thermal conductivity to material moisture content and temperature, are fitted to all literature data for each material. The data are screened carefully using residual analysis techniques. A potential model is proposed and parameters are estimated for different foods.