Premium
Modeling of soybean hydration as a Stefan problem: Boundary immobilization method
Author(s) -
Nicolin Douglas Junior,
da Silva Gisleine E. C.,
Jorge Regina Maria Matos,
Jorge e Luiz Mario de Matos
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of food process engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.507
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1745-4530
pISSN - 0145-8876
DOI - 10.1111/jfpe.12693
Subject(s) - thermal diffusivity , moisture , radius , diffusion , work (physics) , process (computing) , absorption of water , water content , materials science , thermodynamics , mathematics , biological system , mechanics , computer science , physics , geology , geotechnical engineering , composite material , computer security , biology , operating system
In the present work, the mathematical modeling of the soybean hydration process is presented, considering the increase in the grain radius by Stefan problem approach. The boundary immobilization method was used in the model to take into account the spatial mesh variation caused by the diffusion of moisture in the grains. The results provided by the model show its quality when compared with experimental data, both for the adequacy of the predictions for moisture data over time and for the adequacy of grain radius increase predictions over time, for five different temperatures. The presented methodology showed improvements on results already reported in the literature. Practical applications The approach presented in this article allows one to fit diffusivity values for soybean hydration by taking into account a phenomenon commonly observed in this process: the increase of the grains during water absorption. Thus, it is expected the diffusivities to be more realistic and precise, improving the project of equipment. Since the model proposed provide the increase of the grains along the hydration process, an estimation of the increase of a higher amount of the grains could be obtained as well. Such estimation is relevant due to the considerable increase that grains suffer after absorbing water.