Heat flux determination in thermal processes is classically carried out by appropriate temperature measurements and the application of the Fourier Law. An alternative to this procedure is to determine the heat flux that crosses a surface using heat flux transducers, thus producing heat flux dependent signals. In this work, heating and cooling processes of foods were studied in the laboratory using a cylindrical glass container with the external surface covered by two heat flux meters. Water, maintained at a constant temperature by a thermostatically controlled bath, was circulated within an external jacket to promote heating or cooling of the sample-container system. The signals provided by the transducers and thermocouples placed inside the container were registered by an on-line data acquisition system. Comparison of the results from the heat flux meters with those calculated by using the sample temperature histories and energy balances in the container-sample system showed to be in good agreement with each other. The time-response of the heat flux meters had the same magnitude as those obtained by the thermocouples. The results showed that heat transducers could be used to carry out non-destructive heat flux measurements in heating and cooling processes of foods, supplying additional information to those obtained by thermocouples installed inside the container.
thermal processing; heat transducer; experimental study
