Resumo

AUGUSTO, Pedro Esteves Duarte  e  CRISTIANINI, Marcelo. Computational fluid dynamics evaluation of liquid food thermal process in a brick shaped package. Ciênc. Tecnol. Aliment. [online]. 2012, vol.32, n.1, pp. 134-141.  Epub 16-Fev-2012. ISSN 0101-2061.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0101-20612012005000014.

Food processes must ensure safety and high-quality products for a growing demand consumer creating the need for better knowledge of its unit operations. The Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has been widely used for better understanding the food thermal processes, and it is one of the safest and most frequently used methods for food preservation. However, there is no single study in the literature describing thermal process of liquid foods in a brick shaped package. The present study evaluated such process and the influence of its orientation on the process lethality. It demonstrated the potential of using CFD to evaluate thermal processes of liquid foods and the importance of rheological characterization and convection in thermal processing of liquid foods. It also showed that packaging orientation does not result in different sterilization values during thermal process of the evaluated fluids in the brick shaped package.

Palavras-chave : mathematical modeling; computational fluid dynamics (CFD); process optimization; thermal process; sterilization.