In one of the stages of the gelatin production process, a highly concentrated solution of gel is cooled and extruded to form gelatin noodles, which are then laid on a drying belt. Gelatin is a molecular colloid that is not porous under these drying conditions, and as a consequence, water migration occurs solely by diffusive processes. To achieve a commercial standard of dryness, the dependence of the diffusion coefficient as a function of temperature is used. This set of circumstances favors the appearance of sharp concentration gradients inside the gel. In a numerical simulation of the drying process these characteristics create difficult conditions for use of the traditional methods for solution of time-dependent partial differential equation models. This paper evaluates an implementation of the boundary element method to determine surface conditions of the gelatin particle.
gelatin; drying belt; molecular colloid
