Techno-Economical Viability of Concentration of Liquid Food using Freezing Method

Abstract

The process of freeze concentration is applicable to coffee extracts, fruit juices, wine as well as dairy products such as skimmed milk. In freeze concentration process, the liquid food is made frozen and make the water to be separated from the solution in the form of crystals so the liquid food can be separated into the ice of pure water and concentrated liquid. As compare to evaporation process, the freeze concentration is much more viable technologically as well as economically. The whole process of freeze concentration is divided into two stages: freezing (crystallization) and separation. For the crystallization process, typical scraped surface heat exchanger (SSHE) is used. For the separation process a wash column is used. In the present study, the whole wash column system is designed and information about the materials and dimensions are determined. The numerical modelling of the scrapped surface is also done. A parametric study choosing different speeds of rotor and three different clearances of 0.5 mm, 1 mm, and 1.5 mm is undertaken. The heat transfer coefficient is also found for all the cases.