three-dimensional modeling and simulation of ohmic heating of processing in a two-phase food system

the basis of the ohmic heating process is the transmission of alternating electric current through multi-phase solutions that is followed by heat generation due to particle resistance to the transmitted electric current. throughout the present study, simultaneous transfer of heat and electricity was modeled in a two-phase system of solid-liquid food to investigate the critical factors affecting the process. a three-dimensional simulation was employed in the modeling to investigate the effect of particle distribution, salt diffusion as well as electrical conductivity. the results revealed that there existed a good agreement between the results of the modeling with the experimental results. it was also revealed that with increase in the concentration of salts and electrical conductivity, heating rate increased. in total, it can be concluded that heat and electricity diffusion throughout the product is faster than that in conventional heating methods and proceed similarly and almost with equal speed in both liquid and solid phases.