A mathematical model for a class of frying processes (Q2459632): Difference between revisions

The authors formulate a mathematical model for deep frying processes, assuming that the sample undergoing frying is sufficiently thick so as to neglect deformation. Thus, frying is described as vaporization of water in an initially saturated undeformable porous material. They consider the one-dimensional case in absence of mechanical deformations. In the generic stage of the process proceeding from the median section to the outer surface (in constant with the oil) one finds a saturated region below the boiling point, a mixed region in which liquid water and vapor coexist in thermodynamical equilibrium, a pure vapor zone, the crust. The latter is assumed to be thin and transparent to vapor, but its formulation possibly requiring some latent heat. The temperatures are the field variables, the interfaces separating the regions listed above are free boundaries. A double regime is proposed on the total vaporization face: unconstrained pressure or constrained pressure. The latter has the role to present excessive pressure build-up due to temperature rise. This model has been reduced to a nondimensional version, and is converted to the governing parabolic system of equation of the following form \[ {\partial\vec U\over\partial t}={\mathcal A}(\vec U) {\partial^2\vec U\over\partial x^2}+\vec B\left(\vec U, {\partial\vec U\over\partial x}\right), \tag \(*\) \] where \(\vec U= \binom{S_w}{\widetilde T}\) and \({\mathcal A}\) is the \(2\times2\) matrix \[ {\mathcal A}=\left(\begin{matrix} {t\lambda\over t_{D_w}}&\theta(1-S_w)\\ 0&{\bar k\over\bar c}\end{matrix}\right), \tag \(**\) \] where \(S_w\) denotes the temperature of the water saturation, \(\overline T={T\over T_0}\) the temperature, \(T_0\) the boiling point, \(t_\lambda=\varepsilon{L^2\over k_{\text{sat}}}{\lambda\rho_w^0\over T_0}\), \(\varphi_w^0\) is the liquid water density, \(t_{D_w}={L^2\over D_w}\), \(L\) length, \(k_{\text{sat}}=\varepsilon k_w+(1-\varepsilon)k_s\), \(k_w\) specific heat, \(\theta={\lambda\over RT_0}\), \(R\) the gas constant, \(k_s\) thermal conductivity, \(\lambda\) is the latent heat of vaporization \(D_w\) representing diffusivity, \(\bar k\), \(\bar c\) denoting the coefficients of \({\partial^2\overline T\over\partial\bar x^2}\) and of \({\partial\overline T\over\partial\bar t}\) respectively \(\bar x={x\over L}\), \(\bar t={t\over t_\lambda}\) are nondimensional variables. The system \((*)\) in view of \((**)\) is uniformly parabolic in the sense of Petrovskii. So, the problem considered in the paper possesses the structure of a parabolic free boundary problem. The authors didn't investigate the question of well-posedness of the problem and also left open the problem connected with numerical computations.