Inverse estimation of fluid-to-particle heat transfer coefficient in aseptic processing of particulate foods

This study proposes and implements inverse methods to estimate fluid-to-particulate heat transfer coefficient (h(fp)) of liquid-particulate solution (sweet potato puree and chickpea) during aseptic processing. The other physical and thermal properties of food were computed using forward techniques. A statistical analysis was conducted to assess the accuracy of the estimated results and performance of the inverse method. The inverse technique successfully estimated the h(fp) with a good correlation with simulated and predicted temperature of the centre of the fastest moving solid particle, zero mean and uncorrelated errors in residuals, higher scaled sensitivity coefficient, and consistent sequential estimation curve. The good fitting between the simulated experimental and the estimated results confirms the robustness of the proposed inverse method in estimating accurate h(fp) to achieve sufficient lethality of the liquid-particulate food product. The study can be useful in facilitating the optimisation of the carrier fluid rheological specifications, the design of the processing equipment, and the process settings for the commercial aseptic system. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of IAgrE.