Freezing times of meat balls in belt freezers: experimental determination and prediction by different methods
Abstract Freezing times of beef meat balls were experimentally determined in a prototype belt freezer. Working conditions covered a wide range of velocities and temperatures of the refrigerating air. The air flowed parallel or through the belt, either upwards or downwards, thus resembling the way in which different industrial equipment operates. Freezing times were predicted by a numerical method and by six recently developed approximate methods, using three different sets of thermal properties for minced beef. The comparison of experimental and predicted freezing times showed that both the numerical method and the values of the heat transfer coefficient were adequate. However, the results predicted by the different approximate methods depended strongly and with no definite trend on the values of thermal properties used.