Food Process Engineering

Credit Hr 3 (2-1) Course Code FST-25405

Dr. Muhammad Shahbaz

Assistant Professor
Post-doc (South Korea)
Ph.D. (South Korea)
Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition
Introduction Of The Course
Food Engineering
“Food engineering is a scientific, academic, and professional field that
interprets and applies principles of engineering, science, and mathematics
to food manufacturing and operations, including the processing, production,
handling, storage, conservation, control, packaging and distribution
of food products”
 Food Process Engineering

• Food Process Engineering is a scientific multidisciplinary field dealing with the

development and refinement of food products for human and animal consumption
• As a scientific discipline, Food Process Engineering encompasses the practical
applications of science to develop efficient industrial production, packaging, storage,
and marketing of wholesome and convenient foods
• Education in Food Process Engineering includes training in materials science
[rheology, mass transfer properties, and thermal and electrical food properties] applied
mathematics, quality control, engineering design of food process, and microbiological
applications in food processing
• Experts in Food Process Engineering work in academia, the public sector and industry
with the primary role of assessing the problems concerning food production, food
quality, process and plant design and food regulation
 Aims and Objectives
At the end of the programme, students are expected to:
• Demonstrate a detailed understanding of the relevant theoretical foundations and
concepts of mathematics, chemistry, biology, physics and engineering as applied to
Food Process Engineering
• Be able to conduct, analyse and interpret experiments and apply experimental results
to improve processes
• Be able to apply new technology, design, plan, control and manage food process
engineering systems
• Be able to differentiate and select efficient technology in the development of agro-
industry processing to achieve profitable and environmentally safe outcomes
• Be able to apply new technology, design, plan, control and manage food process
engineering systems
• Demonstrate an appreciation for professional, ethical and social responsibilities
What are the Industry/Global Trends that
we can achieve through Food Process Eng
• In recent times, the food process industry has been characterized by efficient mass
production and transportation of food supplies
• This development has been dictated by increasing concentration of people in
urban areas, where large segment of the population depend on large quantities of
pre-treated, pre-processed, or ready-to-eat foodstuffs. Driven by this need, food
process engineers are at the forefront of developing and refining food products that
are uniform in quality and safe
• Another emerging trend is the preferences for non-thermal processed foods. Food
engineers are thus applying techniques such as highly hydrostatic pressure (HPP),
pulsed electric fields, light pulses, ultrasound, magnetic fields to satisfy this demand
Trends in modern food processing
Health
• Reduction of fat content in final product e.g. by using baking instead of deep-frying
in the production of potato chips
• Maintaining the natural taste of the product e.g. by using less artificial sweetener
Hygiene
• The introduction of HACCP standards during production and distribution reduce the
risk of contamination of the products
Trends in modern food processing
Efficiency
• Rising energy costs lead to increasing usage of energy-saving technologies, e.g.
heat insulation of factory buildings, heated vessels, and energy recovery
systems
• Factory automation systems (often distributed control systems) reduce
personnel costs and may lead to more stable production results
Reference Book for Our Course is shared with you in My Google Drive: Check your Email
Introduction:
Fundamentals of Food Process Engineering
Food Process and Unit Operations
 What is a process?

• A ‘process’ is defined as a set of actions in a specific sequence, to a specific end

• A manufacturing process starts with raw materials and ends with products and by-
products
• The number of actually existing and theoretically possible processes in any
manufacturing industry is enormous
• The ‘actions ’ that constitute a process may be grouped in a relatively small number of
operations – called Unit Operations
• Early in the 20th century, these operations, called unit operations , became the
backbone of chemical engineering
• Since the 1950s, the unit operation approach has also been extensively applied by
teachers and researchers in food
Unit Operations Of The Food Processing Industry By Principal Groups
Unit Operations Of The Food Processing Industry By Principal Groups
Unit Operations Of The Food Processing Industry By Principal Groups
Types of Processes
Batch and Continuous Processes
Processes may be carried-out in
• Batch
• Continuous
• Mixed Fashion
A Batch Process

• In batch processing , a portion of the materials to be processed is separated

from the bulk and treated separately
• The conditions such as temperature, pressure, composition etc. usually vary
during the process
• The batch process has a definite duration and, after its completion, a new
cycle begins, with a new portion of material
• The batch process is usually less capital intensive but may be more costly to
operate and involves costly equipment dead-time for loading and unloading
between batches
• It is easier to control and lends itself to intervention during the process
A Batch Process

• Small-scale production and to frequent

changes in product composition and
process conditions
• A typical example of a batch process
would be the mixing of flour, water,
yeast and other ingredients in a bowl
mixer to make a bread dough
• After having produced one batch of
dough for white bread, the same mixer
can be cleaned and used to make a
batch of dark dough
A Continuous Process

• In continuous processing , the materials pass through the system continuously,

without separation of a part of the material from the bulk
• The conditions at a given point of the system may vary for a while at the beginning
of the process, but ideally they remain constant during the best part of the process
• In engineering terms, a continuous process is ideally run at steady state for most of
its duration
• Continuous processes are more difficult to control, require higher capital
investment, but provide better utilization of production capacity, at lower
operational cost
A Continuous Process

• They are particularly suitable for

lines producing large quantities of
one type of product for a relatively
long duration
• A typical example of a continuous
process would be the continuous
pasteurization of milk
 A Mixed Process

• Mixed processes are composed of a sequence of continuous and batch

processes
• An example of a mixed process would be the production of strained infant food.
• In this example, the raw materials are first subjected to a continuous stage
consisting of washing, sorting, continuous blanching or cooking, mashing and
finishing (screening).
• Batches of the mashed ingredients are then collected in formulation tanks
where they are mixed according to formulation
• Usually, at this stage, a sample is sent to the quality assurance laboratory for
evaluation
 A Mixed Process
• After approval, the batches are pumped, one after the other, to the continuous
homogenization, heat treatment and packaging line
• Thus, this mixed process is composed of one batch phase between two
continuous phases
• To run smoothly, mixed processes require that buffer storage capacity be
provided between the batch and continuous phases.