MICHAEL OKPARA

UNIVERSITY.

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 DEPARTMENT: FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

FST 413: FOOD

PROCESS ENGINEERING
O. U. Anselm
TOPIC 4

FUEL UTILISATION IN THE FOOD

INDUSTRY

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FUEL UTILISATION
̶ “Eating Oil” , a book published in 1978
̶ oil crisis in 1973.
̶ summer of 2000
̶ And today?

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Considerations for selecting a fuel type:
̶ Effects of fuel and its by-products on the food
̶ The economics of fuel

̶ Now I have selected my choice for fuel, WHAT NEXT?

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̶ Design considerations to be evaluated to achieve the
best compromise for fuel choice:
̶ lowest fuel cost per unit of useful heat generated
̶ lowest capital and maintenance costs for combustion
̶ lowest direct labour costs per unit of useful heat generated
̶ lowest fire and explosion hazard
̶ lowest risk of product contamination by the fuel and its by-
products
̶ maximum flexibility in operations and control
̶ maximum reliability in continuity of supply
̶ compliance with environmental standards. 6
̶ WHAT IS FUEL? Any material that can react with other
substances to release energy
̶ First fuel combustion of wood or sticks
̶ charcoal?

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Types of fuel
̶ Solid Fuel: solid materials used as fuels to produce energy.
̶ E.g:wood
̶ Charcoal
̶ Peat
̶ Coal
̶ Hexamine fuel tablets
̶ Pellets made from wood, corn, rye etc

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̶ Coal fuel source for firing furnaces, running
steam engines.
̶ Wood to run steam locomotives.
̶ peat and coal in electricity generation today.

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̶ Liquid fuel:are combustible or energy-generating
molecules that can be harnessed to create mechanical
energy.
̶ Producing kinetic energy.
̶ They also must take the shape of their container.
̶ E.g hydrogen fuel
‒ Ethanol
‒ Jet fuel
‒ Biodiesel, kerosene, diesel,etc
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̶ Fuel gas: Fuels that are gaseous under ordinary
conditions.
̶ They are sources of potential heat energy or light
energy.
̶ Can be readily transmitted and distributed through pipes
from the point of origin directly to the place of
consumption.
̶ Odorizers are mostly added .
̶ E.g: natural gas, CO,H etc.
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̶ Biofuel: solid, liquid, or gas fuel consisting of, or
derived from biomass.
̶ can be produced from any carbon source that can be
replenished rapidly e.g. plants.

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̶ Fossil fuel:formed from the fossilized remains of
ancient plants and animals, by exposure to high heat
and pressure in the absence of oxygen in the Earth's
crust over hundreds of millions of years.

̶ They are non-renewable resources.

̶ Reserves are being depleted much faster than new

ones are being made.
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̶ E.g
̶ hydrocarbons, primarily coal and petroleum.

̶ Nuclear fuel: any material that is consumed to derive

nuclear energy.
̶ They can be 'burned' by nuclear fission or fusion.

̶ Nuclear reactor vs nuclear weapon.

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FUEL UTILISATION
̶ Dependence of Food on Fossil fuel:
̶ oil and gas are used as raw materials
‒ fertilisers
‒ Pesticides
‒ Energy for all stages of food production
‒ construction and the repair of equipment and infrastructure
̶ E.g: farm machinery, processing facilities, storage,
ships, trucks and roads.

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FUEL UTILISATION
̶ Food industry and global warming
̶ Effects of global warming
̶ Environmental degradation
̶ water shortages
̶ salination
̶ soil erosion
̶ pests,
̶ disease and desertification
̶ Correction?

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FUEL UTILISATION
̶ Various aspect of fuel utilisation

̶ To run the tractors, other farm vehicles and equipment that

plant, spray the herbicides and pesticides, and
harvest/transport food and seed.

̶ Food processors rely on the just-in-time (gasoline-based)

delivery of fresh or refrigerated food.

̶ Food processors rely on the production and delivery of food

additives, including vitamins and minerals, emulsifiers,
preservatives, colouring agents etc. 17
FUEL UTILISATION
̶ Food processors rely on the production and delivery of boxes,
metal cans, printed paper labels, plastic trays etc.

̶ Delivery of finished food products to distribution centres in

refrigerated trucks.

̶ in-time shipment of food to grocery stores, restaurants, hospitals,

schools, etc

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̶ Energy uses in the FOOD INDUSTRY:
̶ The Energy Information Association defines Industrial
end-use categories as:
̶ DIRECT USES
̶ INDIRECT USES
̶ UNALLOCATED USES

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̶ DIRECT USES:
̶ Process uses
̶ Non-process uses

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̶ Process uses (6 %):
‒ process heating (7.6 %).
‒ Process cooling and refrigeration (25 %).
‒ Machine drive (mechanical energy) (47.6 %).
‒ Electro-chemical processes,

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̶ Non-process uses (less than 8 %):
‒ Facility heating.
‒ Ventilation.
‒ Refrigeration.
‒ Lighting.
‒ Facility support.
‒ Onsite transportation.
‒ Conventional electricity generation.

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̶ INDIRECT USES: boiler fuel
̶ 89.8% of residual fuel oil was used as boiler fuel.
̶ Distillate fuel oil was used mainly for boiler fuel (41.9%)

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̶ UNALLOCATED USES:
̶ energy uses that do not fall into an assigned category

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̶ Key areas in the food industry requiring fuel;
̶ food preservation, safe and convenient packaging,
and storage.
̶ heating processes: roasting, baking, cooking, frying,
and boiling.
̶ Cooling processes: freezing, cooling, and
refrigeration

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̶ The modern food system consumes roughly ten
calories of fossil-fuel energy for every calorie of food
energy produced.
‒ Sudden interruption?

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FUEL UTILISATION

̶ Indicator of the unsustainability of the contemporary food

system:
̶ energy outputs ≠ energy inputs.
̶ energy outputs energy inputs
̶ 127 calories of energy = 1 calorie of lettuce across the Atlantic

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̶ This means our food supply is:
‒ Vulnerable
‒ Inefficient
‒ Unsustainable

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SOLUTION? YES!!!
̶ 1) The steam system:
̶ Higher fuel cost and consumption operation of
only efficient combustion and heat transfer systems.
̶ Therefore, evaluation of the steam system is
recommended.

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̶ What should be done?
̶ Adjust burner on any boiler for complete combustion
and maximum heat from the fuel.
̶ Boilers should be kept clean and free of scale.

̶ Indication of scale build up? increase in the stack

temperature

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̶ 2) Reducing heat losses:
̶ Installing insulation at the interface between where
heat is desired and where it yields no benefit is one of
our principal approaches to reducing heat losses.

̶ Reduction in heat losses = reduction in fuel

consumption

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̶ 3) Processing operations:
̶ Food processing usually requires heating or cooling
and often both in many plants.
̶ employ the regenerative heat exchange principle.
̶ E.g milk-to-milk regeneration in the pasteurization
process (dairy industry)
̶ Use a suitable heat exchanger!!!!

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̶ GOOD LUCK WITH YOU
EXAMS

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