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Thermal Food Engineering
Operations
Scrivener Publishing
100 Cummings Center, Suite 541J
Beverly, MA 01915-6106
Scope: Bioprocessing in Food Science will comprise a series of volumes covering the entirety of
food science, unit operations in food processing, nutrition, food chemistry, microbiology, biotech-
nology, physics and engineering during harvesting, processing, packaging, food safety, and storage
and supply chain of food. The main objectives of this series are to disseminate knowledge pertaining
to recent technologies developed in the field of food science and food process engineering to students,
researchers and industry people. This will enable them to make crucial decisions regarding adoption,
implementation, economics and constraints of the different technologies.
As the demand of healthy food is increasing in the current global scenario, so manufacturers are
searching for new possibilities for occupying a major share in a rapidly changing food market.
Compiled reports and knowledge on bioprocessing and food products is a must for industry people.
In the current scenario, academia, researchers and food industries are working in a scattered manner
and different technologies developed at each level are not implemented for the benefits of different
stake holders. However, the advancements in bioprocesses are required at all levels for betterment
of food industries and consumers.
The volumes in this series will be comprehensive compilations of all the research that has been
carried out so far, their practical applications and the future scope of research and development in
the food bioprocessing industry. The novel technologies employed for processing different types of
foods, encompassing the background, principles, classification, applications, equipment, effect on
foods, legislative issue, technology implementation, constraints, and food and human safety
concerns will be covered in this series in an orderly fashion. These volumes will comprehensively
meet the knowledge requirements for the curriculum of undergraduate, postgraduate and research
students for learning the concepts of bioprocessing in food engineering. Undergraduate, post
graduate students and academicians, researchers in academics and in the industry, large- and small-
scale manufacturers, national research laboratories, all working in the field of food science, agri-
processing and food biotechnology will benefit.
Publishers at Scrivener
Martin Scrivener (martin@scrivenerpublishing.com)
Phillip Carmical (pcarmical@scrivenerpublishing.com)
Thermal Food Engineering
Operations
Edited by
Nitin Kumar
Anil Panghal
and
M. K. Garg
This edition first published 2022 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, USA
and Scrivener Publishing LLC, 100 Cummings Center, Suite 541J, Beverly, MA 01915, USA
© 2022 Scrivener Publishing LLC
For more information about Scrivener publications please visit www.scrivenerpublishing.com.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other-
wise, except as permitted by law. Advice on how to obtain permission to reuse material from this title
is available at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.
For details of our global editorial offices, customer services, and more information about Wiley prod-
ucts visit us at www.wiley.com.
ISBN 9781119775591
Set in size of 11pt and Minion Pro by Manila Typesetting Company, Makati, Philippines
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Preface xvii
1 Novel Thermal Technologies: Trends and Prospects 1
Amrita Preetam, Vipasha, Sushree Titikshya, Vivek Kumar,
K.K. Pant and S. N. Naik
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Novel Thermal Technologies: Current Status and Trends 3
1.2.1 Environmental Impact of Novel Thermal Technologies 6
1.2.2 The Objective of Thermal Processing 8
1.2.3 Preservation Process 9
1.3 Types of Thermal Technologies 11
1.3.1 Infrared Heating 12
1.3.1.1 Principal and Mechanism 12
1.3.1.2 Advantages of IR Heating 13
1.3.1.3 Applications of IR Heating 14
1.3.2 Microwave Heating 14
1.3.2.1 Principal and Mechanism 14
1.3.2.2 Advantages of Microwave in Food Industry 17
1.3.2.3 Application of Microwave in Food Processing
Technologies 19
1.3.3 Radiofrequency (RF) Heating 24
1.3.3.1 Principal and Mechanism 24
1.3.3.2 Advantages and Disadvantages 26
1.3.3.3 Applications 27
1.3.4 Ohmic Heating 28
1.3.4.1 Principal and Mechanism 28
1.3.4.2 Advantages and Disadvantages 31
1.3.4.3 Applications 33
1.4 Future Perspective of Novel Thermal Technologies 36
1.5 Conclusion 36
References 37
v
vi Contents
xvii
xviii Preface
Nitin Kumar
Anil Panghal
M.K. Garg
1
Novel Thermal Technologies:
Trends and Prospects
Amrita Preetam1*, Vipasha1, Sushree Titikshya1, Vivek Kumar1, K.K. Pant2
and S. N. Naik1
1
Centre for Rural Development and Technology, IIT Delhi, Delhi, India
2
Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Delhi, Delhi, India
Abstract
Heating is possibly the most traditional way of processing foods. The technologies
involved in heating have been continuously developing for the past many years as
per consumer need, satisfaction and demand. Techniques such as dielectric heat-
ing, ohmic heating, and infrared heating are evolving and can substitute for the
conventional heating methods for improving quality and shelf life, and providing a
faster production rate. The conventional technologies are primarily based on con-
vective, conductive, and radiative heat transfer. But the new novel thermal meth-
ods are mainly relying on the electromagnetic field or electrical conductivity and
are having cleaner environmental impacts such as energy saving, water savings,
improved efficiencies, fewer emissions, and eventually decreasing dependency
on non-renewable resources. The chapter discusses novel thermal technologies.
Definitions, basic principles, environmental impacts, current trends, and future
perspectives are described along with the mechanism and advantages of the novel
thermal technologies. The novel thermal technologies are continuously emerging
and evolving as per consumer requirements and need.
Keywords: Novel thermal technologies, infrared heating, ohmic heating,
microwave heating, radiofrequency heating
1.1 Introduction
The primary goal for food processors is quality and safety assurance. To
ensure microbiological food safety, the use of heat by thermal operation
Nitin Kumar, Anil Panghal and M. K. Garg (eds.) Thermal Food Engineering Operations, (1–44)
© 2022 Scrivener Publishing LLC
1
2 Thermal Food Engineering Operations
915MHz single-mode cavities using a shallow bed with water food immer-
sion; it penetrates deeper in food and water offers to reduce the edge heat-
ing. It got approval in 2009 by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
[72].
The high value of hygiene and safety of food requires large use of water
in both hot and cold cycles in production which consequently increases the
environmental footprint. Processes such as cooking, sterilization, drying,
and pasteurization require various types of energy. Novel thermal technol-
ogies are promising, attractive, and efficient in nature. They are capable of
providing improved quality and reduced environmental effects which will
eventually reduce environmental footprints. Novel thermal technologies
can reduce processing costs followed by improving and maintaining the
value-added products. Overall the primary types of energy used based on
conventional thermal processing techniques are fossil fuel and electricity,
majorly utilized in refrigeration and mechanical power in pumps. A heat
exchanger is commonly used in the pasteurization of beverages where the
pathogens are killed when heated to a particular residence time. During
thermal treatment, convection and conduction play a major role to trans-
fer heat to the products. For viscous fluids, directing heating process is
applied, e.g., steam injection and steam infusion are utilized for thermal
treatments. In the food and beverages industry, regarding the distribution
of energy in 2002, Denmark suggests that total consumption of energy
(TJ/Year) is 135,200 including the amount of heating and power. Adapted
from [58].
This concludes that major heat is used in frying, evaporation, drying,
and heating for thermal processes. Until the present moment, this trend
is still functioning. Novel thermal technologies such as radio frequency,
ohmic heating, microwave, etc., for food processing being continuously
evolving. These novel thermal technologies have reduced emissions, reli-
ability, improved productivity, high product quality, energy saving, water
saving and consequently have less impact on the environment; [45] inves-
tigated that for Orange juice and cookies manufacturing, radio frequency
drying (RF) can range up to 0 to 73.8 TJ per year in terms of primary
energy saving. The major kinds of gas emissions from food industries are
linked to power and heat production particulate matter and gases such as
SO2, CO2, NO, from combustion processes. The particulate matter and vol-
atile organic compounds (VOCs) and other chemical emissions are from
methods such as size reduction, heating, refrigeration system, and cooking
methods.
Conventionally 33% of the overall energy consumed in food processing
corresponds to the production of steam. The steam is commonly used in
drying, concentrating liquids, cooking, sterilizing, etc., in the processing of
food processes. The generation of steam used in food industries involves
the utilization of boilers. To remove the dissolved solid from the boiler
system a large quantity of water is periodically drained from the bottom,
8 Thermal Food Engineering Operations
and chemical variations to ensure its characteristic and safety of food. The
objective also includes adding values such as maintaining its texture, flavor,
color, etc., and make varieties of new products; it should also be needed
by the specific section of the population. Over the past several years, con-
sumer demands have improved standard, convenient and varied food
which required the modification and development in existing traditional
process for the new food preservation technologies. For that, the new novel
thermal technologies evolved. Novel thermal technologies are better not
only in terms of their quality improvements of food and heating efficiency
but also in other important aspects such as water-saving, energy-saving,
and reduced emissions. Most of these technologies are green and have less
environmental impact and improve the added value of foods.
attributes which indicates its shelf life; this is a very important param-
eter to consider. The quality of products can rely on appearance, yield,
eating characteristics, microbial characteristics, and the consumer’s
overall experience. The deterioration of food depends upon mechanical,
chemical, physical, and microbial reactions. The quality of the product
was maintained at every stage of food production and overall processing
chains such as manufacture, storage, distribution, and sale. Additionally,
the need for preservation must depend on its purpose and use, and
consider the population for whom the preservation is to be done as the
nutritional requirement and food restriction apply differently to different
sections of groups.
There are many measures for food preservation; inhibition, inactivation,
and avoiding recontamination are the common ones. Each method con-
tains several processes of preservation such as inhibition, which includes
a decrease of oxygen, adding preservatives, control of pH, freezing, drying,
surface coating, gas removal, fermentation, and many others. Inactivation
includes irradiation, sterilization, extrusion, and others; avoiding contam-
ination involves packaging, hygienic processing, aseptic processing, and
others.
Thermal technology has been the backbone of food production and pres-
ervation for many years. In this technology, the temperature is assumed
to be the major parameter for preservation and processing mechanism to
make food commercially sterile, i.e., to get rid of pathogens and microor-
ganisms which usually grow in the normal shelf life of the food product.
Thermally processing the food provides real importance to the food by
increasing and preserving its shelf life longer than the chilled food process-
ing technologies.
In novel thermal technologies, preservation is done by the use of elec-
tricity. Various forms of electrical energy are utilized for food preservation
such as ohmic heating, high intensity pulsed electric field, high-voltage arc
discharge, microwave heating, and low electric field stimulation. Ohmic
heating is the most common and is based on volumetric heating which
prevents the overheating of food, provides uniform and quick heating; it
depends on the principle that generation of heat in the food is an outcome
of electrical residence when an electric current is moved through the food
product. Furthermore, ohmic heating prevents thermal damage and pro-
motes the efficiency of energy. Similarly, microwave heating is also very
common and utilized in almost every household and the food industry
but its low penetration depth of microwave into solid provides ther-
mal non-uniformity. The other available methods utilizing electric energy
are also very versatile, useful, and efficient for the preservation of food.
Novel Thermal Technologies 11
The current electro heating can be used to produce to form new and up-to-
date products with diversified functionality.
Q = σSB .ɛ.A.T4
Novel Thermal Technologies 13
Where ɛ defined as the emissivity of the grey body (ranging from 0 to 1).
This property changes with the wavelength of emitted radiation and
temperature of the grey body.
The heating level depends on the absorbed energy, which then rely on
the composition of food and the radiation frequency.
Mathematically, the transfer of heat rate to food is expressed as,
Q SB . .A. (T 41 T 4 )2
Where T1 depicts the temperature of the emitter and T2 depicts the tem-
perature of the absorber. Heat transfer rate relies on:
for domestic purposes is 2.45 GHz, whereas the frequency for industrial
purposes is 915 MHz [8].
Microwave is a varying magnetic field that generates heat on interaction
with, and absorption by, certain dielectric materials, and with the position-
ing of the direction of the electric field, the native thermal motion of the
polarity molecule changes [26]. Water, the dominant polar molecule, con-
sists of separated molecules of an oxygen atom with a negative charge and
hydrogen atom with a positive charge which combinedly structure into an
electric dipole. When these dipoles fluctuate swiftly back and forth from
positive to negative in the direction of the electric field numerous times per
second, these express reversals produce frictional heat. This implies that
the polar molecules in food play a vital role in the heating performance of
food in the microwave system. Due to this frictional rise in the temperature
of the water, food components get heated up by convection and conduc-
tion. The loss factor dielectric constant of the food determines the depth
of penetration of both microwaves and RF energy [49]. This also relies on
the varying temperature and moisture concentration of the sample mate-
rial plus the frequency of the electric field. Overall, with lesser frequency
and loss factors, we get more depth of penetration. Energy distribution var-
ies with food samples which also governs the depth of penetration of the
microwave inside the food. As the food material to be heated in the micro-
wave matches with the wavelength of the material, it becomes difficult to
manage the heat uniformity of microwave heating which can be taken as a
crucial constraint for industrial application of microwave heating. Thus, a
central obligation for microwave energy application and microwave equip-
ment in the food industry is the potential to accurately regulate heating
uniformity. Microorganisms are not affected as a result of microwave radi-
ation but are susceptible to the heat generated because of the radiation.
Microwaves are likely to be a channel through ceramics, thermoplastics,
and glass whereas they are absorbed by carbon and water; reflected by met-
als but conceivably transmitted using metal hollow tubes and on transiting
amongst diverse materials get refracted like the visible light. Microwaves
can also be focused on a beam [77].
The microwave energy is transferred to food through the contactless
transmission of the wave. This system ensures the uniform heating of food
samples during the operation. The equipment comprises a magnetron
which is the generator, guide waves which are the aluminium tubes, and for
a continuous operation, it has a tunnel attached with a conveyor or a metal
compartment for batch operation. These chambers and tunnels are sealed
by absorbers or traps to prevent the microwave from escaping and causing
injury to the operator [11].
Novel Thermal Technologies 17
(a) Ionic polarisation: ions present in the solution, when suspended to the
electric field, orient themselves, experiencing acceleration and an upsurged
kinetic energy. When ions collide with each other it gets converted into
heat. This frequent collision increases the density or the concentration of
the solution which is also known as the ionic polarization effect [3], whereas
in gases the collision becomes difficult due to the spacing between the mol-
ecules. In food material, cations are generated by the presence of salts of
sodium, potassium, or calcium whilst chlorine produces anions.
(b) Dipole rotation: When the polar molecule strives to situate itself into
the fluctuating electric field caused by the microwave, the dipole rotation
is created, where the oscillation of the dipolar species leads to the collision
with the surrounding producing heat [80]. With the increase in tempera-
ture, the dipole movement decreases, whereas ionic conduction increases
hence, food samples with both the compounds when heated by the micro-
wave, first governed by the dipole rotation and then with the increase in
temperature governed by ionic conduction. The comparative involvement
of these methods of heating hinges on the concentration and flexibility of
sample ions, plus on the sample’s relaxation time [36].
the entire plant volume. Microwave heating is also the predominant per-
tinent to food processing since it has the aptitude to evade the charring of
temperature-sensitive resources. A key shortcoming can be the equipment’s
capital rate and consequently most expected to be utilized for top-quality
products [47].
Microwave Drying
Drying is a complex volumetric heating process that involves heat and
mass transfer [13]. The strong microwave radiation when penetrates inside
the food item generates vapor and a pressure gradient that heats the food
from the inside and outside at the same time with a simultaneous increase
of temperature.
Microwave drying improves the quality of some food products with
minimum drying time. A microwave uses high-frequency electromag-
netic energy and converts it into heat. Wet products manage the energy
absorption strength which carefully heats the interior parts of food sam-
ples selectively. The moisture present in the food vigorously evaporates
and travels towards the surface without affecting the exterior parts of
the sample [41]. The microwave drying process goes through two suc-
cessive stages, i.e., liquid evaporation [26], and three phases of drying
include heating, constant rate, and falling rate [5]. Limiting diffusion
rate during the falling rate drying period results in shrinkage of the
20 Thermal Food Engineering Operations
Microwave Heating
Microwave heating relies on volumetric heating of the food material instan-
taneously and can also be combined with the convective and radiant heat-
ing process [33]. The electric field induces the dipole rotation, generating
friction between molecules inside the microwave which assists in heating
the food materials [2]. The penetration depth of the microwave is depen-
dent on the food composition and its accompanying changes related to the
chemical composition of the food, i.e., cook loss, bioactive components,
antioxidant activity, and anti-nutritional factors, comprising phytic acid,
trypsin inhibitor, tannins, and saponins [40]. The chicken streak rigid-
ity was lowered after microwave heating which was not significant when
cooked with grilling or boiling reported by [9]. However, it was observed
differently in the case of beef burgundy which perceived the tougher texture
by microwaving than the convection oven [32]. [52] reported a remark-
able increase in cooking loss with augmenting core temperature and time
of bovine muscle during microwave heating.
Microwave Cooking
The foremost usage of microwave is cooking. This section reports various
studies of microwave and effect on the various cooking parameters such as
color retention, quality, and taste for different food materials. [70] studied
the chemical changes associated with skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis)
during the process of boiling at 100°C, frying with sunflower oil at 180°C,
then put through canning and at the end microwave heating for 10, 15 and
20 s. It was found that the health beneficial PUFA loss was minimum with
boiling, 70–85% during frying, 100% with the canning, and 20–55% during
microwave heating. Cholesterol content slightly increased in microwaving
with no increase while cooking whereas the highest content was observed
with canning and it got lowered during the frying process which could be
leaching cholesterol from tuna while frying into the oil. Thus, taking into
account all the methods more fatty acids can be preserved with microwave
heating [70].
Novel Thermal Technologies 23
Microwave-assisted Ultrasonication
Ultrasound plays a major role in the food industry and has been applied to
vary processing techniques like extraction, drying, sterilization, and freez-
ing with various advantages like maintaining the food quality parameters,
augmented food preservation, and also assists in thermal treatments. On
the other hand, it also reduces the cost of production by eliminating some
of the purification steps [73]. However, ultrasonication does affect the
physiochemical parameters, degraded the quality, exhibiting off-flavor in
the food material [12]. Therefore, the fusion of microwave and ultrasound
making it the microwave-assisted ultra-sonification technique renders a
collaborative effect eliminating the drawbacks attached to the individual
techniques [13], and therefore, the collective skill has been extensively pre-
meditated for the food sector. The ultrasonication technique with micro-
wave assistance has been verified as an innovative process for rapid and
effectual extraction. The most unique feature which it has is the excep-
tional achievement of weakening the hydrogen bonds and subsequently
augmenting the penetration rate of solvent into the matrix by amplifying
the dipole rotation hence enabling systematic solvation [42].
Microwave Sterilization
The intention of sterilization or pasteurization is usually done to kill or
make inactive all the microorganisms present in the food, ultimately
strengthening the safety and encompassing the serviceable life of the food.
A study was conducted by [17] where the different effect of sterilization was
observed without fluctuation of the microwave conditions (temperature
and power). The log cycle 5.12 reduction of Salmonella typhimurium on
jalapeno pepper was observed using a microwave with water-assistance at
950 W to reach a temperature of 63°C for 25 s. 4.45 log reduction was also
studied on coriander foliage at 3 × 108 CFU/g at 63°C for 10 s. A similar
study was conducted for Salmonella enteritidis in potato omelette which
was treated under varied microwaving conditions to test the inactivation
rate of 6.30 log CFU/g. It is noted that the inactivation of microorganisms
24 Thermal Food Engineering Operations
Top Electrode
1–300 MHz
altering
electric field
Bottom Electrode
Fig. 47.
The same observations apply to a portrait of the human face. In
looking at a human profile let us suppose the breadth of the nose to
be one inch, that of the ear one inch, and that we view this profile at
the distance of three feet from the ear, which is two inches nearer
the observer than the nose. The apparent magnitude of the ear and
nose will be as thirty-eight to thirty-six inches, whereas if we view the
profile from the distance of one foot the ratio will be as fourteen to
twelve, that is, the ear will be increased in apparent size more than
the nose. Hence it follows that all pictures should be viewed under
the same angle of apparent magnitude under which they were seen
by the artist as taken photographically, for if we view them at a
greater or less angle than this we do not see the same picture as
when we looked at the original landscape or portrait, under the same
angle of apparent magnitude.
From the observations made in the preceding Chapter on
photographic and stereoscopic portraiture, the reader must have
already drawn the inference that the same landscape or building,
seen at different distances, varies essentially in its character,—
beauties disclosing themselves and defects disappearing as we
approach or recede from them. The picture in the camera, therefore,
as used by Mr. Thomson, or, what is still better, with the exception of
colour, the photograph obtained by the same instrument, will supply
the artist with all the general materials for his picture. The
photograph will differ considerably from any sketch which the artist
may have himself made, owing to certain optical illusions to which
his eye is subject. The hills and other vertical lines in the distance
will be lower in the photograph than in his sketch.[59] The vertical
lines of buildings will converge upwards in the photograph, as they
ought to do, in receding from the eye; and in the same picture there
will be a confusion, as we shall afterwards shew, in the delineation of
near and minute objects in the foreground, increasing with the size of
the lens which he has employed.
In his admirable chapter “On Finish,” Mr. Ruskin has established,
beyond a doubt, the most important principle in the art of painting.
“The finishing of nature,” he states, “consists not in the smoothing of
surface, but the filling of space, and the multiplication of life and
thought;” and hence he draws the conclusion, that “finishing means,
in art, simply telling more truth.” Titian, Tintoret, Bellini, and Veronese
have, as he has shewn, wrought upon this principle, delineating vein
by vein in the leaf of the vine, petal by petal in the borage-blossoms,
the very snail-shells on the ground, the stripe of black bark in the
birch-tree, and the clusters of the ivy-leaved toad-flax in the rents of
their walls; and we have seen that a modern artist, Delaroche,
considers a finish of inconceivable minuteness as neither disturbing
the repose of the masses, nor interfering with the general effect in a
picture.
The Pre-Raphaelites, therefore, may appeal to high authority for
the cardinal doctrine of their creed; and whatever be their errors in
judgment or in taste, they have inaugurated a revolution which will
release art from its fetters, and give it a freer and a nobler aim.
Nature is too grand in her minuteness, and too beautiful in her
humility, to be overlooked in the poetry of art. If her tenderest and
most delicate forms are worthy of admiration, she will demand from
the artist his highest powers of design. If the living organizations of
the teeming earth, upon which we hourly tread, are matchless in
structure, and fascinating in colour, the palette of the painter must
surrender to them its choicest tints. In the foreground of the highest
art, the snail-shell may inoffensively creep from beneath the withered
leaf or the living blade; the harebell and the violet may claim a place
in the sylvan dell; the moss may display its tiny frond, the gnarled
oak or the twisted pine may demand the recognition of the botanist,
while the castle wall rises in grandeur behind them, and the gigantic
cliffs or the lofty mountain range terminate the scene.
If these views are sound, the man of taste will no longer endure
slovenliness in art. He will demand truth as well as beauty in the
landscape; and that painter may change his profession who cannot
impress geology upon his rocks, and botany upon his plants and
trees, or who refuses to display, upon his summer or his autumn
tablet, the green crop as well as the growing and the gathered
harvest. Thus enlarged in its powers and elevated in its purposes,
the art of painting will be invested with a new character, demanding
from its votaries higher skill and more extended knowledge. In
former times, the minute and accurate delineation of nature was a
task almost impossible, requiring an amount of toil which could
hardly be repaid even when slightly performed; but science has now
furnished art with the most perfect means of arresting, in their most
delicate forms, every object, however minute, that can enter into the
composition of a picture. These means are the arts of photography
and stereoscopic re-combination, when rightly directed, and it is the
object of the present chapter to shew how the artist may best avail
himself of their valuable and indispensable aid.
Every country and district, and even different parts of the same
district, have a Flora and Geology peculiar to themselves; and the
artist who undertakes to represent its beauties owes to truth the
same obligations as the botanist who is to describe its plants, or the
mineralogist its rocks and stones. The critic could not, in former
times, expect more details from his unaided pencil than it has
generally furnished; but with the means now at his command, he
must collect, like the naturalist, all the materials for his subject. After
the camera has given him the great features of his landscape, he
must appeal to it for accurate delineations of its minuter parts,—the
trunks, and stems, and leafage of his trees—the dipping strata of its
sandstone beds—the contortions of its kneaded gneiss, or the ruder
features of its trap and its granite. For the most important of these
details he will find the camera, as at present constructed, of little
service. It is fitted only to copy surfaces; and therefore, when
directed to solid bodies, such as living beings, statues, &c., it gives
false and hideous representations of them, as I have shewn in a
preceding chapter. It is peculiarly defective when applied to parts of
bodies at different distances from it, and of a less diameter than the
lens. The photograph of a cube taken by a lens of a greater
diameter, will display five of its sides in a position, when its true
perspective representation is simply a single square of its surface.
When applied to trees, and shrubs, and flowers, its pictures are still
more unsatisfactory. Every stem and leaf smaller than the lens,
though absolutely opaque, is transparent, and leaves and stems
behind and beyond are seen like ghosts through the photographic
image.
Fig. 48.
This will be understood from Fig. 48, in which ll is the lens of the
camera, ab the breadth of the trunk or stem of a tree less than ll in
width. Draw la, lb, touching ab in the points a, b, and crossing at c.
Objects behind ab, and placed within the angle acb, will not have
any images of them formed by the lens ll, because none of the rays
which proceed from them can fall upon the lens, but objects placed
within the angle ecf, however remote be their distance, will have
images of them formed by the lens. If d, for example, be a leaf or a
fruit, or a portion of a branch, the rays which it emits will fall upon the
portions lm, ln of the lens, determined by drawing dm, dn touching
ab, and an image of it will be formed in the centre of the
photographic image of ab, as if ab were transparent. This image will
be formed by all the portions of the surface of the lens on which the
shadow of ab, formed by rays emanating from d, would not fall. If the
object d is more remote, the shadow of ab will diminish in size, and
the image of the object will be formed by a greater portion of the
lens. If the sun were to be in the direction mn, his image would
appear in the centre of the trunk or stem, corresponding to ab, Fig.
49.
Fig. 49.
If the stem occupies any other position, ab, Fig. 48, in the
landscape, objects, such as d, within the angle ecf, will have images
of them formed within the corresponding portion of the trunk or stem.
Hence, if ab, Fig. 49, represents the shadow of the stem across the
lens ll, the image of any object, which if luminous would give this
shadow, will be formed within the photographic image of the stem,
and as every part of it may have branches, or leaves, or fruit behind
it, its photographs will be filled with their pictures, which will have the
same distinctness as other equidistant parts of the landscape.
These observations are applicable to the limbs and slender parts
of animate and inanimate figures, when they are of a less size than
the lens with which their photograph is taken. They will be
transparent to all objects behind them, and their true forms and
shades cannot be taken with the cameras now in use.[60]
In order, therefore, to collect from nature the materials of his
profession, the artist must use a camera with a lens not much larger
than the pupil of his eye, and with such an instrument he will obtain
the most correct drawings of the trunks and stems of trees, of the
texture and markings of their bark, of the form of their leaves, and of
all those peculiarities of structure and of leafage by which alone the
trees of the forest can be distinguished. In like manner, he will obtain
the most correct representations of the rocks and precipices, and the
individual stones[61] which may enter into his picture,—of the plants
which spring from their crevices or grow at their base, and of those
flowers in their native grace and beauty, which hitherto he has either
drawn from recollection, or copied from the formal representations of
the botanist.
In addition to their correctness as true representations of natural
forms, photographs have a peculiar value, for which no labour or skill
on the part of the artist can compensate. In drawing the sketch of a
landscape, or delineating the trees, rocks, and foliage which are near
him, or the objects in the middle or remote distance, several hours
must be spent. During this period, the landscape and its individual
parts are undergoing no inconsiderable change. A breeze may
disturb the masses of his foliage, and bend his tree stems, and ruffle
his verdure, and throw new reflected lights upon the waving crops,
while every direct light is changing in intensity and direction during
the culmination or descent of the sun. What he has delineated in the
morning will hardly correspond with what he draws at noon, and the
distances which at one time are finely marked in aerial perspective,
will disappear, or even suffer inversion by variations in the intensity
and position of the haze. If cottages, or castles, or buildings of any
kind, enter into the picture, the shadows of their projections, and the
lights upon their walls and roofs will, in sunshine, undergo still
greater variations, and the artist will be perplexed with the
anachronisms and inconsistencies of his choicest materials. The
landscape thus composed in patches will, in its photograph, have a
very different aspect, as much in its forms as in its lights and
shadows. The truths of nature are fixed at one instant of time; the
self-delineated landscape is embalmed amid the co-existing events
of the physical and social world. If the sun shines, his rays throw
their gilding on the picture. If the rain-shower falls, the earth and the
trees glisten with its reflexions. If the wind blows, the partially
obliterated foliage will display the extent of its agitation. The objects
of still life, too, give reality and animation to the scene. The streets
display their stationary chariots, the esplanade its military array, and
the market-place its colloquial groups, while the fields are studded
with the forms and attitudes of animal life. The incidents of time and
the forms of space are thus simultaneously recorded, and every
picture from the sober palette of the sun becomes an authentic
chapter in the history of the world.[62]
But, however valuable photography has become to the artist,
science has recently given him another important auxiliary. In order
to make this available, he must employ a small pocket binocular
camera, to take double pictures to be united in the stereoscope. His
trees will thus exhibit the roundness of their trunks and stems, the
leaves and branches will place themselves at their proper distance,
and he will discover the reason of peculiar effects which in the plane
photograph he has been unable to understand. Seeing that his own
picture is to be upon a plane surface, I can hardly expect to convince
the artist that he will obtain more information by reproducing the
original in relief. It is a fact, however, beyond dispute, that effects are
produced by the stereoscopic union of two plane photographs which
are invisible in the single picture. These effects, which are chiefly
those of lustre and shade, are peculiarly remarkable in
Daguerreotype, and it is by no means easy to explain the cause. In a
Daguerreotype, for example, of two figures in black bronze, with a
high metallic lustre, it is impossible, by looking at the single picture,
to tell the material of which they are made; but the moment they are
united into stereoscopic relief their true character is instantly seen. In
a Daguerreotype of Alexander and Bucephalus, portions of the figure
seem as if shaded with China ink of a nearly uniform tint, but when
seen in relief the peculiar shade entirely disappears. The
stereoscopic combination of two surfaces of different intensities,
though of the same colour, produces effects which have not yet been
sufficiently studied. But, independently of these peculiarities, the
artist will certainly derive more aid from his landscape in relief, and
from the study of its individual parts, in their roundness and relative
distances, than when he examines them in their plane
representations. The shadows which the branches of leaves cast
upon the trunks and stems of his trees he will be able to trace to the
causes which produce them. Effects in outline, as well as in light and
shadow, which may perplex him, will find an explanation in the
relative distances and differences of apparent magnitude of
individual parts; and, after becoming familiar with his landscape in
relief, as it exists in Nature, he cannot fail to acquire new principles
and methods of manipulation. Nature flattened upon paper or metal,
and Nature round and plump, as if fresh from the chisel of the Divine
sculptor, must teach very different lessons to the aspiring artist.
The historical painter, or the more humble artist who delineates
the scenes of common or domestic life, will derive from the
photographic camera and the stereoscope advantages of equal
importance. The hero, the sage, and the martyr, drawn from living
originals, may be placed in the scenes where they suffered, or in the
localities which they hallowed. The lawgiver of Egypt, though he
exists only in the painter’s eye, may take his place beside the giant
flanks of Horeb or the awe-inspiring summit of Mount Sinai; and He
whom we may not name may challenge our love and admiration
amid the sun-painted scenes of his youth, of his miracles, and of his
humiliation. The fragments of ancient grandeur which time and war
have spared, the relics of bygone ages which have resisted the
destructive elements, will, as the materials of art, give reality and
truth to the pictorial history of times past, while the painter of modern
events can command the most accurate representations not only of
the costume, but of the very persons of the great men whose deeds
he is called upon to immortalize. The heroes of the Crimean war,
whether friends or foes, will be descried in the trenches in which they
fought, amid the ranks which they led to victory, or among the
wrecks of the fatal encounter in which they fell. The sun will thus
become the historiographer of the future, and in the fidelity of his
pencil and the accuracy of his chronicle, truth itself will be embalmed
and history cease to be fabulous.
But even in the narrower, though not less hallowed sphere of
domestic life, where the magic names of kindred and home are
inscribed, the realities of stereoscopic photography will excite the
most thrilling interest. In the transition forms of his offspring, which
link infancy with manhood, the parent will recognise the progress of
his mortal career, and in the successive phases which mark the
sunset of life, the stripling in his turn will read the lesson that his
pilgrimage too has a term which must close. Nor are such
delineations interesting only as works of art, or as incentives to
virtue; they are instinct with associations vivid and endearing. The
picture is connected with its original by sensibilities peculiarly tender.
It was the very light which radiated from her brow,—the identical
gleam which lighted up her eye,—the hectic flush or the pallid hue
that hung upon her cheek, which pencilled the cherished image, and
fixed themselves for ever there.
CHAPTER XI.
APPLICATION OF THE STEREOSCOPE TO
SCULPTURE,ARCHITECTURE, AND
ENGINEERING.