Evaluation of thermophysical property models for foods

The thermophysical properties of foods are required in order to calculate process times and to design equipment for the storage and preservation of food. There are a multitude of food items available, whose properties are strongly dependent upon chemical composition and temperature. Composition-based thermophysical property models provide a means of estimating properties of foods as functions of temperature. Numerous models have been developed and the designer of food processing equipment is faced with the challenge of selecting appropriate ones from those available. In this paper selected thermophysical property models are quantitatively evaluated by comparison to a comprehensive experimental thermophysical property data set compiled from the literature. For ice fraction prediction, the equation by Chen (1985b) performed best, followed closely by that of Tchigeov (1979). For apparent specific heat capacity, the model of Schwartzberg (1976) performed best, and for specific enthalpy prediction, the Chen (1985a) equation gave the best results, followed closely by that of Miki and Hayakawa (1996). Finally, for thermal conductivity, the model by Levy (1981) performed best.