1996 Volume 58 Issue 5 Pages 49-55
In this paper, six different mass fraction of mixed gel of agar and sugar were used to represent six food models, respectively. The thermal diffusivity of mixed gel was measured using flash method, while the density and specific heat of mixed gel were determined by other methods. Using these data the effective thermal conductivity was computed at 293 [K]. The heat conduction models were examined in two separate cases: 1) effect of agar was neglected, and 2) effect of agar was considered. In both cases it was found out that the series model can only explain the heat transfer mechanism in the gel that has a mass fraction of sugar over 0.20. Hence, the applicable range of the series model is limited based on mass fraction of sugar in the gel. Therefore, the intrinsic thermal conductivity of sugar was estimated to be 0.30±0.01[W/mK] at 293 [K] by applying the series model to the gel with a mass fraction of sugar over 0.20.
