Modeling of baking of thin layer of cake using the lumped reaction engineering approach (L-REA)

Baking is a simultaneous heat and mass transfer process commonly applied in the food industry. It is desirable to have a simple, accurate and robust model in order to assist efficient process design and evaluation of product quality. The reaction engineering approach which was proven to be accurate to model several challenging drying cases, was implemented in this study to model the baking of thin layer of cake. The equilibrium activation energy (ΔEv,b) was evaluated according to the baking oven temperature and corresponding humidity. It was then combined with the relative activation energy (ΔEv/ΔEv,b) to produce a unique relationship. Results of the modeling indicate that the L-REA can describe the profiles of moisture content and temperature very well. While the results are accurate, the model itself remains simple. Another significant application of the REA for modeling the processing of food products has been made by this research.