MODELLING OF DRYING FOR HIGH QUALITY PASTA PRODUCTION

The drying process of pasta was studied following an engineering approach. The process was modelled according to mass and heat transfer between dough and air. The modelling starts from a physical analysis of the process, tacking into account the two main steps governing the phenomenon: mass and heat exchange between pasta samples and air. During pasta drying, the shrinkage can cause the presence of thermal stresses that can not be relaxed at low water content, when dough behaviour is usually solid-like. The “frozen ” stresses induce breakages inside pasta sample. A stress based rupture criterion was adopted as quality control index and different temperature-humidity profiles were studied. The proposed model was verified using a static dryer.