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Density, heat capacity and thermal conductivity

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Article in Journal of Food Engineering May 2006

DOI: 10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2005.01.043

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 Journal of Food Engineering 74 (2006) 186190
www.elsevier.com/locate/jfoodeng

Density, heat capacity and thermal conductivity of liquid

egg products
a,*
Jane S.R. Coimbra , Ana L. Gabas b, Luis A. Minim a, Edwin E. Garcia Rojas a,
Vania R.N. Telis c, Javier Telis-Romero c
a
UFVFederal University of Vicosa, Campus Universitario, Department of Food Technology, LPS, Zip Code 36571-000 Vicosa, MG, Brazil
b
USPUniversity of Sao Paulo, FZEA, Department of Food Engineering, P.O. Box 23, Zip Code 13635-900, Pirassununga, SP, Brazil
c
UNESPSao Paulo State University, Department of Food Engineering and Technology, Zip Code 15054-000, Sao Jose do Rio Preto, SP, Brazil

Received 2 December 2002; received in revised form 13 November 2004; accepted 3 January 2005
Available online 23 May 2005

Abstract

Density, heat capacity and thermal conductivity of liquid egg products, such as egg white, egg yolk, whole egg and various white
and yolk blends, were determined as aected by temperature and water content ranging from 273 to 311 K and 51.8 to 88.2% (mass),
respectively. Polynomial models tted the experimental data very well, showing a linear relationship both for temperature and water
content.
2005 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

1. Introduction ingredients in food formulations or food services.

Egg (Gallus domesticus) is a rich and well-balanced
source of essential nutrients for human diet composed
by fatty acids, iron, phosphorus, trace minerals, vita-
mins A, B6, B12, D, E, and K, and proteins of high bio-
logical value (Stadelman & Cotterill, 1995). It is one of
the most consumed foods worldwide, being an impor-
tant commodity in international trade. Brazil ranks the
eighth position among the egg-producing countries, with
an expected egg production for October 2002 of 1.327
billion (Stadelman & Cotterill, 1995; Aves e ovos,
2002). Egg production in the USA during August 2002
was 7.35 billion (American Egg Board, 2002). Thus
the egg industry is an expressive segment of the food
market, with a large supply of egg derivatives, such as
dried-, frozen- and liquid egg-products being used as
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +55 31 3899 1618; fax: +55 31 3899
2208.
E-mail address: jcoimbra@ufv.br (J.S.R. Coimbra).
Approximately 30 % of all eggs sold in USA in 2001
were processed (American Egg Board, 2002), requir-
ing shell cleaning and removal, ltering, blending, pas-
teurization and freezing or dehydration (ASHRAE,
1994).
Understanding the thermophysical properties (TPP)
of liquid egg products over a wide range of temperature
and water content is of utmost importance to the egg-
products industry since thermal treatment is applied in
the processing plants. For instance, the main function
of pasteurization is to destroy Salmonella but it should
be observed that egg whites are more sensitive to higher
temperatures than whole eggs or yolk, and can coagu-
late due to temperature rise (ASHRAE, 1994).
Density (q), heat capacity (Cp), thermal conductivity
(j) and thermal diusivity are the major TPP required
for evaluating, designing and modeling heat transfer
processes, such as refrigeration, freezing, heating or
drying.
According to Becker and Fricke (1999) and McMinn
and Magee (1998), empirical models applied to predict

0260-8774/$ - see front matter 2005 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

doi:10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2005.01.043
 J.S.R. Coimbra et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 74 (2006) 186190
TPP of foods are eective in contrast to models derived
from theoretical bases. Since chemical composition and
temperature can strongly aect TPP of foods, these vari-
ables are commonly taken into account to develop the
above mentioned mathematical functions (Becker &
Fricke, 1999; McMinn & Magee, 1998; Suk & Santi,
1997; Nesvadba & Eunson, 1984; Minim, Coimbra,
Minim, & Telis-Romero, 2002).
TPP studies have been reported for several liquid
foods, such as juices (Choi & Okos, 1983; Constenla,
Lozano, & Crapiste, 1989; Telis-Romero, Telis, Gabas,
& Yamashita, 1998), yogurt (Suk & Santi, 1997), milk
(Minim et al., 2002; Reddy & Datta, 1994), and coee
extract (Telis-Romero, Gabas, Polizelli, & Telis, 2000).
However, TPP data for liquid egg products are very
scarce in the literature. Therefore, this paper presents
experimental values of q, Cp and j for liquid egg prod-
ucts covering an extensive range of temperature and
water content, and also a simplied empirical correla-
tion developed to predict these properties, easy to use
in computational calculus.
2. Experimental section
2.1. Materials
Under aseptic conditions, samples of white egg,
yolk, and blends of white and yolk were prepared
and quantied using fresh shell eggs less than 24 h of
lay, purchased from a local ranch (Marlia, Sao Paulo,
Brazil). They were hand broken and the white carefully
separated from the yolk. White and yolk blends were
prepared using an analytical balance with a give uncer-
tainty of 0.0001 g (Mettler AB204, NY, USA) and
weighing parts of white and yolk in the proportions
shown in Table 1. The mixture was stirred very slowly,
at room temperature, for 3 min to reduce incorporation
of air bubble and degassed in a centrifuge (Phoenix,
Sao Paulo, Brazil). The water content of the liquid
egg products were varied in the range of 51.8 to
88.2% (mass) by blending white and yolk in dierent
proportions.
Statistical analyses were performed using the GLM
procedure while tted functions were obtained by the
REG procedure from the SAS statistical package (SAS
institute Inc., 1999). The suitability of the models was
evaluated by using the coecient of determination
(R2), level of signicance (p), and residual analysis.
Table 1
Compositions of egg white and yolk blends
White (%) 100 80 60 40 20
Yolk (%) 0 20 40 60 80
Water (%) 88.2 80.9 73.6 66.4 59.1
187
2.2. Apparatus and procedure
Liquid egg products density was determined by
applying the picnometric method (Constenla et al.,
1989), in triplicate. The sample kept in a 25 ml standard
volumetric pycnometer was weighed using an analytical
balance with a give uncertainty of 0.0001 g (Mettler
AB204, NY, USA). The pycnometer was previously cal-
ibrated with distilled water at each temperature studied.
Both heat capacity and thermal conductivity were
determined using an equipment composed by a water
thermostatic bath with a stability of 0.05% (Marconi
MA-184, Sao Paulo, Brazil) and a cylindrical cell, with
the liquid being tested lling the annular space between
two concentric cylinders. The cell was immersed in the
thermostatic bath and cell calibration was performed
using distilled water and glycerin. Details of this meth-
od, cell calibration and experimental tests can be found
elsewhere (Minim et al., 2002; Telis-Romero et al., 2000;
Telis-Romero et al., 1998; Bellet, Sangelin, & Thirriot,
1975; Dickerson, 1965). The power input to the heater
resistance was supplied by a laboratory DC power (Min-
ipa MPS-3006D, Sao Paulo, Brazil), allowing to adjust
the current with a stability of 0.05%. An HP data logger
model 75.000-B with an HPIB interface and an HP PC
running a data acquisition program written in IBASIC
monitored the temperatures with an accuracy of 0.6 K.
Heat capacity was measured under unsteady state
conditions and thermal conductivity under steady state
conditions (Minim et al., 2002; Telis-Romero et al.,
2000; Telis-Romero et al., 1998).
3. Results and discussion
Tables 24 showed the experimental data for q, Cp
and j of liquid egg products respectively, at tempera-
tures varying from 273 to 311 K and water concentra-
tions from 51.8 to 88.2% (mass). The thermophysical
properties of liquid egg products were measured in trip-
licate for each value of temperature and water content.
The highest observed standard deviation values were
0.221 kg/m3, 0.012 J/g K and 0.003 W/m K for density,
specic heat and thermal conductivity, respectively.
The TPP values were correlated using a linear poly-
nomial model represented by Eq. 1. According to Fikin
and Fikin (1999), the inuence of the dierent solid
components of foods on TPP is usually negligible and
the food material can be seen as a system formed by only
two components, water and solids. Our results conrm
the suitability of this assumption.
P a bT cW w 1
0 where P is the thermophysical property, T is the temper-
100 ature (K) and Ww is the water content in mass fraction.
51.8
The values of the tted constants a, b and c for each
188 J.S.R. Coimbra et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 74 (2006) 186190

Table 2
Density (q, kg m
3) of liquid egg products
Ww Temperature (K)
273 275 278 281 285 291 295 298 301 307 311
0.518 1143.5 1135.7 1138.3 1134.3 1134.3 1127.4 1138.9 1131.0 1135.0 1131.2 1126.1
0.591 1103.5 1103.2 1107.3 1111.4 1106.3 1114.4 1104.9 1109.0 1113.0 1112.1 1111.6
0.664 1087.2 1088.4 1092.3 1087.5 1095.7 1086.2 1090.0 1093.9 1093.5 1092.6 1087.7
0.736 1071.2 1070.9 1069.1 1071.5 1072.4 1071.5 1069.6 1067.7 1067.3 1066.5 1065.9
0.809 1049.0 1053.0 1060.9 1052.1 1055.8 1050.7 1050.2 1046.9 1050.7 1047.1 1047.9
0.882 1032.4 1032.1 1023.4 1023.0 1026.6 1029.9 1025.2 1033.0 1024.4 1027.7 1031.2

Table 3
Heat capacity (Cp, J g
1 K
1) of liquid egg products
Ww Temperature (K)
273 275 278 281 285 291 295 298 301 307 311
0.518 2.575 2.612 2.718 2.614 2.621 2.664 2.714 2.679 2.739 2.732 2.772
0.591 2.786 2.779 2.913 2.798 2.801 2.841 2.890 2.850 2.910 2.895 2.934
0.664 2.962 2.987 2.964 3.005 2.994 3.024 3.058 3.035 3.076 3.071 3.099
0.736 3.165 3.163 3.184 3.176 3.202 3.204 3.229 3.214 3.244 3.242 3.263
0.809 3.346 3.364 3.345 3.374 3.363 3.382 3.404 3.385 3.414 3.407 3.425
0.882 3.551 3.539 3.665 3.539 3.530 3.552 3.588 3.539 3.590 3.557 3.584

Table 4
Thermal conductivity (kW m
1 K
1) of liquid egg products
Ww Temperature (K)
273 275 278 281 285 291 295 298 301 307 311
0.518 0.407 0.403 0.403 0.400 0.399 0.397 0.396 0.393 0.393 0.390 0.389
0.591 0.433 0.435 0.433 0.430 0.429 0.428 0.428 0.424 0.426 0.421 0.421
0.664 0.481 0.464 0.467 0.459 0.459 0.458 0.461 0.453 0.459 0.452 0.453
0.736 0.493 0.498 0.493 0.494 0.491 0.490 0.493 0.486 0.490 0.485 0.486
0.809 0.541 0.526 0.529 0.522 0.522 0.522 0.525 0.518 0.522 0.517 0.518
0.882 0.554 0.560 0.555 0.552 0.551 0.552 0.558 0.547 0.555 0.547 0.550

property were determined by regression, as shown in
Table 5. All tted functions presented R2 values higher
than 0.98 and p lower than 0.0001. The good agreement
between calculated and experimental values is shown in
Figs. 13, with the residual analysis for q, Cp and j
(R2 > 0.98 for all cases). Scarce values of q for whole
egg (1080.0 kg m
3), white (1035.0 kg m
3) and yolk
(1035.0 kg m
3), and of Cp for whole egg
(3.23 kJ kg
1 K
1) were found in the literature (ASH-
RAE, 1994).
The TPP show a marked inuence of Ww on q,Cp and
j, as compared with the temperature eect. A tendency
of linear decrease of q (Table 2) was observed with the
rise of both temperature and egg white fraction in the
blends, and consequently of Ww. Changes in the vari-
ables studied may inuence q due to the specic volume
of the multicomponent solution as well as due to the
solid concentration of mixtures which are directly
aected by them (Constenla et al., 1989).
Data of Cp (Table 3) and j (Table 4) showed a ten-
dency of linear decrease with the increase of both
temperature and egg yolk fractionand consequently
of Wwin the blends. Other researchers observed simi-
lar inuence of temperature and concentration on

Table 5
Coecients of equation 1
P a b c R2

3
q/kg m 1295.72 7.5361
0.0559 0.0242
284.43 2.533 0.988
Cp/J g
1 K
1 0.668 0.0792 0.0025 0.0001 2.4429 0.0268 0.989
j/W m
1 K
1 0.276 0.0078
0.0004 0.0001 0.4302 0.0024 0.996
 J.S.R. Coimbra et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 74 (2006) 186190 189

1160 thermophysical properties of uid foods, such as apple

juice (Constenla et al., 1989), milk (Reddy & Datta,
1140 1994; Minim et al., 2002), coee extract (Telis-Romero
et al., 2000), concentrated orange juice (Telis-Romero
1120 et al., 1998), peach and orange juice; apple and quince
purees (Ramos & Ibarz, 1998).
(kg.m-3)

1100

1080 4. Conclusions

1060 Density, heat capacity and thermal conductivity of

liquid egg products varied from (1023.0 to 1143.5)
1040 kg m
3, (2.6 to 3.7) J g
1 K
1 and (0.4 to 0.6) W m
1 K
1
for pure yolk to pure white, respectively, at temperatures
1040 1060 1080 1100 1120 1140
ranging from (273 to 311) K and water concentrations
cal (kg.m-3) from 51.8 to 88.2% (mass). The latter had a very strong
inuence on all the thermophysical properties of liquid
Fig. 1. Density: observed versus correlated values (R2 = 0.984).
egg products. A simple correlation to predict q, Cp
and j as a function of temperature and water content
3.80 was developed. The polynomial function was success-
fully tted to the experimental data, thus TPP estima-
3.60 tion was recommended for liquid egg products in the
studied range.
3.40
Cp (J.g-1.K-1)

3.20 Acknowledgement

3.00 The authors wish to thank CNPq (521168/96-1) and

FAPEMIG for nancial support.
2.80

2.60 References
2.60 2.80 3.00 3.20 3.40 3.60
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