Methodology for calculating the pasta dough flow parameters in stepped cylindrical channels

Abstract

The introduction provides information about the state of the problem and substantiates the relevance of the research. The purpose of the work is to develop a methodology for calculating the relationship between pressure losses during the flow of pasta dough in channels with a stepped-variable cross section with the dimensions of the channel structural, as well as with the pasta dough rheological properties and the performance of device. In the methodological part of the work, the applied rheological model is described and a technique for mathematical modeling of power and kinematic parameters of pasta dough flow in stepped cylindrical channels is given. Due to the small contribution of the pasta dough shear strength to the total pressure loss, a rheological model of a non-linear-viscous medium is used, which is described by the power – law rheological Ostwald–de Waele equation. Neglecting the elastic deformations of the dough and the elastic change in volume, we assumed the condition of constancy of the volume and mass flow (productivity) for any cross section of the channel in each of its sections. In the main part of the work, analytical dependencies are presented that relate the magnitude of the pressure drop to overcome viscous resistance during the flow of pasta dough in channels with a stepped-variable cross section with the dimensions of the structural elements of the channel, as well as with the rheological properties of the pasta dough and the performance of the device. These dependences formed the theoretical basis for calculating method of the pasta dough flow parameters in stepped cylindrical channels. The technique was tested on the example of an industrial macaroni press matrix equipped with a system of stepped-variable channels in the pre-forming zone. The results of the research can be used in the design of new sizes of matrices for pasta dough molding as well as in the educational process in the training of food production process engineers.