Application of a phase change numerical model to the simulation of freezing and thawing of wrapped foods

The process of heat transfer is one of the most important issues in the food industry and plays a crucial role in the storage of frozen foods. The main objective in this field is to extend the storage time, which can be achieved by limiting the heat transfer between the ambient air and the frozen food product. In this paper, the authors applied a numerical model of the phase change process to simulate the freezing and thawing process of a package wrapped with compressible multilayer polymer thermal insulation. The model was solved in COMSOL Multiphysics program and verified with experimental results with satisfactory agreement. Based on the performed simulations and experiments, it was proved that the freezing time of the tylose package is almost the same regardless of the applied film, while the thawing time of the package strongly depends on the type of film—transparent, opaque or metallized. The use of transparent film allows to extend the maximum thawing time of food products by 2 times, the use of opaque film—by about 3.7 times, and the use of metallized film—by about 4.1 times.