ASPECTS REGARDING THE FLOW OF THE MIXTURE FLOUR-WATER AT DIFFERENT TEMPERATURES, THROUGH SMALL DIAMETER CHANNELS

Taking into account the importance of the rheological properties of food mixtures in manufacturing processes, this paper focuses on the flow of flour-water fluids at different temperatures. During flour mixing, flour proteins bind water causing swelling of gliadin and glutenin. At the same time, although it is considered a minor component, starch contributes indirectly to the change in the consistency of the mixtures. Among other things, the most important property of starch is its gelatinization. Gelatinization takes place by exposing flour-water flour samples to a temperature above 60 degrees C. The paper generally refers to the flow through small holes and two lengths of mixtures of 100 ml of water and 14 g of wheat flour at different temperatures (27, 40, 50, 65 degrees C). It has been found that there are changes in the strength force of piston force of the device used in experiments depending on the temperature of the mixture and the length and diameter of the flow hole. Thus, for higher temperatures, the resistance force tends to increase, regardless of the length and diameter of the flow channel, since the starch granules swell and worsen the flow through the channel. If the length of the flow channel decreases, then the strength force encountered by the piston also decreases, the force values falling within 1.5- 5 N. The results presented in the paper can be useful to the specialists and workers in the field of agro-food processing, on the technological flow of manufacturing.