Research Initiation: Simultaneous Measurement of Transient Moisture Profiles and Structural Changes During the Drying, Tempering, and Cooling of Foods: REU Supplement

本研究考虑固体食品物料的干燥过程。核磁共振成像系统将被用来同时测量干燥、调质和冷却阶段食品的瞬时水分分布和结构变化。将收集各种干燥条件下均质和非均质食品的数据，以进行模型评估。干燥过程存在于许多不同的应用中，包括食品工业。由于在不透明的天体内缺乏详细的测量，这一现象的理解受到了阻碍。这项研究将通过磁共振成像提供三维水分分布和结构变化的无损测量。这些信息将为一个非常重要的工程过程提供以前无法获得的数据。

This research considers the drying process in solid food materials. A magnetic resonance imaging system will be used to simultaneously measure transient moisture profiles and structural changes in foods during the drying, tempering and cooling stages. Data for homogeneous and nonhomogeneous foods over a wide range of drying conditions will be collected for model evaluation. Drying processes are found in many diverse applications including the food industry. The understanding of this phenomena is inhibited by the lack of detailed measurements within opaque bodies. This research will provide nondestructive measurements of three dimensional moisture profiles and structural changes with magnetic resonance imaging. This information will provide previously unavailable data to a very important engineering process.