Food manufacturing has evolved over the centuries from kitchen industries to modern, sophisticated production operations. A typical food factory includes the food processing and packaging lines, the buildings and exterior landscaping, and the utility-supply and waste-treatment facilities. As a single individual is unlikely to possess all the necessary skills required to facilitate the design, the task will undoubtedly be undertaken by an interdisciplinary team employing a holistic approach based on a knowledge of the natural and biological sciences, most engineering disciplines, and relevant legislation. In addition, every successful project requires a competent project manager to ensure that all tasks are completed on time and within budget. This Handbook attempts to compress comprehensive, up-to-date coverage of these areas into a single volume. It is hoped that it will prove to be of value across the food-manufacturing community. The multi-disciplinary nature of the subject matter should facilitate more informed communication between individual specialists on the team. It should also provide useful background information on food factory design for a wider range of professionals with a more peripheral interest in the subject: for example, process plant suppliers, contractors, HSE specialists, retailers, consultants, and financial institutions. Finally, it is hoped that it will also prove to be a valuable reference for students and instructors in the areas of food technology, chemical engineering, and mechanical engineering, in particular.

Drying is traditionally defined as that unit operation which converts a liquid, solid or semi-solid feed material into a solid product of significantly lower moisture content. In most, although not all, cases it involves the application of thermal energy, which causes water to evaporate into the vapour phase. In practice, this definition encompasses a number of technologies which differ markedly in, for example, the manner in which energy is supplied to the foodstuff and in which product is transported through the dryer. Depending on the dryer type, the residence time may vary from a few seconds to several hours. Dryers designed to handle liquid feedstocks are naturally quite different from those intended to process moist solids. Even within these two broad categories, however, many distinct varieties of dryer have evolved to meet specific process ing needs. The dryer is frequently the last processing stage in the manufacture of a dehydrated food product. As such, it may not only bring about the desired reduction in moisture content but may also have a significant effect on a number of other properties, such as flavour, colour, texture, viability, and nutrient retention, for example. These properties, which are generally considered to affect the perceived quality of the end product, are often influenced by the temperature- moisture content-time profiles experienced by the foodstuff as it moves through the dryer. The underlying chemistry and physics are highly complex and, broadly speaking, only poorly understood."

Drying is traditionally defined as that unit operation which converts a liquid, solid or semi-solid feed material into a solid product of significantly lower moisture content. In most, although not all, cases it involves the application of thermal energy, which causes water to evaporate into the vapour phase. In practice, this definition encompasses a number of technologies which differ markedly in, for example, the manner in which energy is supplied to the foodstuff and in which product is transported through the dryer. Depending on the dryer type, the residence time may vary from a few seconds to several hours. Dryers designed to handle liquid feedstocks are naturally quite different from those intended to process moist solids. Even within these two broad categories, however, many distinct varieties of dryer have evolved to meet specific process ing needs. The dryer is frequently the last processing stage in the manufacture of a dehydrated food product. As such, it may not only bring about the desired reduction in moisture content but may also have a significant effect on a number of other properties, such as flavour, colour, texture, viability, and nutrient retention, for example. These properties, which are generally considered to affect the perceived quality of the end product, are often influenced by the temperature- moisture content-time profiles experienced by the foodstuff as it moves through the dryer. The underlying chemistry and physics are highly complex and, broadly speaking, only poorly understood."