Pogrebnyak A. Scientific and theoretical bases of the process of hydro-jet water-polymer cutting of food products and development of equipment for its implementation

The work is dedicated to the development of scientific and theoretical bases of the process of hydro-jet water-polymer cutting of food products and equipment for its implementation. The peculiarities of the flow of an aqueous solution of polyethylene oxide through the nozzle of the jet forming head and the structure of the hydrodynamic field in the inlet region of the nozzle are established. The results of studies of the influence of geometric and dynamic parameters of a water-polymer jet on the indices of the process of hydro-cutting food products are described. Using a generalized analysis of experimental data, methods of the theory of similarity and dimensions, and methods of probability theory and mathematical statistics, a mathematical model was obtained in dimensionless form to determine the depth of cut in food products, taking into account their strength in uniaxial compression, the optimum distance between the nozzle cut and the surface of food product, nozzle diameter, as well as the hydraulic and regime parameters of the water-polymer jet, the velocity of the jet and the quality of its formation. The generalization of the experimental results obtained made it possible to establish a mechanism for hydro-jet water-polymer cutting of food products, consisting of the destructive action of the dynamic pressure of the water-polymer jet "reinforced" by strongly deployed macromolecular chains and dynamic supermolecular structures formed by the effect of the stretching flow in the inlet region of the nozzle of the jet head. The formulated scientifically grounded principles of design calculations of equipment for hydro-jet water-polymer processing of food products and practical recommendations for improving the process of water-polymer processing of food products allowed to develop a design and technical documentation on the machine MPWPJ-100 for processing water-polymer jet of food products.