PRINCIPLES OF FOOD

ENGINEERING

DIPLOMA OF FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
FACULTY OF APPLIED SCIENCES
UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA

MARDIANA AHAMAD ZABIDI

Page  1
 CHAPTER 1

ENGINEERING DIMENSIONS AND UNITS

Page  2
1.0 ENGINEERING DIMENSIONS AND UNITS

Physical quantities are measured using a wide variety of unit systems

The most common systems :
Unit system fps – ft, lb, second
Unit system cgs – cm, g, second
mks – m, kg, second

Systéme International d’Unités, or SI units, consists of seven based

units, two supplementary units, and a series of derived units.

Page  3
1.0 ENGINEERING DIMENSIONS AND UNITS
Measurement British Unit SI Unit
1 Length, Distance Inches (in); feet (ft); yards (yd); miles Meter (m)
(mi)
2 Area Square inches (in2); square feet (ft2); Square meter (m2)
square yards (yd2); acres
3 Volume UK pint, UK quart; UK gallon (gal) Cubic meter (m3);
mililiter (ml); liter (L)
4 Weight Ounces (oz); pounds (lb); quarters (qu) Kilograms (kg); grams
(g); miligrams (mg)
5 Pressure, Stress Pounds per square inch (psi or lb/in2); Pascal (Pa)
atmosphere (atm); bar (bar); torr (torr)
6 Temperature Fahrenheit (oF) Kelvin (K)
7 Energy, Work, Calories (cal); kilocalories (kcal); Kilojoules (kJ)
Quantity of heat kilowatthours (kWh)
8 Time Days; hours (h); minutes (min) Second (s)
9 Power Horsepower (HP); foot-pound-force per Watts (W)
hour (ft-lbf/h)
10 Density Pounds per cubic yard (lb/yd3); pounds Kilograms per liter
Page  4
per cubic feet (lb/ft3) (kg/L); grams per cubic
centimeter (g/cm3)
 SI BASE UNIT
Base Quantity Unit Symbol
Mass kilogram kg
Length meter m
Time second s
Thermodynamic Kelvin K
temperature
Electric current Ampere A
Luminous intensity candela cd
Amount of substance mole mol

Page  5
 SI DERIVED UNIT
Derived Quantity Unit Symbol
Area Square meter m2
Volume Cubic meter m3
Speed, velocity Meter per second m/s
Acceleration Meter per second squared m/s2
Mass density Kilogram per cubic meter kg/m3
Specific volume Cubic meter per kilogram m3/kg
Current density Ampere per square meter A/m2
Magnetic field strength Ampere per meter A/m
Concentration (of amount of Mole per cubic meter mol/m3
substance)
Luminance Candela per square meter cd/m2
Mass fraction Kilogram per kilogram, kg/kg =
which may be represented 1
Page  6 by the number of 1
1.1 ENGINEERING DIMENSIONS AND UNITS
1.1.1 DIMENSIONAL CONSISTENCY
All physical equations must be dimensionally consistent.
Both side of the equation must reduce to the same dimensions to the
same power
Dimension is the basic concept for physical measurement e.g. length,
time, mass, temperature, etc.
Dimensions are represented symbolically by: length [L], mass [M], time
[Ɵ], temperature [T] and forces [F].
Example:
Length = [L]; Area = [L]2; Volume = [L]3
Velocity = length travelled per unit time = [L]
[Ɵ]
Acceleration = rate of change of velocity = [L]
[Ɵ]2
Density = mass per unit volume = [M]
Page  7
[L]3
1.1.2 UNIT CONSISTENCY

Unit consistency implies that the units employed for the dimensions
should be chosen from a consistent group
SI system of units – internationally accepted as being desirable and
necessary for the standardization of physical measurements
British system of unit – fps sytem

Page  8
1.2 UNIT AND CONVERSION FACTORS

A conversion factor is used to change a quantity of either unit to an

equivalent amount of other unit
Examples:
1) Convert 25 g to lb.
2) Convert density of 1500 kg/m3 to g/cm3.
Use the following conversion factors:
1 kg = 1000 g ; 1lb = 0.4536 kg ; 1 kg = 2.2046 lb

3) Viscosity of whole milk at 20oC is 5151.2 lb ft-1 h-1. Convert this value
into Systéme International d’Unités (SI) unit.
Use the following conversion factors:
1 kg = 2.2046 lb ; 1 ft = 12 in ; 1 in = 0.0254 m ; 1 h = 3600 s

Page  9
1.2 UNIT AND CONVERSION FACTORS
SOLUTION
1) Convert 25 g to lb.
a) 25 g = 25 g x 1 kg
1000 g
= 25 kg x 1 lb
1000 0.4536 kg
= 0.0551 lb

b) 25 g = 25 g x 1 kg
1000 g
= 25 kg x 2.2046 lb
1000 1 kg
= 0.0551 lb

Page  10
1.2 UNIT AND CONVERSION FACTORS
SOLUTION
2) Convert density of 1500 kg/m3 to g/cm3.

1500 kg/m3 = 1500 kg x 1000 g x 1 m3

m3 1 kg (100)3 cm3
= 1.5 g
cm3
= 1.5 g
ml

Page  11
1.2 UNIT AND CONVERSION FACTORS
SOLUTION
3) Viscosity of whole milk at 20oC is 5151.2 lb ft-1 h-1. Convert this value into
Systéme International d’Unités (SI) unit.
Viscosity of whole milk
= 5151.2 lb x 1 kg
ft - h 2.2046 lb
= 5151.2 kg x 1 ft x 1 in
2.2046 ft-h 12 in 0.0254 m
= 5151.2 kg x 1h
(2.2046) (12) (0.0254) m-h 3600 s
= 2.1294 kg/m-s

Page  12
1.2 UNIT AND CONVERSION FACTORS

4) Specific heat of beef at above freezing point (-2oC) is 3.22 kJ kg-1 oC-1.
Convert this value into British unit.

5) Thermal conductivity of an aluminum is given as 120 BTU ft-1 h-1 oF-1.

Calculate this thermal conductivity in J m-1 s-1 oC-1.

Use the following conversion factors:

1 kg = 2.2046 lb ; 1 BTU = 252 cal ; 1 cal = 4.1865 J ;
T(oF) = 1.8 (oC) + 32 ; 1 h = 3600 s ; 1 ft = 12 in ; 1 in = 0.0254 m

Page  13
1.2 UNIT AND CONVERSION FACTORS
SOLUTION
4) Specific heat of beef at above freezing point (-2oC) is 3.22 kJ kg-1 oC-1.
Convert this value into British unit.

Specific heat, cp
= 3.22 x 103 J x 1 cal x 1 BTU
kg-oC 4.1865 J 252 cal
= 3.22 x 103 BTU x 1 kg
(4.1865)(252) kg-oC 2.2046 lb
= 3.22 x 103 BTU x 1oC
(4.1865)(252)(2.2046) lb-oC 33.8 oF
= 0.041 BTU/lb-oF

Page  14
1.2 UNIT AND CONVERSION FACTORS
SOLUTION
5) Thermal conductivity of an aluminum is given as 120 BTU ft-1 h-1 oF-1.
Calculate this thermal conductivity in J m-1 s-1 oC-1.
Thermal conductivity of an aluminum

= 120 BTU x 252 cal x 4.1865 J

ft-h-oF 1 BTU 1 cal
= (120)(252)(4.1865) J x 1 ft x 1 in
ft-h-oF 12 in 0.0254 m
= (120)(252)(4.1865) J x 1h x 33.8 oF
(12)(0.0254) m-h-oF 3600 s 1oC
= 3899.7 J/m-s-oC
= 3.9 kJ/m-s-oC

Page  15
1.3 DIMENSIONLESS RATIOS

Dimensionless ratios are often used in process engineering, comparing

the unknown with some well-known material or factor.
Example:
Specific gravity (S.G.) is defined as ratio of the weight of an equal volume
of water
S.G. = weight of a volume of the substance
weight of an equal volume of water
 = SG w
 (rho) = density of the substance
w = density of water
If the density of water, that is the mass of unit volume of water is known,
then if the SG of some substance is determined, its density can be
calculated

Page  16
1.3 DIMENSIONLESS RATIOS

The important attribute of dimensionless ratio,

i. it gives an immediate sense of proportion
 if the SG of a solid is known to be greater than 1 that solid will sink in water

ii. easier to visualize quantities if they are expressed in ratio form

 SG of iron is 7.88 makes the quantity more easily visualised than the
equivalent statement that the density of iron is 7880 kg m-3

Dimensionless ratios are employed frequently in the study of fluid flow

and heat flow.
E.g.: Re = Reynolds number, Pr =Prandtl number and Nu=Nusselt
number

Page  17
1.4 PRECISION MEASUREMENT

Every measurement necessarily carries a degree of precision

E.g weight of 10.1 kg should mean that the weight lies between 10.05
and 10.149 kg or express as 10.1 ± 0.05 kg

In process engineering, the degree of precision of statements and

calculations should always be borne in mind
 accurate only to about 1 part in 100
 some case factor may well be no more accurate than 1 in 10
 electronic calculators first few figure may be physically
meaningless

for much of process engineering three significant figures are all

that are justifiable

Page  18