Mass and Energy Balances

One of the most important skills you can develop in Food Engineering is that of performing mass and energy balances. They are used for the design, operation, control, and analysis of processing operations as well as in product development and waste reduction. Mass and energy balances are based on the laws of the conservation of matter and energy, which state that neither matter nor energy can be created or destroyed. This being so, you should, with careful measurement, be able to account for all the matter and energy involved in a process. Mass and energy balances provide a framework for accounting of material and energy flows in and out of a process of interest. The same thing is true of your bank account. You should be able to account for every penny. When you balance your checkbook, you list the following information: