Modification and Optimization of a Baking Oven for Small Scale Bread Production

An existing small-scale single-powered baking oven was modified and optimize into a dual-powered oven. The oven was redesigned to accommodate the initially designed firewood heat source and the newly introduced gas heat source. Four heat exchangers (thermal pipes) were introduced to the baking chamber for effective heat and mass transfer during baking of bread dough. The thermal pipes were made of 2 mm thick hollow galvanized steel pipe of 23 mm diameter and 660 mm length. The performance of the oven was evaluated using the standard performance index, which includes baking capacity, baking efficiency and weight loss of the baked bread. The baked bread’s physical properties were determined and analyzed using Duncan multiple range ANOVA test at significant level of p < 0.05. These properties were optimized to determine the generate regression models using 3D model plot. The baking capacity, baking efficiency, weight loss and optimum baking temperature were: 101.9 kg/h, 46.44% (wood-fired);70.34% (gas-fired), 13.5 g (wood-fired);and 25.5 g (gas-fired), 150˚C, respectively. The physical properties of baked bread, wood-fired were found to correspond with that of gas-fired oven. The modified oven can be used for the baking of dough at domestic, small and medium scale bakery.