Case Study: Cornell University achieves optimized rice puffing and consistent snack texture with COMSOL Multiphysics

A Cornell research team supports the food industry with mathematical models of rice puffing

Cornell University’s food engineering team, led by Prof. Ashim Datta, tackled the complex challenge of predicting and optimizing rice puffing — a process governed by coupled mass, momentum, heat transport, rapid evaporation, phase change, pressure buildup, and large plastic deformations — so manufacturers can reliably achieve desired texture, moisture, and expansion at production scale. To study these interconnected physics and make the methodology transferable across food processes, the team used Comsol’s simulation tools (COMSOL Multiphysics® and COMSOL Server™).

Using Comsol, the researchers built a fully coupled multiphase porous-media model that linked heat and mass transport, evaporation, and large deformation; they validated simulated expansion ratios and pore development against micro-CT reconstructions and a 15-second puffing sequence. The Comsol-based work identified optimal salt, moisture, temperature, and heating-time conditions to maximize expansion and control texture, and produced deployable simulation apps (hosted via COMSOL Server) that extend the analyses to nonengineers and are in use at several universities for food-safety and processing studies.

Cornell University

Ashim K. Datta

Professor