A New Model for Prediction of the Performance of a Cappuccino Pod

In recent years a lot of attention and efforts have been dedicated on optimizing the design and quality of coffee pods. These would be applicable on professional as well as on household machines such as Senseo or Nestle. By providing a new method to describe the mechanisms of the brewing process within the pod, the research presented in this paper gives deeper insights into the design related aspects to improve the pods. A model incorporating the function of dynamic mass balance and the shrinking core model is employed to describe the dissolution process of the creamer in the pod. This dissolution step is the most important in determining the milky taste wanted in the case of cappuccino. The model was tested by comparing its results with those of a series of experiments. With the model presented in this paper designing better pods should be easier and more efficient.