A control methodology for product quality control in climate controlled operations involving agro-materials: With an application to Controlled Atmosphere container transport of agro-materials

Abstract

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the control methodology for direct-product quality control in climate controlled operations, such as storage, transport, and drying. This methodology is based on differences in time scales and the property of controlling the slowly reacting product with a fast-reacting environment. It directly drives the quality of the product to the desired setpoint. The methodology is illustrated with a full-scale industrial case study on controlled atmosphere container transport of agromaterials that focuses on quality monitoring and control design. Climate-controlled container transport is a common way to get agromaterials to the desired location. Product and its quality change depend on transport conditions, such as temperature, relative humidity, O 2 , CO 2 , and ethylene concentrations. To minimize quality decline, high rates of ventilation with outside air and/or circulation of internal air are applied leading to unnecessary high cost, a high evaporation rate, and weight loss. Therefore, new controllers are currently developed, directly controlling product quality that yield a higher end quality with lower cost.