Abstract
Traditional ewe’s cheese producers face certain challenges caused by fluctuating environmental parameters inside the ripening room, which lead to lack of homogeneity in the final product. The present research discusses the application of computer fluid dynamics for simulating the distribution of environmental parameters, predicting the airflow pattern, and identifying critical areas where such parameters could cause reduced cheese quality. A new monitoring system was developed including presence sensors, temperature and humidity dataloggers, pneumatic actuators, microcontrollers, and microcomputers connected remotely for control, data visualization, and processing. The validation of the computer simulation and monitoring system was made with a batch of 40 ewe’s cheeses distributed in three different zones inside a prototype ripening room and ripened for 35 days. At 35 days, a physical, chemical, and microbiological characterization of cheeses was made for evaluation of the influence of environmental conditions on cheese quality. The comparison between simulated and local measurements showed close agreement, especially concerning air velocity inside the stacks of cheese. The results of Pearson’s correlation analysis and PCA concluded that temperature affected the appearance of the rind, hardness, number and area occupied by holes. Humidity affected aw and mFeret. Air velocity affected pH and the circularity of gas holes.
Highlights
Advances in a set of modern technologies and the appearance of new hardware and software platforms, namely sensors and actuators, data communications, low-cost computing platforms, complemented by cloud computing and artificial intelligence open the possibility of a plethora of new applications generally referred to as the “Internet of Things”(IoT), which is paving the way for a new industrial revolution termed Industry 4.0.One of the main industries that can benefit from these technological advances, essential for human survival and human wellbeing is the food industry [1]
The authors presented a new technological approach to the traditional ripening process of ewe’s cheese, including remote monitoring and control, together with ripening process of ewe’s cheese, including remote monitoring and control, together with optimization of the distribution of environmental conditions using computational fluid optimization of the distribution of environmental conditions using computational fluid dynamics. The need for this new approach results from an evidence in a significant dynamics. The need for this new approach results from an evidence in a significant number of traditional cheese factories, namely the effect of heterogenous environmental number of traditional cheese factories, namely the effect of heterogenous environmental conditions, caused by different airflow patterns created by the refrigeration system conditions, caused by different airflow patterns created by the refrigeration system installed installed in small companies, causing a lack of homogeneity in the final product [43]
Environmental conditions play an important role during the ripening process of cheese, impacting physical, chemical, and microbiological parameters
Summary
Advances in a set of modern technologies and the appearance of new hardware and software platforms, namely sensors and actuators, data communications, low-cost computing platforms, complemented by cloud computing and artificial intelligence open the possibility of a plethora of new applications generally referred to as the “Internet of Things”(IoT), which is paving the way for a new industrial revolution termed Industry 4.0.One of the main industries that can benefit from these technological advances, essential for human survival and human wellbeing is the food industry [1]. With a CFD tool, phenomena such as fluid flow, heat exchange, or gas species processes (among many others) can be studied and modeled separately or together to simulate a variety of complex systems. Such systems could be natural processes or even food altering/conservation processes from the food industry. Some examples in the food industry include applications with evaporative cooling and drying that can be applied to several kinds of meat, vegetables, fruits, cheeses, and cured meats [2,3]; chilling conditions for the conservation of food products and air distribution [4,5], drying and heat release during ripening of fruit and vegetal products [6,7], study of the fermentation processes in different food products [8,9], research and development of new metrics for the assessment of efficient food processes [10], characterization and optimization of food processes along with improvements in product homogeneity and energy waste [5,7,9,11], and influence of storage facilities on harvested products [12]
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