Automatizing process of electroimpulse treatment of plant raw materials

Abstract

Extraction of juice and removal of excess liquid from vegetable raw materials (vegetables, fruits, melons and crops, etc.) are the main technological operations during juice processing. The quality and quantity of the finished product depend on the efficiency of its implementation, for example, the drying process that determines the prime cost of its production. Therefore, technologies that allow solving this problem automatically in the most efficient way are relevant and require close attention not only of processing enterprises of various ownership forms, but also of research scientists. Such technologies include electric impulse processing of raw materials of plant origin before extraction or removal of moisture in the manufacture of juices, mashed potatoes, pastes, the drying of melons and fruits, etc. This technology has a great prospect, as it is characterized by low energy consumption, environmental cleanliness, food safety and can be fully automated. The control system of electric impulse processing, first of all, should receive primary information about the depth of the effects and the destruction of the intra-cellular structure of plant raw materials. The application of the received information allows electric impulse processing to adjust the frequency of the acting pulses and the voltage amplitude. This approach leads to reduction in the electrical energy input into the vegetable raw material for the destruction of cellular structures and, accordingly, to decrease in its consumption. The conducted studies allow asserting that it is best to use information on the change in the phase angle as the received information on the change in the electrophysical properties of plant tissue. The designed automatic system can be integrated with minimal constructive modifications into already existing lines for the processing of vegetable raw materials.