Maximizing Efficiency in Food & Beverage Processing

SummaryTuna in oil was processed in retort pouches (20 × 17 cm) to a, F0 value of 10. Heat penetration characteristics were determined using a rotary retort to an F0 value of 10 and the results compared with a stationary retort. For studying the changes in heat penetration during rotation, tuna in oil was packed into retort pouches, subjected to different rotation speeds (2, 4 and 6 r.p.m.) and thermally processed to the same F0 value. For the same F0 value of 10, although there was a reduction in process time with increasing rotation speed up to 6 r.p.m., the magnitude of the reduction in processing time decreased with increase in speed of rotation. However up to 2 r.p.m. there was a considerable reduction in process time.

This paper presents a microfluidic chip capable of isolating thermally sensitive protein-binding aptamer candidates. The chip makes use of bead-immobilized target molecules and DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) sequences to enable a simplified chip design, in which affinity selection and PCR (polymerase chain reaction) amplification of target-binding sequences occur in temperature-controlled microchambers. Using pressure-driven flow, buffer containing single-stranded DNA molecules with randomized sequences is cycled through a series of affinity selection and PCR amplification steps on microbeads. Successive introduction of the sample to each chamber effects a process of competition whereby DNA strands with weak binding strength to target molecules are rejected in favor of strongly binding sequences. Using bead-based PCR, the amplification step was miniaturized and integrated with affinity selection, resulting in significant reductions in process time and reagent use. As a demonstration, temperature-dependent selection and amplification of single-stranded oligonucleotides that bind to human Immuno-globulin E (IgE) was performed in 4 h, a 20-fold reduction in process time as compared to conventional methods that would require approximately a week. Fluorescent binding assays then demonstrated that the desired temperature specificity was imparted to the aptamer candidates within just one round of selection, and within two rounds the aptamer candidates exhibited enhanced affinity toward IgE.

Aluminium-induced crystallisation of amorphous silicon: influence of the aluminium layer on the process

This study was conducted to standardize the optimum processing condition for thermal processing of mackerel in refined groundnut oil in aluminum cans. The standardization of the product was carried out in still retort at 121.1C at three different Fo (accumulated lethality) values, i.e., 5, 7 and 9. The total process times required to reach the Fovalues 5, 7 and 9 were 34.06, 41.29 and 45.09 min, respectively. The Fo9 was selected for further rotation studies based on sensory analysis and sterility test. Rotation was carried out at 2, 4 and 6 rpm and resulted in the reduction in the process time to 42.08, 41.38 and 38.22 min, respectively, for the same lethality compared to 45.09 min in stationary retort. The cook value also reduced with increase in the rotational speed.PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSThe present work was carried out to standardize the optimum thermal processing parameters for mackerel in oil medium in aluminum cans and to study the effect of rotation on process time. The standardization of process parameters will help the processors to directly implement in commercial retort operation. The longer duration of thermal processing leads to the deterioration of product quality. Reductions in process time will have an advantageous effect on the sensory and nutritional qualities of thermally processed fish products. The reduction of process time can be achieved by rotating the content of canned product during processing. In rotational study, it has been observed that the total process time could be reduced to 6 min compared to the stationary retort sterilization process at a given temperature and Fo value. This will help the processes to minimize the energy consumption for thermal processing and to produce better quality products.

Dynamic optimization and nonlinear model predictive control of a semi-batch epoxidation process

Modification of pH and combined use of novel processing methods may be a good strategy to improve the quality of canned vegetables. In this study, selected thermal (TP) and high pressure-assisted thermal (HP-T) processing methods were validated for citric acid-infused carrots (pH ≤ 4.5) using Bacillus licheniformis spores. Previously established thermal inactivation kinetics data were used to setup the target process times (to achieve 7-log kill of B. licheniformis). The microbial spores were inoculated at the center of simulated carrot alginate beads and subjected to different processing methods. Delivered process lethalities, evaluated by the microbial count/re-count method and measured time–temperature data, were equal to or higher than the targeted values. No survivors were found after the treatments, demonstrating the adequacy of the processes. Texture, color and β-carotene retention in processed carrots, evaluated and compared with those processed under conventional canning, showed higher texture retention (P < 0.05) in the modified processing methods. Residual hardness values of carrots were 86% with HP-T, 70% with ohmic heating and 8% with conventionally canned product. The same trend was observed with chewiness value. However, processing methods showed no differences (P > 0.05) with respect to color change. In terms of β-carotene, carrots subjected to a relatively more severe heat treatment (water immersion mode in static retort) showed better β-carotene extractability than samples from HP-T. Practical Applications Conventional thermal processing of “low acid” foods (pH > 4.6) experiences significant quality loss due to the long thermal processing times required to inactivate spores of the key pathogen Clostridium botulinum. Alternative thermal processing techniques have evolved to shorten the processing times by enhancing heating rate to the product through process modifications or using thin profile packages. Even though quality retention can be enhanced through these modifications, thermal damage to quality is still indispensable since the sensitively microbial destruction to heat remain unaltered. Product acidification moves the “low acid” foods to “acid” category, thereby shifting the process regulation from the high temperature sterilization to the lower temperature pasteurization conditions. Savings in energy and reduction in process time immediately become obvious. Novel acidification methods are necessary for making the process efficient. Bacillus licheniformis is important and a suitable microorganism for validating thermal processing of acidified foods. The combined use of acid infusion methods and alternative thermal processing technologies could play a significant role to improve quality of acidified foods as compared to current practices.

The research presented concerns the policy to manage a job shop in which the machines have controllable processing times. A controllable processing time means that it can be reduced processing time by using additional resources. The model proposed is based on a multi-agent architecture that supports the manufacturing system. The policy proposed concerns the evaluation of the workload of the resources. It is necessary to define the following issues for the controllable time process of a resource: the condition of start and the duration of the process time reduction. Two approaches are proposed to assign the resources to the machines. The first approach concerns the reduction of the processing time one machine at time, while the second approach distributes the additional resources proportionally among the machines. A simulation environment is developed to test the proposed approach in several dynamic conditions. The simulation results show that the control of the processing times proposed allows to improve significantly the performance.

Clove oil is an agricultural commodity with economic value. This essential oil can be obtained from flowers, stems, and leaves of clove plants. The quality of clove oil can be evaluated from eugenol levels in oil. An increase in eugenol levels from 70% to 98% can increase oil prices by up to 3 times. Oil obtained from clove leaves has a low eugenol content of 60-70%, therefore the purification is needed to improve the quality of oil. Membrane based separation for eugenol purification was suggested in this paper as new concept in essential oils purification processes. This study aimed to explore the suitable polymer as membrane material for eugenol purification. PES, PA, CA and PI were used in this study, where the membranes were prepared via NIPS technique using manual casting knife to form flat sheet membranes. The membranes were immersed in eugenol to evaluate the solubility. The insoluble membrane was used for purification performance test in membrane filtration cell. The results show that PES and PA membranes were completely dissolved in eugenol in less than 1 minute, while PI and CA membranes were insoluble in eugenol. However, the PI membrane has much lower solvent permeability than CA membrane. The thermal annealed PES membrane for 3 h at 180°C dissolved in eugenol in 30 minutes for complete dissolution. It is concluded that PI and CA membranes can be used as membrane material for eugenol purification but CA more favorable, while PES membrane has a potential for similar purposes after being thermal annealed. However, these findings can offer an important reference for the application of polymeric membranes for clove oil purification through an effective and efficient process.

In today's fast growing technology, industries need a system that is able to control machines more effectively and efficiently to improve quality and reduce production costs. In addition, an efficient control system can minimize excessive process time. PT Chemco Harapan Nusantara, a manufacturing company, requires a system to automate the control of the Vibratory Deburring Machine or barrel machine which is currently still operated manually. This manual operation increases the production process time. This research aims to develop an automation system for controlling and evaluating the effectiveness of industrial machines using a Programmable Logic Controller and Human Machine Interface to increase production efficiency and reduce processing time. Testing in this study was carried out by simulating the production process at PT Chemco Harapan Nusantara 28 times. The results showed that the highest percentage of effectiveness obtained was 99.94% with a loss time of 14 seconds, while the lowest percentage was 99.91% with a loss time of 23 seconds. The average effectiveness reached 99.96% with a loss time of 9 seconds. In addition, the process time was successfully reduced by 20 seconds from over 5 minutes 20 seconds to only 5 minutes.

UD. Hadhita Jaya Makmur was established in 1993 and located on Jalan S. Parman, Modopuro Village Rt.03, Rw.07, Mojosari District, Mojokerto Regency. The founder of this company is Mr. Drs.Munasrib, who is known in poultry farming activists, especially ducks. UD. Hadhita Jaya Makmur has ducks with a population of 3000 laying ducks, ducks at UD Hadhita Jaya Makmur produce about 2100 eggs every 2 days in December. UD. Hadhita Jaya Makmur strives to improve the quality of duck eggs by setting a target of feeding ducks as much as 500 kg every day for a population of 3000 ducks that are ready to lay eggs. Nevertheless, the use of manual methods in mixing duck animal feed ingredients has some negative impacts. The process of stirring duck animal feed takes quite a long time, which can reach 40 minute so that workers at UD. Hadhita Jaya Makmur experienced fatigue. One idea to be able to solve the problem is to design an animal feed mixer machine to provide significant results, providing results in accelerating the time of the 500kg per day animal feed stirring process which was originally at UD. Hadhita Jaya Makmur stirred animal feed ingredients in the process still using manual methods with a processing time duration of 43 minutes. After the design of the animal feed mixer machine, the process time of stirring animal feed ingredients to 15 minutes, the magnitude of the reduction in process time also affected the worker productivity index which was originally 19,3% to 55.5%.

This study attempts to examine the significance of recent research that has focused on efforts to estimate values for global and surface heat transfer coefficients under forced convection heating induced by end-over-end rotation in retorting of canned peas in brine. The study confirms the accuracy of regression analysis used to predict values for heat transfer coefficients as a function of rotating speed and headspace, and uses them to predict values over a range of process conditions, which make up the search domain for process optimization. These coefficients were used in a convective heat transfer model to establish a range of lethality-equivalent retort temperature-time processes for various conditions of retort temperature, rotating speed, and headspace. Then, they were coupled with quality factor kinetics to predict the final volume average and surface quality retention resulting from each process and to find the optimal thermal process conditions for canned fresh green peas. Results showed that maximum quality retention (surface and volume average retention) was achieved with the shortest possible process time (made possible with highest retort temperature), and reached the similar level in all cases with small difference between surface and volume average quality retention. The highest heat transfer coefficients (associated with maximum rotating speed and headspace) showed a 10% reduction in process time over that required with minimum rotating speed and headspace. The study concludes with a discussion of the significance of these findings and degree to which they were expected.

Biocatalytic approach for the utilization of hemicellulose for ethanol production from agricultural residue using thermostable xylanase and thermotolerant yeast

Superplastic forming (SPF) is a well-known and widely used sheet metal forming process especially useful for the production of very complex and light thin sheet metal components. The superplastic behavior of a material is highly dependent on the temperature and occurs only at a narrow range of strain rates with an optimum value that is unique for each material. Within the aeronautic industry, this process is mainly used to form complex sheet metal parts made of the titanium alloy Ti6Al4V in heat affected areas and areas where corrosion resistance plays an important role. Even though the process times of SPF are often in the range of hours and therefore recurring costs are very high, the process is sometimes still the only choice when it comes to the forming of Ti6Al4V sheet metal parts for aeronautic or aerospace applications. To overcome the problem of long process times and high costs, in recent years, a lot of research did happen with the goal of temperature reduction during forming or forming at higher strain rates. Especially the change in the aeronautic industry towards high volume production is increasing the competition between suitable forming technologies and the SPF technology can only persist if both goals, reduction of process time and recurring costs are reachable. In this paper we will address those goals and show highly useful numerical procedures to make the SPF process ready for the next generation of aerospace manufacturing.

Consumer demand for food safety and quality improvements, combined with new regulations, requires determining the processor's confidence level that processes lowering safety risks while retaining quality will meet consumer expectations and regulatory requirements. Monte Carlo calculation procedures incorporate input data variability to obtain the statistical distribution of the output of prediction models. This advantage was used to analyze the survival risk of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (M. paratuberculosis) and Clostridium botulinum spores in high-temperature short-time (HTST) milk and canned mushrooms, respectively. The results showed an estimated 68.4% probability that the 15 sec HTST process would not achieve at least 5 decimal reductions in M. paratuberculosis counts. Although estimates of the raw milk load of this pathogen are not available to estimate the probability of finding it in pasteurized milk, the wide range of the estimated decimal reductions, reflecting the variability of the experimental data available, should be a concern to dairy processors. Knowledge of the C. botulinum initial load and decimal thermal time variability was used to estimate an 8.5 min thermal process time at 110 °C for canned mushrooms reducing the risk to 10⁻⁹ spores/container with a 95% confidence. This value was substantially higher than the one estimated using average values (6.0 min) with an unacceptable 68.6% probability of missing the desired processing objective. Finally, the benefit of reducing the variability in initial load and decimal thermal time was confirmed, achieving a 26.3% reduction in processing time when standard deviation values were lowered by 90%. In spite of novel technologies, commercialized or under development, thermal processing continues to be the most reliable and cost-effective alternative to deliver safe foods. However, the severity of the process should be assessed to avoid under- and over-processing and determine opportunities for improvement. This should include a systematic approach to consider variability in the parameters for the models used by food process engineers when designing a thermal process. The Monte Carlo procedure here presented is a tool to facilitate this task for the determination of process time at a constant lethal temperature.

Metal forming processes may induce internal damage in the form of voids in the workpiece under unfavorable deformation conditions. Controlling the amount of damage induced by metal forming operations may increase service performance of the produced parts. Damage is crucial in high-performance components of limited workability such as jet engine turbine blades. Recent developments have introduced forged titanium aluminides into commercial jet engines. Titanium aluminides are lightweight intermetallic compounds with excellent creep properties but very limited ductility. Their low workability requires isothermal forging at slow strain rates, which is typically kept constant in the process. This work explores the possibility of increasing the ram speed during the process so that the process time is reduced while the amount of damage introduced into the workpiece is controlled. The results show that a 25% reduction in process time seems viable without increase in damage by solving an optimal control problem, in which the ram speed profile is determined off-line by minimization.