A steady-state food process design and analysis program with generalized unit operation models

There is a great need in the food industry to link food science research with food engineering and process technologies in such a way as to facilitate an increase in product development efficiency and improve product quality. Chemical engineers achieve this through the use of industry standard computer aided flowsheeting and design packages.; In contrast, existing programs for food processing applications are limited in their ability to handle the wide variety of processes common to the food industry. This research entails the development of a generalized flowsheeting and design program for steady-state food processes which utilizes the design strategies employed by food engineers.; The MATLAB{dollar}spcircler{dollar} computational software package and its SIMULINK{dollar}sp{lcub}rm TM{rcub}{dollar} dynamic system simulation software have been used to develop computational algorithms and a graphical user interface for Food Operations Oriented Design System Block Library (FOODS-LIB). This multi-level continuous food process design tool can be used to perform mass and energy balances as well as basic and advanced transport design. FOODS-LIB can also assess microbial load reduction and quality degradation due to thermal treatement. In addition, the companion program ECONANAL can perform an economic analysis on a process designed using FOODS-LIB.; To demonstrate the utility of FOODS-LIB, alternative whole milk powder process designs were analyzed. The use of FOODS-LIB as a Food Process Engineering course and curriculum supplement is discussed. Implementation of FOODS-LIB at the senior and sophomore levels is reviewed.