Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - DEMOS (DEMOnStrators of micro waves efficiency for agrifood industry)

Teaser

Vegetable proteins are more than ever an issue for future generations. Unfortunately, today\'s Europe suffers from a severe chronic dependence on imports of proteins of the American continent. Important works are underway at the manufacturers in the food industry (human and...

Summary

Vegetable proteins are more than ever an issue for future generations. Unfortunately, today\'s Europe suffers from a severe chronic dependence on imports of proteins of the American continent. Important works are underway at the manufacturers in the food industry (human and animal) to reduce dependence and to develop consumer products based on plant proteins with superior characteristics. Process improvements are sought in this context to increase, so profitable while reducing environmental and energy footprint extraction of proteins soluble or native capabilities while offering the best control of their physiological and functional properties (digestibility, allergenicity, bioactivity, organoleptic characteristics,...).
Because the DEMOS allows you to produce and control the right necessary amount of electromagnetic energy at a frequency given, because the DEMOS process utilizes the latest technological advances to manage and control very precisely and in dynamic application of this energy in the product, because DEMOS method of food process engineering expected by the industrialist and the actual capacity of electromagnetic absorption of plant resources our process microwave equipment DEMOS, developed by 3 SMEs industry leader, paving the way for this process of innovation!
To access markets, three DEMOS beneficiary SMEs must demonstrate the industrial reality of their prototypes. They must demonstrate their ability to manage the upscaling to processing completely industrial microwave equipment capable of handling streaming several tonnes per hour. With pilot customers we also demonstrate the capacity of our process to improve the technical quality products and especially vegetable proteins made while reducing chemicals used. The challenge to reduce energy consumption is to stay competitive with the conventional cooking process to steam with solvent extraction.

Work performed

Periodic advance report:
Period N ° 3 : 01/04/2016 - 30/09/2016

Final results

We remind that the main objective of the DEMOS program is to provide techniques and alternative solutions to the agribusiness sector processing companies. This is to enable them to respond by technology the future requirements of their customers them even face the major challenges of our century nutrition: products manufactured with less energy, with more clean energy, products manufactured and stabilized with fewer chemical inputs for increased health, best quality less allergic, more digestible nutritional products also globally products safe, healthy, and tasty. Of course a technology service products but able to meet the challenges of the world industrial, transferable and can be integrated in the process of transformation of plants, compatible for cost.
Electromagnetic fields in the sense of their physical abilities are able to respond to many of these issues. Of course, other physical processes as the high pressures are also great capacity but they also abut also in industrial deployments. The synthesis of the literature shows that others before us have shown these interests and opportunities of use of electromagnetic fields: but the work stopped at laboratories and not successful to drill to the industrial world. This is the challenge we want to pick up with DEMOS.
For this we must repeat the procedure at the source. Indeed we find in the bibliography of the data on the dielectric properties of materials, but never put into correlation with mass heat capacity of this same material. No plant matrix may happen to a precise characterization and dynamics: for this we developed for the purposes of the DEMOS program tests HF cell to obtain a record of precise characterization, 20 to 120 ° C, and for analyzing the kinetics of the dielectric behavior of each vegetable matrices we have to deal. It\'s this study that we were able to confirm the precise dimensions of the applicator for the needs of the oilseeds in wp3 cooking program.
Implementing microwave technical solutions have been proposed, but the guarantee of uniformity of heat treatment (point hot/point cold) was not to go to reassure industry on this point. Also the concepts of scalup were not developed to allow patterns of industrialization tailored to the needs of the industry, and for example implement the powers until the megawatt microwave games. Pulsed microwaves are also known in the laboratory, for example to allow disinfection of surgical tools, but nothing more strong capacity could be proposed to meet the needs of the agri-food industry. The change applier DEMOS will implement a concept patented by Inovfruit, to ensure consistency of treatment, allowing to the product and the electromagnetic field to move together in a guide to the common geometry. Like this, if the capacity of absorption of energy by the product is known (characterization HF) and the quantity of emitted energy is mastered, then the profile cooking expected by industry can be perfect, homogeneous, with consequently efficiency improved. With our PRANA partner we have the opportunity to associate with the program DEMOS of the specialist manufacturer of high-power microwave generators, notably in the vulcanization industry: proven units that work for 25 years. The demonstrator DEMOS will implement a modular set of 3 x 100kw microwave generators, in a concept transposable completely on a 10 scale to the megawatt generators.
The first meetings to develop the program with our pilot customers, clearly show potentials which go far beyond the sector of oil seeds or dried fruit seeds. For example the problem of control of insect pests in the seed grain by pulsed microwave, also storage phase for decontamination of seeds seed without altering the germinability, for example the problem of roasting of wood pellets to improve the calorific or roasting of cocoa beans, for example the extraction of active principles of plants for the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industry.