Project no. I-1
Integrated Modelling of Food Production Chains
Researchers:
Jens Adler-Nissen (DTU), Krist Gernaey (DTU), Renzo Akkerman (DTU) and Martin Grunow (TU München)
Industrial partners:
Leaf, NM-Foods, EasyFood, Haas-Meincke, Bisca, Daloon, BCH Ltd, COMSOL.
Summary of project: In this project the poduction chain is considered as composed of generalised modules, which are pragmatic, inductive descriptions of process steps and their dynamics and feedback mechanisms. The models have to be standardised and structured in a hierarchical manner, such that these models can be used from the unit operation level up to the supply chain level, and can be implemented easily in existing IT-systems for decision support.
Project no. I-2
Control & Surveillance of Automated Production Steps
Researchers:
Lars Bager Christensen (DMRI), Rasmus Larsen (DTU), Bjarne Ersbøll (DTU) and Jens Adler-Nissen (DTU)
Industrial partners:
Danish Crown og Tican
Summary of project:
Automation of many manual operations in the food industry is difficult, because the criteria for process control are often based on tacit knowledge of the operator. Our hypothesis is that a route to optimal automation of such operations is to register how the trained process operator makes decisions from observations of the process and combining this knowledge with predictive modelling of input/output of the process units.
Project no.I-3
Integrated Modelling of Large Scale Hospital Food Service Production Chains (FoodServInSPIRe)
Researchers:
Bent Egberg Mikkelsen (AAU) and Søren Løkke (AAU)
Industriel partners:
13 SME’s
Summary of projects:
Every day, 200,000 meals are processed and served to patients, relatives and staff at Danish hospitals. The project aims to improve the utilization of food, water, energy, and labour resources in the hospital food service production chain, thereby enhancing productivity and nutritional impact, while decreasing the lifecycle environmental impact.
Project no. I-4
Improved Cutting Operations in Food Processing
Researchers:
Carsten Jensen (DMRI), Marcel Somers (DTU), Seunghwan Lee (DTU), Leonardo de Chiffre (DTU) and Lisbeth Hilbert (FORCE)
Industriel partners:
Danish Crown, Tican
Summary of projects:
Precise and reproducible cutting depends on 1) the proper geometrical design of the blade (sharpness), 2) the material properties of the cutting tool and 3) the mechanical and tribological interaction between the tool, the food material as well as a third party material (e.g. cutting board). While the patent literature in the field is extensive, fundamental mechanical studies of cutting operations are rare.
Project no. I-5
Optimising Product Quality throughout the Distribution Chain for Fresh & Semi-processed Fruits and Vegetables
Researchers:
Anette Thybo (AU), Jens Adler-Nissen (DTU) and Renzo Akkerman (DTU)
Industriel partners:
FGK – Forskningsforeningen frugt, grønt og kartofler
Summary of projects:
The distribution of fresh and semi-processed fruits and vegetables is faced with the challenge that the optimal temperature for maintenance of quality varies considerably for different products and is not always the standard +5*C or +2*C in the cold chain.