GOALI: Integrated Product and Process Design for Emulsified Products

PI：Michael Henson、Cristhian Almeida-Rivera、Michael Malone和David J.McClements机构：马萨诸塞大学阿默斯特分校建议编号：00730795标题：GALI：乳化产品的集成产品和工艺设计化学配方产品包括各种在农用化学品、食品和饮料、消费品和制药行业中常见的复杂、多相、微结构材料。与几乎完全以成分为特征的商品化学品不同，化学配方产品具有与其微观结构密切相关的特定最终用途特性。设计问题涉及生产所需微观结构和物理性能的化学配方和工艺条件的规范。当前基于试错试验的产品开发策略不足以在全球市场上竞争，在全球市场上，快速推出新产品对于满足不断变化的客户需求至关重要。虽然美国的商品化学品制造基地继续向发展中国家转移，但由于相对较高的产品价值和所需的产品创新程度，化学配方产品的设计和制造预计仍将集中在发达国家。因此，制定系统的产品和工艺设计战略对于确保美国在这一重要经济领域的领导地位至关重要。智能优点：乳液是一类特别重要的化学配方产品，其产品和工艺设计问题密切相关。在与联合利华的这个Goali项目中，PI计划为乳化产品开发一个资源密集型较少的概念设计框架，并显著减少新产品进入市场的时间。这项研究将集中在通过高压均质生产的两种模型乳剂系统及其在营养食品输送方面的应用，这些产品对改善人类健康和性能越来越重要。将开发简化的均质化过程和物理性质模型，以便能够根据配方和工艺变量预测可行的最终用途性质。设计启发式的分层应用将被用来有效地减少可行设计的空间，并为更详细的实验和计算分析产生一些有希望的候选者。建模误差将通过开发一次一次的控制策略来解决，该策略使用均质机每次均质机后获得的液滴尺寸分布和可用的流变学测量来更新未来几次均质机的加工变量。概念验证将通过设计和生产用于输送两种重要营养食品的功能性乳剂进行演示：omega-3脂肪酸和番茄红素。更广泛的影响：这项研究将推动用于人类健康应用的乳化产品的开发，重点是提供促进平衡营养和健康体重的生物活性成分。更广泛地说，这项研究将对美国需要快速发展和高效制造化学配方产品的各种重要行业产生积极影响。该项目的跨学科性质由学术-工业研究团队反映出来，该团队提供复杂流体、化工产品和工艺设计、颗粒系统建模和控制以及技术创新方面的综合专业知识。该项目代表了UMassProcess Design and Control Center与联合利华之间现有关系的扩展，联合利华是一家全球消费品公司，在美国各地设有工厂。该项目支持的两名学生将通过共同建议安排和与行业从业者的频繁互动，接触到高度跨学科的学习环境。联合利华将为每名学生安排三至六个月的工业实习，以促进技术转让，并通过接触工业产品创新过程来增强他们的教育经验。所有项目小组成员都表现出对教育以及招收和培训人数不足的学生的承诺。私人投资机构计划继续和扩大这些活动，通过国家科学基金会发起和大学大众领导的少数民族和研究生教育东北联盟和教授(NEAGEP)积极招收少数族裔学生，在他们的实验和计算工作中利用本科生研究助理，并利用他们的研究成果为本科生和研究生教育编写教材和教科书。

PI: Michael Henson, Cristhian Almeida-Rivera, Michael Malone and David J. McClements Institution: University of Massachusetts, Amherst Proposal Number: 00730795Title: GOALI: Integrated Product and Process Design for Emulsified ProductsChemically formulated products include a wide variety of complex, multiphase, microstructured materials common in the agricultural chemical, food and beverage, consumer products and pharmaceutical industries. Unlike commodity chemicals which are characterized almost exclusively by their composition, chemically formulated products have specific end-use properties that are intimately connected with their microstructure. The design problem involves specification of the chemical formulation and the processing conditions that produce the desired microstructure and physical properties. Current product development strategies based on trial-and-error experimentation are not adequate to compete in the global marketplace where rapid introduction of new products is essential to meet ever changing customer demands. While the U.S. manufacturing base in commodity chemicals continues its move to developing countries, the design and manufacturing of chemically formulated products is expected to remain concentrated in developed countries due to relatively high product values and the substantial degree of product innovation required. Consequently, the development of systematic product and process design strategies are critical to ensure U.S. leadership in this important economic sector. Intellectual Merit: Emulsions are a particularly important class of chemically formulated products for which the product and process design problems are strongly coupled. In this GOALI project with Unilever, the PIs plan to develop a conceptual design framework for emulsified products that is less resource intensive and significantly reduces the time for new products to reach the marketplace. The research will focus on two model emulsion systems produced via high pressure homogenization with applications to the delivery of nutraceuticals, which are increasingly important for improving human health and performance. Simplified homogenization process and physical property models will be developed to allow the prediction of feasible end-use properties as a function of formulation and processing variables. The hierarchical application of design heuristics will be used to efficiently reduce the space of feasible designs and to generate a few promising candidates for more detailed experimental and computational analysis. Modeling errors will be addressed through the development of a run-to-run control strategy that uses drop size distribution and available rheological measurements obtained after each pass of the homogenizer to update the processing variables for future passes. Proof-of-concept will be demonstrated by designing and producing functional emulsions for delivery of two important nutraceuticals: omega-3 fatty acids and lycopene. Broader Impacts: The research will advance the development of emulsified products for human health applications, with a focus on the delivery of bioactive components that promote balanced nutrition and healthy weight. More generally, the research will positively impact a wide variety of important U.S. industries that require rapid development and efficient manufacturing of chemically formulated products. The interdisciplinary nature of the project is reflected by the academic-industrial research team, which offers combined expertise in complex fluids, chemical product and process design, particulate systems modeling and control, and technology innovation. This project represents an expansion of an existing relationship between the UMass Process Design and Control Center and Unilever, a global consumer product company with facilities located throughout the United States. The two students supported by this project will be exposed to a highly interdisciplinary learning environment through co-advising arrangements and frequent interactions with industrial practitioners. Three to six month industrial internships will be arranged at Unilever for each student to facilitate technology transfer and to enhance their educational experience through exposure to the industrial product innovation process. All project team members have a demonstrated commitment to education and the recruitment and training of underrepresented students. The PIs plan to continue and expand these activities by actively recruiting minority students through the NSF-sponsored and UMass-led Northeast Alliance in Minority and Graduate Education and the Professoriate (NEAGEP), by utilizing undergraduate research assistants in their experimental and computational work, and by using their research results to develop educational materials and textbooks for undergraduate and graduate education.