STTR Phase I: A Device for Rapid Estimation of Temperature Dependent Thermal Properties for Food Processing Systems

小企业技术转让（STTR）的更广泛的影响/商业潜力将是开发用于无菌食品加工的动态热分析系统。 特定食品的热特性的真实值是设计热过程所必需的，以防止由于加热不足而可能导致的细菌污染，或由于过热而导致的降解和不需要的化合物的形成。 拟议的创新将使食品加工商能够提高他们对快速加热应用中热特性的理解，并通过验证新的食品加工技术。预计其影响是，无菌加工食品的质量和营养价值应该大幅提高，因为它将消除过度烹饪产品以确保其安全的需要。这项研究的商业影响将通过提高无菌加工食品和快速加热的面糊食品的质量。与罐装和冷冻替代品相比，无菌食品的质量将进一步提高，该技术也将促进快速发展的无菌食品行业的增长。STTR第一阶段项目提出开发一种商业原型设备，能够在一定温度范围内快速测量材料的热特性。目前，没有办法快速测量特性，这对于快速加热过程的精确建模是必要的，例如用于无菌食品加工和用于在热熨斗之间烘烤的食品，例如汉堡。如果没有快速测量，食品在进行测量之前就会变质。第一阶段研究应开发、建造和验证物理原型和相关软件。控制和数据采集软件沿着数据分析和参数估计软件将最后确定和验证。将根据已知参数的材料对器械进行测试，以在统计学上确认其性能和准确度。最后，该设备将与现有技术一起进行测试，以将其性能与行业标准进行比较。本研究的产品将是一个商业上可行的原型，已根据文献值进行了验证，并已被证明优于当前的设备。该设备将能够更准确地测量温度范围内的参数，并且在当前方法的一小部分时间内。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) will be the development of a dynamic thermal analysis system for use in aseptic food processing. The true value of thermal properties for specific food products is required for the design of a thermal process to prevent possible bacterial contamination due to underheating, or degradation and formation of unwanted compounds due to overheating. The proposed innovation would allow food processors to improve their understanding of thermal properties in rapid heating applications, and by validating novel food processing technologies. The impact is expected to be that the quality and nutritional value of aseptic processed foods should increase dramatically as it will eliminate the need to excessively overcook products to ensure their safety. The commercial impact of this research will be through enhancing the quality of aseptic processed food and of rapidly heated batter-based foods. As the aseptic food quality will be further enhanced compared to that of canned and frozen alternatives, this technology will also increase the growth of the rapidly growing aseptic food industry.This STTR Phase I project proposes to develop a commercial prototype device capable of rapidly measuring the thermal properties of a material over a range of temperatures. Currently, there is no way to quickly measure properties, which are necessary for accurate modeling of rapid heating processes such as those used for aseptic food processing and for foods baked between hot irons, such as burgers. Without rapid measurement, the food product deteriorates before taking measurements. Phase I research should develop, build, and validate a physical prototype and associated software. Control and data acquisition software, along with data analysis and parameter estimation software, will be finalized and validated. The device will be tested against materials with known parameters to statistically validate its performance and accuracy. Finally the device will be tested alongside the prior state-of-the-art to compare its performance to the industry standard. The product of this research will be a commercially-viable prototype that has been validated against literature values and has been demonstrated to outperform current devices. The device will be able to measure parameters over a range of temperatures more accurately and in a fraction of the time of current methodology.