29542 - Advanced Plants for Food Technology

Academic Year 2019/2020

  • Docente: Luigi Ragni
  • Credits: 3
  • SSD: AGR/09
  • Language: Italian
  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
  • Campus: Cesena
  • Corso: Second cycle degree programme (LM) in Food Science and Technology (cod. 8531)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course,the student has acquired the knowledge about the innovative solutions applied to food plants, in particular for the thermal treatments, the homogenization and drying and is able to operate some technical choices

Course contents

Plant schemes

Process and driving schematics: normative and associations references, nomenclature and symbology, main parts, process and service lines, instruments, controls, valves, filters, materials

Dryers

Dryers for grain: parameters describing the drying process, heater  group, desiccant container, classification of dryers for grain, functional parameters of the dryer, Mollier diagrams. Dryers for food fluids: spray (turbine, nozzle pressure, conventional two-stage dryer, "high," "compact", non conventional  dryer, freeze dryer or lyophilizer, roller dryer (single, double rolls), steam tube dryers, rotary vacuum, continuous and discontinuous  fluidized bed agglomerators.

Pasteurizers  and UHT sterilizers

Parameters of pasteurization, pasteurization plant, UHT plant by direct exchange (plate, tube bundles, scraped body), UHT plant by direct exchange (injection and direct steam infusion), advanced facilities by infusion.

Heat concentrators or evaporators

Traditional bubble concentrators, with  rotating coil, submerged tubes in natural or forced circulation, agitated film, vertical tube bundles (falling and rising film, with natural or forced circulation), bubble expansion. Accessories:  vapor condenser (mixture and at the surface). Plant in three stages. Cryo-concentrator.

Homogenizers and shredders

Components: pump, homogenizing  valve. Control of the homogenizing valve (mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic). Effects of the physical parameters on the degree of homogenization. Innovative systems and experimental methods for the homogenization. Single-stage and two-stage crusher, turbo extractor, centrifugal extractor (strainer), shredder hammers.

Plants for special application

Pulsed electric fields: constructive and functional aspects of the generators and food applications.

 

Readings/Bibliography

Downloadable material from Internet: equipment and plant schematics, standards. Educational material distributed in classroom. Records from lectures.

Reference book:

Dario Friso, Ingegneria dell'industria alimentare, Operazioni unitarie del food engineering, Macchine e impianti, Cleup, 2013

Teaching methods

Lessons with drawing or projection by the teacher of scheme of plants and equipment. Exercises on the performance of some plants.

Assessment methods

Final exam quiz-type with multiple choice and single answer (20 questions; duration of the test: 70 min).

See the notice in IOL for on-line exam method.

The exam is designed to assess the student learning on all the arguments covered in class. In particular, the following aspects are evaluated:

1) theoretical and technical knowledges;

2) the ability of critical choice;

3) the ability, by numerical calculation, to determine some parameters related to the subject of study.

During the course, the teacher has also opportunity to assess the degree of attention and critical participation of the students in the lectures and exercises looking for, although it is not required, the involvement of the students in the analysis and discussion. This is useful to better modulate the teaching according to the student's answer, without which the result of this interaction can represent prejudice for the final evaluation.

The final grade is a summary of the joint evaluation of the two constituents of the teachings integrated course, based on a ponderation related to the CFU of each course.

Call date for each session: two.

Teaching tools

Personal computer connected to Internet used by the teacher in classroom. Blackboard. Whiteboard with camera. Audio system. Video projector. Library.  Computer room. Food engineering lab.

Office hours

See the website of Luigi Ragni