SBO-proposal: Novel techniques for inspection

and engineering of food

(micro)structure based on X-ray

computed tomography

21/10/2011

Invitation to SBO information meeting

• Friday 18 november 2011 14.00-17.00

• K.U.Leuven, Willem de Croylaan 42, Heverlee

• Room 1.19

• Meeting objectives

– Explain project idea to industrial companies

– Elaborate the project workplan to meet industrial goals

– Confirm interest from companies of target sectors

– Determine anticipated interactions with your company

– Elaborate valorisation plan dedicated to your company

Project partners

• K.U.Leuven: Agrofood process design and engineering

– BIOSYST-MeBioS, Prof. Bart Nicolaï, Dr. Pieter Verboven

• UA: Image processing

– Vision Lab, Prof. Jan Sijbers

• UGent: X-ray physics

– UCGT, Prof. Luc Van Hoorebeke

• ILVO: Food technology & Food Pilot

– Technology & Food Science Unit, Katleen Coudijzer, Jan De

Block

• KHK, Kempen University College: Food technology

– Lab4Food, Dr. Johan Claes, Dr. Leen Van Campenhout

• Flanders’ FOOD: Dissemination

– Dr. Erwin Lamot, Dr. Steven Van Campenhout

FOOD (MICRO)STRUCTURE:

The organisation of food constituents at different scales

(nano to macro) and their interaction

Rationale of the project

• (Micro)structure determines food properties

– Appearance

– Texture

– Heat and mass transport properties

– Rheology

– Functionality

– Stability & shelf life

• (Micro)structure imaging: need for

– better resolution (nano)

– better contrast

– 3-D

– reduced cost, time and effort

– quantitative analysis

– non-destructive analysis

Problem statement

• Emergence of nondestructive tomographic and nano-

techniques

• Problems

– Amount of data

– Cumbersome image analysis

– Unknown relationship between microstructure and food

properties / quality attributes

– Few online techniques

– Price and speed essential for food industry

Target sectors

• Food industry

– Diary products (ILVO)

• Stability of foamed foods

• Non-destructive in-package analysis of food structure

• Effect of processing on food microstructure

– Fruits and vegetables (MeBioS)

• Online sorting based on internal food structure

– Cereal based products (KHK)

• Mechanical properties of bakery products related to microstructure

• Shelf life of packaged bakery products

• Technology industry

– X-ray CT technology

– Sorting

– Process engineering

– Image processing software

Objectives

• Developing novel X-ray CT instruments for inspecting food

structure and food microstructure of porous foods at the best

possible image quality and resolution balanced to processing

speed and equipment cost

• Developing novel tomographic reconstruction and analysis

methods for improved quantification of food structure parameters

• Using X-ray CT to improve our understanding of process-structure-

property relationships through advanced mathematical models

• Develop tools for design and engineering of novel food processes

and food products

• Developing affordable online food inspection equipment in food

processing plants to the benefit of the food industry in Flanders

• Involving the complete value chain

Project structure

Research • Imaging technologies

• Micro- and nano-CT

• Online CT

• Contrast enhancement

• Noise reduction

• Image reconstruction

• Quantitative reconstruction

• Real time reconstruction

• Food technology

• Water relations

• Texture

• Rheology

• Functional properties

• Stability & shelf life

• Data analysis

• Image processing

• Mathematical modelling

• Statistics

• Process engineering

• Computer aided design and engineering

• Equipment design and control

Technology industry

• X-ray and CT technology

• Sorting and on-line quality control

• Processing equipment

• ICT

Food industry

• Fruits and vegetables

• Dairy products

• Bakery products

Scientific objectives & workplan

• To provide model foods and/or standardized food production for the important food categories (diary, fruits and vegetables, cereal based foods) –WP1

• To develop and optimize CT equipment and equipment components for nano-and micro-CT, and on-line CT –WP2

• To optimally design CT measurements for the specified foods –WP3

• To develop algorithms for quantitative reconstruction of CT data and real time iterative reconstruction –WP4

• To develop and use methods to measure process and product properties of foods in relation to food (micro)structure –WP5

• To develop food structure engineering approaches incorporating food microstructure –WP6

• To develop online X-ray CT sensors to the benefit of the Flemish food industry –WP7

Valorisation objectives

• Increased quality and new products will increase the market value of Flemish food products

– 32 BEURO return and 6 BEURO added value, 50% from export

– 1% increase in added value represents 60 MEUR

• The outcome of this project will have a significant impact on the food industry capabilities to manufacture products with improved quality. Being able to monitor and control online the food structure may help to:

– Ensure current product consistency and limit rework. Better mastering the process could reduce the rework and thus reduce production and rework cost currently accounting for 3-5%.

– Increased quality consistency will have a positive impact on the "Brand Image value".

– Improve and ensure innovation rates. This cannot be achieved without proper knowledge and control of the product properties.

– Allow faster move towards new nutritional products requested by consumers. Nutrition, health and wellness company demands by consumers implies playing mastering the impact of nutritional components on the product quality

• For technology and ICT companies, the project allows gathering in a faster way the necessary product knowledge and experience to develop new and dedicated instruments and software.

– It is important to keep the company’s level at the cutting edge of technology as well on hardware as on software (reconstruction and analysis) in a competitive market.

– This knowledge can result in an increase in system and service sales (estimated as 3-10%).

– Knowledge and tools developed in the project will assist to faster respond to demands of customers.

Valorisation activities

• Organise regular user group meetings (2/year) for two-way interactions of the researchers and industrial users from the entire value chain (sensor technology, ICT, food end-users)

• Provide knowledge transfer to the user group on – Possibilities and limitations of on-line and off-line X-ray systems for food inspection

– Microstructure-property relationships of foods and food processes

• Provide new X-ray technology that strengthens the leading role of the X-ray sector in Flanders

• Provide technology and software to increase knowledge of the role of food microstructure in food manufacturing

• Provide technology and software to better design and control food production

• Provide services (on-demand scans & image analysis, product and process design & engineering) for new foods and novel food processes to the food industry in Flanders

• Develop and maintain a public and private project website for results dissemination

• Organise and participate in workshops and seminars

• Perform dissemination activities by publications in trade& sector journals, distribution of a newsletter

• Perform exploitation activities: – Implement an IPR plan between the partners

– Patent innovative results

• Implement results by means of joint R&D projects with members of the user group, on a bilateral basis or within dedicated IWT and EU programs

X-RAY CT FOR FOOD

MICROSTRUCTURE:

Technologies and partner presentations

CT systems

X-ray CT

• 3D and 2D non-destructive inspection of food products

– Internal quality of food products -> changes in density can be

detected

– Prospects for online applications

Dual energy radiography (< 1sec)

Fast tomography (30 sec)

disorder

cavity

Micro- and Nano-CT

• Visualise food microstructure at 500 nm pixel resolution

Model foam

250 µ

m

Relate microstructure to quality

• Explain internal disorders as a consequence of

microstructure changes

Healthy apple

Porosity 22,93%

Brown apple

Porosity 3,82%

Apple with cavities

Porosity 41,4%

Engineering food microstructure

• Engineering of processing/composition for food (micro-)structure

Micro-CT at 5,8 µmpixel resolution

Microstructure process engineering

• Multiscale modelling of heat and mass transfer

Microscale simulations Water transport properties

K.U.Leuven

• Division MeBioS (Mechatronics, Biostatistics and

Sensors)

– Biofluidics group

– CADcracker

– Flanders Centre of Postharvest Technology

• Tasks in the project

– Project coordination

– Mathematical models of heat and mass transfer, and

mechanics of food products incorporating food (micro)structure

– Computer aided design and engineering of microstructured

foods and food processes

– Online sorting of food products based on internal

(micro)structure

– Exploitation management

MeBioS

• Multiscale physics in biology

• Staff – Total: 100

– Professors: 8

– Postdocs: 15

– PhD students: 60

– Administrative and technical staff: 20

• Research for industry – Agricultural and food process engineering

– Postharvest technology

– Food chain safety and quality

– Diagnostics for life sciences

• Technology transfer – Industrial research managers: 3

– Patents: 8

– Flanders Centre of Postharvest technology

– Industrial contracts: 3MEURO/year

MeBioS

• Biofluidics – Multiscale mass transfer

– Microstructure

– Multiphase microfluidics

– Micro- and nanofluidics

• CADcracker – Computer aided design and

egineering of agrofood processes

• Flanders Centre of Postharvest Technology – Consultancy, education, research on

fruit and vegetable postharvest technology

UGent

• UGCT

– Centre for X-ray Tomography

• Tasks in the project

– X-ray CT system development and optimization

– X-ray CT image analysis

UGCT (UGent)

• Organisation: Sedimentary Geology and

Engineering Geology (SGIG)

(Prof. Dr. V. Cnudde)

CT research in geological

applications

Radiation Physics (RP)

(Prof. Dr. L. Van Hoorebeke)

X-ray tomography research

scanner development

Software development

UGCT

Centre for X-ray

Tomography

Woodlab

(Prof. Dr. J. Van Acker)

CT research in wood

applications

Provides UGCT expertise and

hardware/software tools to

other scientists for academic

research purposes

Consultancy on and

design of custom X-

ray imaging hardware

Commercial CT

services based on

UGCT expertise and

hardware

Octopus software

UGCT (UGent)

• UGCT:

– 3 flexible micro/nano-CT scanners for fundamental and applied

research on and with CT

– 2 spin-offs:

• inCT (http://www.inct.be): provides CT services using UGCT tools

• XRE (http://www.xre.be): provides CT hardware consultancy and design

using UGCT tools

• Radiation Physics:

– Modular CT scanner design, construction and operation

– Reconstruction software development: Octopus

– 3D Morphological analysis software development: Morpho+

– Staff:1 professor, 2 post-docs, 4 PhD students and 1 operator

– Joint application-driven research

UA

• Department of Physics

– Vision Lab

• Tasks in the project

– Development of quantitative reconstruction methods for CT (2D

to 3D)

– Optimal design of CT measurements for specific objects

– Tomographic analysis of 3D CT images

– Real time reconstruction of CT images

ILVO

• Instituut voor Landbouw- en Visserijonderzoek

– Food Technology unit

– Flanders’ FOOD – ILVO Food Pilot

• Tasks in the project

– Develop and distribute food models

– Effects of food processing and formulation on food

microstructure (diary products)

– Effects of microstructure stability of aerated products (foams,

mousses)

– In package analysis of food microstructure (UHT-milk in

TetraPak)

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• Technologische apparatuur:

• Semi-industriële installaties voor de voedingsindustrie

• Technologisch en wetenschappelijk personeel:

• Bediening van apparatuur en wetenschappelijke begeleiding

• Ervaring met onderzoek op pilootschaal:

• Zuivelonderzoek

• Infrastructuur:

• Nutsvoorzieningen

• Opslag voor producten

Flanders’ FOOD - ILVO-T&V: Food Pilot

31

• Open karakter:

• Food, feed, non-food (vb.: (para)farmceutische sector)

• Volledige agro-food sector

• Samenwerking met:

• ILVO als kenniscentrum en gebruik van aanwezige

laboratoriumcapaciteit

• Complementariteit met andere Vlaamse instellingen:

• Samenwerking met VITO, universiteiten en hogescholen

• Mogelijkheid tot opleidingen: nadruk op productkennis

• Universiteiten, hogescholen, IPV, VDAB

• Flexibele apparatuur:

• Volledige productielijn simuleren

Flanders’ FOOD – ILVO-T&V

Doelstellingen Food Pilot

KHK

• Kempen University College

– Lab4Food

• Tasks in the project

– Mechanical properties of microstructured foods

– Development of sensors and instruments for mechanical

characterisation of structured foods

– Stability and shelf life of bakery products

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www.khk.be

Lab4Food • Research staff:

– 2 professors and 7 researchers (both permanent and temporary staff)

• Four research lines

– Texture, rheology and sensory analysis

• Relation between processing and functionality of food

• Development of new and improvement of existing rheological methods

– Shelf life and food preservation

• Combination strategies of mild preservation techniques

• Modified atmosphere packaging

– Legislation and food safety

– Nutritional research

• Development of foods for specific target groups

• Malnutrition of elderly people www.Lab4Food.be

www.khk.be

Lab4Food • Research strategy

– Both fundamental and applied research

– Preferably in close cooperation with food companies or other stakeholders

– Multidisciplinary approach, at the interface of several scientific disciplines

– Close cooperation with academic partners

• Typical projects in structure and rheology

– TETRA: Applicability of the Foodtexture Puff Device for rheological measurements of foodstuffs

– TETRA: Texture improvement of processed strawberries

– IWT scholarship: Optimisation of the cutting process of cheese by using FEM

– PWO: development of new breakfast recipes for demented elderly with dysphagia

www.Lab4Food.be

Flanders’ FOOD

• Flanders’ FOOD: the innovation platform for the food

industry and the entire food value chain

– Thematic interest: food quality, food safety, healthy food,

sensorial aspects and technology

• Tasks in the project

– Knowledge transfer

– Dissemination

– Stimulate open innovation and valorisation activities

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Flanders’ FOOD

Competentiepool van de Vlaamse Voedingsindustrie, opgericht in

2005

Innovatieplatform tussen voedingsindustrie, kenniscentra en

overheid

One stop (innovatie)shop voor alle bedrijven uit de voedselketen

Aantal leden: 265 (60%<50 werknemers)

Missie: competitiviteit van de voedingsbedrijven versterken door het

gericht stimuleren van innovatie

Flanders’ FOOD

Doelstellingen:

1. Kennisontwikkeling: opstarten van collectieve,

vraaggedreven en toepassingsgerichte onderzoeksprojecten (20 in

uitvoering met 216 bedrijfdeelnames)

2. Kennisverspreiding: via website, STW nieuwsbrief,

seminaries, opleidingen, workshops, publicaties, deelname aan

Europese projecten en individueel wetenschappelijk/technologisch

advies (via oa. Food Pilot, TD Heated Foods, Sensors For Food,

…)

Rode draad doorheen alle activiteiten en diensten:

valorisatie van kennis en onderzoeksresultaten

Invitation to SBO information meeting

• Friday 18 november 2011 14.00-17.00

• K.U.Leuven, Willem de Croylaan 42, Heverlee

• Room 1.19

• Meeting objectives

– Explain project idea to industrial companies

– Elaborate the project workplan to meet industrial goals

– Confirm interest from companies of target sectors

– Determine anticipated interactions with your company

– Elaborate valorisation plan dedicated to your company