Final Report Summary - BREAD-GUARD (Development of a cost-efficient, precise and miniaturized sensor system for quality and performance control in baking processes)
Executive Summary:
In BreadGuard a consortium of 6 SMEs and 3 RTDs from 3 different countries across Europe worked on a Sensor System enabling the stearing of baking processes in a new and innovative way.
The BreadGuard Sensor Control System consists of two different sensors, an ultrasonic sensor and a nano-spectrometer sensor. Both systems have been developed separately, combined afterwards into a whole Sensor System with a corresponding software and integrated in a deck-oven (batch line) from MIWE. It was also supposed to be integrated in a tunnel-oven (continous line) from SCHENK, but could not be done due to the insolvency of Schenk in early 2016 and as well due to the later the suspension of the project.
During the lifte time of the project until the suspension the BreadGuard Consortium could successfully develop the hardware for the nano-spectrometer and the ultrasonic sensors (emitter and transmitter system). Also, the software to combine the two sensors has been developed successfully. The second part of the software developments concerned the connection of both sensors to the oven operating software to enable the automated control of the baking processes.
The ultrasonic sensor determines bread doneness by sending out ultrasonic waves at low frequency (ultrasonic transmitter) and measuring the amplitude of the received signal, both reflected by as well as penetrated through the bread.
The nanospectrometer monitors different process parameters during the baking process, i.e. the degree of browning, temperature and humidity. A light beam is omitted, passing the oven interior and finally hitting the sensor. The wavelength range is related to the process parameters and spans the visible (VIS) and near infrared (NIR) spectral range. The measurement procedure is performed in the ambient air of the oven (e.g. humidity) as well as on the surface of the product (e.g. degree of browning). The monitoring and control module obtains the specific data from the sensors and send output signals to adjust the humidity level as well as the temperature. Furthermore, the baking process ends in case a certain bread doneness has been detected. All data from each baking process (temperature/humidity curves, process time, etc.) are recorded and saved as part of the Quality Management System.
The sensors have partly been tested at lab scale level so far (without humidity tests) and should be tested at industrial level directly in the production and production lines of participating SMEs. At the end of the project, the BreadGuard Consortium intended to deliver an optimised BreadGuard Sensor System.
Project Context and Objectives:
Quality assurance plays a key role in the food industry. Current control of safety and quality characteristics in the bakery industry is carried out mainly by random sampling of the initial, intermediate and/or final products. However, this methodology does not allow immediate adjustments to the production process in case any negative quality features are detected and consequently large batches of non-conforming products often need to be disposed and a lot of resources (energy, water, ingredients) are wasted. Therefore, this project aimed at the development of an innovative and affordable quality and performance control system for baking processes based on nano-spectrometry and ultrasound measurements, allowing for continuous quality measurement and process adjustment. The complete BreadGuard system consists of two sensors and a corresponding soft-/hardware package. In combination, the BreadGuard System can measure during the baking process the doneness of crumb and pastry colour as key parameters of baked goods. Based on the data from the novel Sensor System, necessary adjustments of the baking program will be done automatically to improve the final product quality.
The first sensor is based on nano-spectrometry (Fabry-Pérot principle) and is supposed to measure the browning degree of the surface of baked goods. The changes of surface colour of the rolls during baking can be followed up in a certain selected area of wavelength by plotting the scattering intensity over the baking time.
The second sensor based on an ultrasound system is supposed to measure structural and mechanical propertie changes within the products like the density, porosity and mechanical strength. Investigations with the ultrasonic sensor lead to the result that the amplitude of the ultrasonic signal is most suitable to evaluate the changes in the dough during baking.
BreadGuard started at 01.12.2013 was suspended in month 30 effective from 17.05.2016 onwards. The kick-off meeting took place at ttz in Bremerhaven at 04./05.12.2013. The project was terminated by the EC effective on 27.03.2019.
To achieve this innovative and new sensor steared control system for baking processes, following scientific and technology objectives have been followed up step by step and in detail by the consortium.
More detailed information about the objectives, expected results and the extend they have been achieved at the time of suspension of the project can be found in the document attached.
Project Results:
In WP 1 the end-user and technical requirements regarding quality and performance control have been defined. To ensure a harmonized research framework, technical specifications sheets and standard operating procedures (SOP´s) have been developed. For testing the function of the nanospectrometer and ultrasonic sensor system later in the project, a laboratory sensor validation program has been defined.
In WP 2 the development of all components and sub-components of the nanospectrometer sensor based on the definitions and technical data sheets established in WP 1 have been carried out. The 1st generation prototype of the nanospectrometer has been developed and produced. Furthermore, a measurement setup under laboratory conditions has been build up. In a second step, the 2nd generation of the nanospectrometer has been fabricated. To complete this development k, many additional investiongations about possible expansion to further measurement parameters, iterative process optimizations and quality assurance were necessary.
In WP 3 a prototype ultrasonic sensor system consisting of ultrasonic transmitter and receivers which can assess doneness of bread products during the baking process on-line and in-situ has been developed. This prototype consists of ultrasonic transmitter and receivers which can assess doneness of bread products during the baking process on-line and in-situ. To be able to do this development, a knowledge base for data processing for later development of the required softwarehas been build up using literature data and practical baking test trials.
In WP 4 a hardware control and monitoring system based on the nanospectrometer and ultrasonic sensors was developed. A special software package to control the baking process and automatically adjust the humidity input and temperature to the optimal set-up has been designed. To offer an automated operation and user-friendly handling, the BreadGuard Control Unit was completed with a product recipe software for pre-defined products .
In WP 5 two functional oven prototypes were supposed to be produced, a deck-oven (batch system) and a baking line/tunnel oven (continuous system). Because of the insolvency of Partner Schenk in Febrauar 2016 (month 27) the tunnel oven could not be finished. Therefore, the BreadGuard Control Unit, consisting of the nanospectrometer and ultrasonic system, has been integrated into the MIWE deck-oven only. The foreseen functional tests in this work package have been done partially for the MIWE deck-oven. Concerning the application of the BreadGuard Control Unit in the MIWE deck-oven, a user manual had been elaborated in English and has been translated into Spanish and German.
In WP 6 a comprehensive laboratory characterisation and validation of the developed sensors and the entire developed Bread-Guard system was foreseen in order to optimise the control unit and to meet the end-user requirements identified in WP1. This work has been partly performed, i.e. only for the MIWE deck-oven because of the insolvency of Schenk al well as because the missing functionality of the nanospectrometer to measure the humidity which was still under development when the project was suspended. A complete laboratory characterisation was not possible until the project suspension. Thus, also the economic feasibility studies could not be performed.
In WP 7 the complete BreadGuard Control Units including the corresponding ovens were supposed to be tested at the SME bakeries. This goal could not be achieved due to the afore mentioned reasons.
In WP 8 project results were supposed to be introduced to stakeholders in the food industry through various activities (e.g. project website and flyers, publications, exhibitions at trade fairs, etc.) in order to facilitate later commercialization and exploitation of the Bread-Guard system. System component information has been disseminated. Additionally, an exploitation plan and a marketing concept have been developed to further boost the market entry of the Bread-Guard technology.
In WP 9 internal communication, troubleshooting and communication with the EC and Project Officer took place. This included the preparation of one amendment to the GA. The Consortium Agreement, two periodic reports and one final report have been prepared and submitted. Also, six consortium meetings and five technical meetings with the whole consortium or the main part of them have been organised in Spain, Switzerland and Germany.
A detailed description of the obtained results can be found in the attached document.
Potential Impact:
Bread-Guard aimed at the design and development of an innovative and low-cost quality and performance controlsystem for baking processes based on nano-spectrometry and ultrasound. Currently there is basically
no quality and performance control implemented in the baking step, which consequently leads to unnecessary energy consumption as well as to non-conforming products which need to be discarded.
The BreadGuard Consortium followed the higher-level objectives:
- The development of a affordable quality and performance control system as acombined sensor system (nano-spectrometer and ultrasonic sensor) for two different types of baking ovens (deck oven; tunnel oven)
- The ability to measure the humidity (20 % - 100 %),
- The ability to measure the temperature (up to 300 °C)
- The ability to determine the degree of browning as well as the doneness (porous status) of the dough inside the oven during the baking process.
Additionally, with the aid of the new Sensor System it was expected
- to reduce the overall energy consumption of the baking process of about 10 % and
- to reduce the discard rate by approximately 80 %.
As a deductive consequence, a general improved sensory quality of baked products was supposed to be achieved.
Furthermore, the new innovative Sensor System could have had an impact to increase the turnover of SMEs of about 5 – 7 per cent due to the reduction of discard.
The integration of nanospectrometers and ultrasonic sensors in bakery ovens would offer numerous advantages:
a) The sensors were expected to be comparably cheap and effective: the estimated cost per complete sensor system including the software were in the range of 2,850 Euros at the start of the project.
b) The technology could be integrated into existing baking equipment, the bakery does not have to buy new ovens, but can integrate the Bread-Guard system into its existing production line
c) The technology could measure different parameters (temperature, degree of browning, humidity, doneness) simultaneously, non-invasively and in real-time
d) The system could (equipped with the appropriate software) automatically adjust the baking process to achieve previously defined quality characteristics and abort the baking process when the products are determined to be done
A detailed report on dissemination activities can be found in the attached document. Due to the suspension of the project teh dissemination activities could not be performed as intended.
List of Websites:
www.breadguard.eu
In BreadGuard a consortium of 6 SMEs and 3 RTDs from 3 different countries across Europe worked on a Sensor System enabling the stearing of baking processes in a new and innovative way.
The BreadGuard Sensor Control System consists of two different sensors, an ultrasonic sensor and a nano-spectrometer sensor. Both systems have been developed separately, combined afterwards into a whole Sensor System with a corresponding software and integrated in a deck-oven (batch line) from MIWE. It was also supposed to be integrated in a tunnel-oven (continous line) from SCHENK, but could not be done due to the insolvency of Schenk in early 2016 and as well due to the later the suspension of the project.
During the lifte time of the project until the suspension the BreadGuard Consortium could successfully develop the hardware for the nano-spectrometer and the ultrasonic sensors (emitter and transmitter system). Also, the software to combine the two sensors has been developed successfully. The second part of the software developments concerned the connection of both sensors to the oven operating software to enable the automated control of the baking processes.
The ultrasonic sensor determines bread doneness by sending out ultrasonic waves at low frequency (ultrasonic transmitter) and measuring the amplitude of the received signal, both reflected by as well as penetrated through the bread.
The nanospectrometer monitors different process parameters during the baking process, i.e. the degree of browning, temperature and humidity. A light beam is omitted, passing the oven interior and finally hitting the sensor. The wavelength range is related to the process parameters and spans the visible (VIS) and near infrared (NIR) spectral range. The measurement procedure is performed in the ambient air of the oven (e.g. humidity) as well as on the surface of the product (e.g. degree of browning). The monitoring and control module obtains the specific data from the sensors and send output signals to adjust the humidity level as well as the temperature. Furthermore, the baking process ends in case a certain bread doneness has been detected. All data from each baking process (temperature/humidity curves, process time, etc.) are recorded and saved as part of the Quality Management System.
The sensors have partly been tested at lab scale level so far (without humidity tests) and should be tested at industrial level directly in the production and production lines of participating SMEs. At the end of the project, the BreadGuard Consortium intended to deliver an optimised BreadGuard Sensor System.
Project Context and Objectives:
Quality assurance plays a key role in the food industry. Current control of safety and quality characteristics in the bakery industry is carried out mainly by random sampling of the initial, intermediate and/or final products. However, this methodology does not allow immediate adjustments to the production process in case any negative quality features are detected and consequently large batches of non-conforming products often need to be disposed and a lot of resources (energy, water, ingredients) are wasted. Therefore, this project aimed at the development of an innovative and affordable quality and performance control system for baking processes based on nano-spectrometry and ultrasound measurements, allowing for continuous quality measurement and process adjustment. The complete BreadGuard system consists of two sensors and a corresponding soft-/hardware package. In combination, the BreadGuard System can measure during the baking process the doneness of crumb and pastry colour as key parameters of baked goods. Based on the data from the novel Sensor System, necessary adjustments of the baking program will be done automatically to improve the final product quality.
The first sensor is based on nano-spectrometry (Fabry-Pérot principle) and is supposed to measure the browning degree of the surface of baked goods. The changes of surface colour of the rolls during baking can be followed up in a certain selected area of wavelength by plotting the scattering intensity over the baking time.
The second sensor based on an ultrasound system is supposed to measure structural and mechanical propertie changes within the products like the density, porosity and mechanical strength. Investigations with the ultrasonic sensor lead to the result that the amplitude of the ultrasonic signal is most suitable to evaluate the changes in the dough during baking.
BreadGuard started at 01.12.2013 was suspended in month 30 effective from 17.05.2016 onwards. The kick-off meeting took place at ttz in Bremerhaven at 04./05.12.2013. The project was terminated by the EC effective on 27.03.2019.
To achieve this innovative and new sensor steared control system for baking processes, following scientific and technology objectives have been followed up step by step and in detail by the consortium.
More detailed information about the objectives, expected results and the extend they have been achieved at the time of suspension of the project can be found in the document attached.
Project Results:
In WP 1 the end-user and technical requirements regarding quality and performance control have been defined. To ensure a harmonized research framework, technical specifications sheets and standard operating procedures (SOP´s) have been developed. For testing the function of the nanospectrometer and ultrasonic sensor system later in the project, a laboratory sensor validation program has been defined.
In WP 2 the development of all components and sub-components of the nanospectrometer sensor based on the definitions and technical data sheets established in WP 1 have been carried out. The 1st generation prototype of the nanospectrometer has been developed and produced. Furthermore, a measurement setup under laboratory conditions has been build up. In a second step, the 2nd generation of the nanospectrometer has been fabricated. To complete this development k, many additional investiongations about possible expansion to further measurement parameters, iterative process optimizations and quality assurance were necessary.
In WP 3 a prototype ultrasonic sensor system consisting of ultrasonic transmitter and receivers which can assess doneness of bread products during the baking process on-line and in-situ has been developed. This prototype consists of ultrasonic transmitter and receivers which can assess doneness of bread products during the baking process on-line and in-situ. To be able to do this development, a knowledge base for data processing for later development of the required softwarehas been build up using literature data and practical baking test trials.
In WP 4 a hardware control and monitoring system based on the nanospectrometer and ultrasonic sensors was developed. A special software package to control the baking process and automatically adjust the humidity input and temperature to the optimal set-up has been designed. To offer an automated operation and user-friendly handling, the BreadGuard Control Unit was completed with a product recipe software for pre-defined products .
In WP 5 two functional oven prototypes were supposed to be produced, a deck-oven (batch system) and a baking line/tunnel oven (continuous system). Because of the insolvency of Partner Schenk in Febrauar 2016 (month 27) the tunnel oven could not be finished. Therefore, the BreadGuard Control Unit, consisting of the nanospectrometer and ultrasonic system, has been integrated into the MIWE deck-oven only. The foreseen functional tests in this work package have been done partially for the MIWE deck-oven. Concerning the application of the BreadGuard Control Unit in the MIWE deck-oven, a user manual had been elaborated in English and has been translated into Spanish and German.
In WP 6 a comprehensive laboratory characterisation and validation of the developed sensors and the entire developed Bread-Guard system was foreseen in order to optimise the control unit and to meet the end-user requirements identified in WP1. This work has been partly performed, i.e. only for the MIWE deck-oven because of the insolvency of Schenk al well as because the missing functionality of the nanospectrometer to measure the humidity which was still under development when the project was suspended. A complete laboratory characterisation was not possible until the project suspension. Thus, also the economic feasibility studies could not be performed.
In WP 7 the complete BreadGuard Control Units including the corresponding ovens were supposed to be tested at the SME bakeries. This goal could not be achieved due to the afore mentioned reasons.
In WP 8 project results were supposed to be introduced to stakeholders in the food industry through various activities (e.g. project website and flyers, publications, exhibitions at trade fairs, etc.) in order to facilitate later commercialization and exploitation of the Bread-Guard system. System component information has been disseminated. Additionally, an exploitation plan and a marketing concept have been developed to further boost the market entry of the Bread-Guard technology.
In WP 9 internal communication, troubleshooting and communication with the EC and Project Officer took place. This included the preparation of one amendment to the GA. The Consortium Agreement, two periodic reports and one final report have been prepared and submitted. Also, six consortium meetings and five technical meetings with the whole consortium or the main part of them have been organised in Spain, Switzerland and Germany.
A detailed description of the obtained results can be found in the attached document.
Potential Impact:
Bread-Guard aimed at the design and development of an innovative and low-cost quality and performance controlsystem for baking processes based on nano-spectrometry and ultrasound. Currently there is basically
no quality and performance control implemented in the baking step, which consequently leads to unnecessary energy consumption as well as to non-conforming products which need to be discarded.
The BreadGuard Consortium followed the higher-level objectives:
- The development of a affordable quality and performance control system as acombined sensor system (nano-spectrometer and ultrasonic sensor) for two different types of baking ovens (deck oven; tunnel oven)
- The ability to measure the humidity (20 % - 100 %),
- The ability to measure the temperature (up to 300 °C)
- The ability to determine the degree of browning as well as the doneness (porous status) of the dough inside the oven during the baking process.
Additionally, with the aid of the new Sensor System it was expected
- to reduce the overall energy consumption of the baking process of about 10 % and
- to reduce the discard rate by approximately 80 %.
As a deductive consequence, a general improved sensory quality of baked products was supposed to be achieved.
Furthermore, the new innovative Sensor System could have had an impact to increase the turnover of SMEs of about 5 – 7 per cent due to the reduction of discard.
The integration of nanospectrometers and ultrasonic sensors in bakery ovens would offer numerous advantages:
a) The sensors were expected to be comparably cheap and effective: the estimated cost per complete sensor system including the software were in the range of 2,850 Euros at the start of the project.
b) The technology could be integrated into existing baking equipment, the bakery does not have to buy new ovens, but can integrate the Bread-Guard system into its existing production line
c) The technology could measure different parameters (temperature, degree of browning, humidity, doneness) simultaneously, non-invasively and in real-time
d) The system could (equipped with the appropriate software) automatically adjust the baking process to achieve previously defined quality characteristics and abort the baking process when the products are determined to be done
A detailed report on dissemination activities can be found in the attached document. Due to the suspension of the project teh dissemination activities could not be performed as intended.
List of Websites:
www.breadguard.eu
