Espectrometría infrarroja con array de fotodetectores

Peer Reviewe

Control de calidad en la industria de la automoción

Peer Reviewe

Control de calidad en la industria de la automoción

Peer Reviewe

Design and implementation of an ultrasonic sensor for rapid monitoring of industrial malolactic fermentation of wines

Ultrasound is an emerging technology that can be applied to monitor food processes. However, ultrasonic techniques are usually limited to research activities within a laboratory environment and they are not extensively used in industrial processes. The aim of this paper is to describe a novel ultrasonic sensor designed to monitor physical–chemical changes that occur in wines stored in industrial tanks. Essentially, the sensor consists of an ultrasonic transducer in contact with a buffer rod, mounted inside a stainless steel tube section. This structure allows the ultrasonic sensor to be directly installed in stainless steel tanks of an industrial plant. The operating principle of this design is based on the measurement of ultrasonic velocity of propagation. To test its proper operation, the sensor has been used to measure changes of concentration in aqueous samples and to monitor the progress of a malolactic fermentation of red wines in various commercial wineries. Results show the feasibility of using this sensor for monitoring malolactic fermentations in red wines placed in industrial tanks.Postprint (author's final draft

Quartz crystal microbalance holder design for on-line sensing in liquid applications

In this paper, the design of a QCM sensor for liquid media measurements in vertical position is described. A rugged and low-cost proof holder has been designed, the cost of which is significantly lower than those of traditional commercial holders. The crystal is not replaceable but it can be easily cleaned. Its small volume permits to be used by dipping it in the liquid with the desired location and orientation. The developed design has been experimentally validated by measuring changes in the resonance frequency and resistance of the QCM sensor immersed vertically in different calibrated aqueous glycerol solutions. The obtained results show a great agreement with the Kanazawa theoretical expression. Consequently, the designed QCM sensor would be appropriate for sensing applications in liquids, and might take part of a future on-line multichannel low-cost QCM-based measurement system.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Multichannel QCM-based system for continuous monitoring of bacterial biofilm growth

© 2020 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes,creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.Quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensors are becoming a good alternative to analytical methods for the measurement of bacterial growth in liquid media culture. For this purpose, two essential resonance parameters allow monitoring of biofilm formation: the series resonance frequency shift and the change of the resistance at this frequency. Nevertheless, several problems arise in determining these parameters, as their relative variation is very small. This means that an accurate procedure must be implemented for the measurement of the QCM resonance parameters, including the automatic calibration of the frequency response effects of the measurement circuits and the automatic compensation of the static electrical capacitance of the QCM. In this paper, a novel multichannel system for on-line monitoring of biofilm formation based on QCM sensors is proposed. QCM resonance parameters are determined from the electrical impedance analysis by means of an auto-balanced impedance bridge. This configuration has allowed the implementation of an affordable multichannel measurement instrument. Obtained results, based on binary mixtures of water-glycerol measurements and real microorganism experiments, are in good agreement with the theoretical behaviour. These results show the great potential of this instrument to be used for monitoring microbial growth and biofilm formation.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Temperature compensation of ultrasonic velocity during the malolactic fermentation process

Ultrasonic properties of materials present a strong dependence on temperature and in turn the ultrasonic velocity of propagation in the material under test. It is precisely for this reason that most ultrasonic measurements are often carried out with thermostated samples by using either water tanks or climate chambers. This approach is viable in a laboratory and when the measured or characterized samples are relatively small. However, this procedure is highly improbable to be applied when in situ measurements in industrial environments must be performed. This goes for the case of, for example, ultrasonic velocity measurements in wine while it is performing malolactic fermentation inside a tank of hundreds of thousands of litres. In this paper two different practical approaches to temperature compensation are studied. Then, the two temperature compensation methods are applied to the measured ultrasonic velocity values along a whole malolactic fermentation process. The results of each method are discussed.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Los propósitos emprendedores de las personas estudiantes del grado en fisioterapia: caso del municipio de Osuna (Sevilla, España)

Diferentes investigaciones empíricas han evidenciado que el emprendimiento es clave para el crecimiento económico pues mejora de la competitividad y es fuente de nuevos yacimientos de empleo en los municipios. Esta investigación se propuso conocer las intenciones emprendedoras (IE) de las personas potenciales emprendedoras de un territorio determinado como es la localidad de Osuna (Andalucía, España), que cuenta con una población de 17.622 personas (2018) y presenta una tasa de paro del 19,02% (abril 2019), por lo que es una zona ávida de nuevas oportunidades de empleo, las cuales pueden venir desde las actuaciones del desarrollo local. La muestra respondió a las personas estudiantes universitarias de profesiones que se desarrollan principalmente por cuenta propia, así pues, se encuestó al alumnado del Grado en Fisioterapia del Centro Universitario de Osuna (centro adscrito a la Universidad de Sevilla). Se abarcó los cuatro cursos de la titulación (desde primero a cuarto) de un curso académico, planteando un cuestionario que se acogió a una Escala Likert de 1 a 5 (de menor a mayor). Como resultado se identificó las actitudes personales ante el emprendimiento (AE), el control del comportamiento percibido (CCP), la intención emprendedora (IE), las capacidades emprendedoras (CE), y las competencias transversales (CT). Además, hay que destacar la elevada norma social (NS) y evaluación social (ES) del entorno de las personas estudiantes sobre el emprendimiento (4,15). Los hallazgos ofrecen un camino para desarrollar programas de apoyo a la iniciativa empresarial territorial con el objetivo de potenciar la cultura emprendedora de Osuna, pues con ellos se podrá reducir la elevada tasa de desempleo, la despoblación de la zona y diferenciar la actividad productiva.Different empirical investigations have shown that entrepreneurship is key to economic growth because it improves competitiveness and is a source of new sources of employment in the municipalities. This research set out to find out the entrepreneurial intentions (IE) of potential entrepreneurs in a given territory such as the town of Osuna (Andalusia, Spain), which has a population of 17,622 people (2018) and has an unemployment rate of 19.02% (April 2019), making it an area eager for new employment opportunities, which can come from local development actions. The sample responded to university students of professions that are developed mainly on their own, so the students of the Degree in Physiotherapy of the University Center of Osuna (center attached to the University of Seville) were surveyed. The four courses of the degree (from first to fourth) of an academic year were covered, proposing a questionnaire that took a Likert Scale of 1 to 5 (from lowest to highest). As a result, personal attitudes towards entrepreneurship (AE), control of perceived behaviour (CCP), entrepreneurial intention (IE), entrepreneurial capacities (CE), and transversal competences (TC) were identified. In addition, it is necessary to emphasize the high social norm (NS) and social evaluation (ES) of the environment of the students on entrepreneurship (4,15). The findings offer a way to develop programs to support territorial entrepreneurship with the aim of strengthening the entrepreneurial culture of Osuna, as they can reduce the high rate of unemployment, depopulation of the area and differentiate the productive activity

Impact of the pandemic on the teaching and research staff at a technological university in Spain: deepening the gender gap

The alteration of the educational model caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has not affected all university faculty equally. This work explores the academic, digital and gender inequalities caused by the pandemic on the teaching and research staff of a technological university for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) disciplines in Spain, the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya—BarcelonaTech (UPC). The study considers an anonymous survey with a non-probabilistic voluntary sample (n = 355). The results of the survey reveal that, over these months, the teaching and research staff of the university, regardless of gender, has significantly increased its academic activity due especially to the number of hours devoted to virtual teaching compared to its teaching dedication in a situation of normalcy. This study shows that the lockdown has strongly affected women who are more vulnerable to crisis. In particular, the negative impact on research has been higher in female faculty staff from the UPC, who already face disparities regarding promotion and, during lockdown, stated more difficulties with household work reconciliation. From the results of this study, it is possible to conclude that the COVID-19 pandemic has deepened the gender gap in the academic field.Peer ReviewedObjectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::4 - Educació de QualitatObjectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::5 - Igualtat de GènereObjectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::10 - Reducció de les DesigualtatsObjectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::3 - Salut i BenestarPostprint (published version

SIMULACIÓN Y CONTROL DEL PROCESO DE MACERACIÓN DE UNA CERVECERÍA ARTESANAL

ResumenUno de los procesos involucrados en la fabricación de cerveza es la maceración. En éste, se mezcla el grano con agua caliente para obtener un líquido denominado mosto. La calidad y sabor de la cerveza depende directamente de la proporción de grano y agua empleados, así como de la temperatura de ésta última. En este artículo se describe la elaboración de un simulador del proceso de maceración de una cervecería artesanal. El objetivo de este sistema es el de facilitar la realización de pruebas a los algoritmos que se emplearán para controlar las variables del sistema real. A partir de las ecuaciones de balance de materia y energía del proceso, el simulador entrega a un Controlador Lógico Programable valores de temperatura, flujo y nivel.  El controlador a partir de la información recibida, y empleando algoritmos PID, genera las señales de control para las válvulas virtuales del simulador. El intercambio de datos entre el equipo de control y el simulador se realiza por medio de un servidor OPC. El sistema desarrollado ha permitido validar y ajustar los parámetros de control que se emplearán en el sistema real.Palabras Claves: Cervecería Artesanal, Control de Procesos, Controlador Lógico Programable, Interface Hombre Máquina, Simulación de Procesos. SIMULATION AND CONTROL OF THE MACERATION PROCESS OF AN ARTISAN BREWERYAbstractOne of the phases involved in brewing is the mashing process. In this, the grain is mixed with hot water to obtain a liquid called wort. The quality and taste of the beer depends directly on the proportion of grain and water used, as well as its temperature. In this paper a simulator of the mashing process of a craft brewery is presented. The objective of this system is to facilitate the testing of the algorithms that will be used to control the variables of the real system. From a mass and energy balance of the process, the simulator delivers to a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) temperature, flow and level values. Based on the information received, and using PID algorithms, the PLC generates the control signals for the virtual valves of the simulator. Data exchange between the control unit and the simulator is via an OPC Server. The developed system has allowed to validate and adjust the control parameters that will be used in the real systemKeywords: Craft Brewery, Human Machine Interface, Process Control, Process Simulation, Programmable Logic Controller