Position control of pneumatic actuators with PLC

Design and application of the robust and accurate position control for pneumatic cylinders based on the sliding-mode technique is presented by experimental investigations. The paper describes the model of the pneumatic cylinder and the three main design steps of the proposed control method. The aim of this paper is to investigate controlling pneumatic actuators using a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) instead of micro-controllers chips. As PLCs are now involved in most industrial processes

Development engineering of long-lasting pastries made with different types of honey

A condition of staying on the global market is the presence of various products, as well as the continuous development of the already existing ones. Honey is the longest known sweetener fit for human nutrition, the consumption of which - given its high carbohydrate content - provides a significant amount of energy, too. In our experiments we studied the modification of honey-sugar ratio in blossom, silk-grass and acacia-honey. On the basis of the sensory assessment/evaluation the following products proved to be of top quality: those with acacia-honey + silk-grass honey: 75% honey and 25% sugar; and those with acacia-honey: 50% honey and 50% sugar

Peritec technology to reduce fusarium toxin contamination in the milling technology

The fungi causing the infection and mycotoxins production are concentrated in the bran of the grain, thus the intensive surface cleaning, the so-called debranning operation could allow the reduction of contamination in the milling technology. The essence of the PeriTec technology - originally developed by SATAKE, a Japanese company, to clean rice - is that it gradually removes the bran layers of the grain by mechanical means before further processing. We carried out our experiments using a naturally contaminated wheat lot. We modelled the PeriTec technology with a laboratory size, batch-operating, horizontal debranning machine by SATAKE. Applying different treatment times we varied the rate of debranning. As for DON (deoxinivalenol) toxin contamination, a continuous decrease can be found by increasing the rate of debranning. The total Hour obtained during grinding the unpolished wheat contains 0.25 mg/kg toxin on average, which decreases to 0.11 mg/kg if we apply the highest, 40 sec polishing. Figure 4 shows the DON toxin content of all the obtained fractions. The toxin contamination of the wheat grains and the grinding fractions gradually decreased as a result of debranning. Very high toxin content of the removed parts of the husk indicates that toxin is concentrated in the outer husk layers. Although the DON content of the original wheat sample was relatively law (0.74 mg/kg), the DON content of the removed materials wa s about 4 mg/kg, which exceeds all statutory limits. During our work we focused mainly on the toxin contamination of the grains and their milling products, as well as on other characteristics that are important with regard to milling processing. As a result of debranning, the toxin content of the grinding fractions decreased, which justifies that that PeriTec method is suitable for the reduction of toxin contamination. On the basis of the experimental results, the optimum peeling was the peeling which resulted in a weight loss of about 6%. the toxin content significantly decreased (from 1,59 mg/kg to 0,94 mg/kg)

Flour quality and wheat kernel hardness connection

Wheat kernel hardness is a very important inheritable parameter; it determines quality, flour yield, flour particle-size, water absorption and other quality characteristics. Besides, kernel hardness has great effect on the resulting flour's baking properties, too (Békési, 2001). The relationship between wheat protein content and kernel texture is usually positive and kernel texture (hardness) influences the grinding energy. Hard Wheat grains require more grinding energy (eg) than Soft one (Véha, Gyimes 1999). The aim of our research was to determine the possible relationship between kernel hardness and various other parameters of the flour (dough visco-elastic characteristics, wet gluten, water absorption, flour recovery, alvcograph-traits). We used Pertcn SKCS 4100 to determine the kernel hardness, while the Pertcn 3303 mill was used to establish the grinding energy (eg). Registered and widely used Hungarian wheat varieties (7 of HRWW and 4 of SRWW) were examined. Twin correlations were used to determine the relationship among the various traits. According to the results, there is a very strong correlation between the cg and the kernel hardness (r=0.991). The correlations between hardness index and the examined flour parameters were also significant. We found strong correlation between the eg and water absorption of the flour. The associations found in this study will help to better understand the technological aspects of wheat and flour quality as well as provide useful information the breeders to develop new, high quality hard or soft wheat varieties

Development of matzo made of wholemeal rye flour and its implementation in the industry

In the baking industry, continuous development of products is required because consumers with different nutritional needs are pushing for new requirements for food. Along with the low caloric content, there is growing attention to the functional effects of foods. The aim of our work is the development of a matzo made of wholemeal rye flour, which helps in healthy nutrition for the customer’s and more economical from production’s point of view. The main aim of the product development in our project is to increase the nutrient content by the raise of mineral and fibre content. In the first part of our work we performed basic measurements with flours used during product development. We measured the quantity and quality of gluten protein with Glutomatic-Gluten Index System, the activity of amylase enzymes with Falling Number 1400 and we did complex dough monitoring with METEFÉM Valorigraphe FQA 205. In the second part of our project we compare the basic matzo with matzos made of 3 different recipes. Based on results of examinations it can be ascertain that the Sample 2 shows more advantageous values of the fibre content’s and the prime cost’s point of view

Sliding mode control of pam actuator in LabVIEW environment

As an important driver element, the pneumatic artificial muscle (PAM) is widely used in industrial applications for many automation purposes thanks to their variety of advantages. The design of a stable robust position controller for PAM is difficult since it is a very nonlinear time-variant controlled plant because of the compressibility of air, air mass flow rate through the valve, etc. The main contribution of this paper is a robust position control method based on sliding mode for pneumatic muscle actuator. Finally, it presents experimental results