A Review on 3D Printing for Customized Food Fabrication

AbstractThis study introduces the first generation food printer concept designs and workable prototypes that target to revolutionize customized food fabrication by 3D printing (3DP). Different from robotics-based food manufacturing technologies designed to automate manual processes for mass production, 3D food printing integrates 3DP and digital gastronomy technique to manufacture food products with customization in shape, colour, flavor, texture and even nutrition. This introduces artistic capabilities to fine dining, and extend customization capabilities to industrial culinary sector.The selected prototypes are reviewed based on fabrication platforms and printing materials. A detailed discussion on specific 3DP technologies and their associate dispensing/printing process for 3D customized food fabrication are reported for single and multi-material applications. Eventually, impacts of food printing on personalized nutrition, on-demand food fabrication, food processing technologies and process design are reported. Their applications in domestic cooking or catering services can not only provide an engineering solution for customized food design and personalized nutrition control, but also a potential machine to reconfigure a customized food supply chain

Single-frequency upconverted laser generation by phase summation

The phase summation effect in sum-frequency mixing process is utilized to avoid a nonlinearity obstacle in the power scaling of single-frequency visible or ultraviolet lasers. Two single-frequency fundamental lasers are spectrally broadened by phase modulation to suppress stimulated Brillouin scattering in fiber amplifier and achieve higher power. After sum-frequency mixing in a nonlinear optical crystal, the upconverted laser returns to single frequency due to phase summation, when the phase modulations on two fundamental lasers have a similar amplitude but opposite sign. The method was experimentally proved in a Raman fiber amplifier-based laser system, which generated a power-scalable sideband-free single-frequency 590 nm laser. The proposal manifests the importance of phase operation in wave-mixing processes for precision laser technology

Artificial neural network modelling of the electrical conductivity property of recombined milk

This paper focuses on modelling the electrical conductivity of recombined milk by artificial neural network (ANN). It aims to establish a non-linear relationship that accounts for the effect of milk constituents (protein, lactose, and fat) and temperature on the electrical conductivity of recombined milk. Various ANNs of 3-layer and 4-layer were investigated. Compared with 3-layer ANN models, 4-layer ANN models provide better model performance. In addition, log-sigmoid transfer function is proved to perform more practically than tan-sigmoid transfer function. The best ANN model has a 4-4-4-1 structure with log-sigmoid transfer function. After being trained for 4.4×105 epochs by back-propagation, the model produced a correlation coefficient of 0.9937 between the actual electrical conductivity (actual EC) and the modelled electrical conductivity (modelled EC) and a SSE of 0.4864

Exponential tracking with disturbance attenuation (ETDA) by output feedback

10.1016/S0098-1354(02)00090-XComputers and Chemical Engineering2691231-1239CCEN

Light-Time-Biomass Response Model for Predicting the Growth of Choy Sum (Brassica rapa var. parachinensis) in Soil-Based LED-Constructed Indoor Plant Factory for Efficient Seedling Production

10.3389/fpls.2021.623682Frontiers in Plant Science1262368

Photonics in a Time of Rapid Growth: Silicon Based Optoelectronics in China

Silicon-based optoelectronics (SBO), combining the advantages of both microelectronics and optoelectronics, has entered a period of rapid development. Applications based on SBO have expanded from traditional communication field to other fields such as sensing, computing, and artificial intelligence. Although the SBO technology started relatively late in China, it has developed rapidly in recent years due to continuous investment and improved industrial structure. This article first reviews the early activities, and then, summarizes the current status of SBO in China. It provides a comprehensive analysis of academic and industrial advancements in recent years and discusses future development directions and main challenges

Impact of caramelization on the glass transition temperature of several caramelized sugars. Part II: Mathematical modeling

Further to part I of this study, this paper discusses mathematical modeling of the relationship between caramelization of several sugars including fructose, glucose, and sucrose and their glass transition temperatures (Tg). Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used for creating caramelized sugar samples and determining their glass transition temperatures (Tg). UV−vis absorbance measurement and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis were used for quantifying the extent of caramelization. Specifically, absorbances at 284 and 420 nm were obtained from UV−vis measurement, and the contents of sucrose, glucose, fructose, and 5-hydroxymethyl-furfural (HMF) in the caramelized sugars were obtained from HPLC measurements. Results from the UV and HPLC measurements were correlated with the Tg values measured by DSC. By using both linear and nonlinear regressions, two sets of mathematical models were developed for the prediction of Tg values of sugar caramels. The first set utilized information obtained from both UV−vis measurement and HPLC analysis, while the second set utilized only information from the UV−vis measurement, which is much easier to perform in practice. As a caramelization process is typically characterized by two stages, separate models were developed for each of the stages within a set. Furthermore, a third set of nonlinear equations were developed, serving as criteria to decide at which stage a caramelized sample is. The models were evaluated through a validation process

Impact of Caramelization on the Glass Transition Temperature of Several Caramelized Sugars. Part I: Chemical Analyses

This study aims to investigate the relationship between caramelization of several sugars including fructose, glucose, and sucrose and their glass transition temperature (T). Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used for creating caramelized sugar samples as well as determining their glass transition temperature, which was found to decrease first and then increase as the holding time at the highest temperature increased. The extent of caramelization was quantified by UV-vis absorbance measurement and high-performance liquid chromatography analysis. Results showed that the amount of small molecules from the degradation of sugar increased very fast at the beginning of heating, and this increase slowed down in the later stage of caramelization. On the other hand, there was a lag phase in the formation of large molecules from the degradation of sugar at the beginning of heating, followed by a fast increase in the later stage of caramelization. The obtained results clearly indicate the impact of melting condition on the T of sugars through formation of intermediates and end products of caramelization. Generally, when the heating condition is relatively mild, small molecules are formed first by decomposition of the sugar, which leads to a decrease of the overall T, and as the heating time becomes longer and/or the heating condition becomes more severe, polymerization takes over and more large molecules are formed, which results in an increase of the overall T. Mathematical modeling of the relationship will be presented as part II of the study in a separate paper

Process/model mismatch compensation for model-based controllers

Process model-based control algorithms that employ a process model directly in the controller, have been shown to produce good control performance and robust behaviour, despite process modelling errors. However, when the process/model mismatch is large, the closed-loop response, while still being better than responses obtained by conventional controllers, will be degraded. This paper presents a new approach to compensate for process/model mismatch errors, and is based upon the Generic Model Control (GMC) algorithm. This approach is applicable to both linear and nonlinear model-based algorithms. Simulation results are presented to illustrate the efficiency of the approach