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 Nicola, 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 companys 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
2
5
0

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 mpixel 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)


30
Technologische apparatuur:
Semi-industrile 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
32
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
36
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