Dynamic Mathematical Model to Optimize the Cooling Process in Hard Candies

MARÍA AGUSTINA REINHEIMER; SERGIO F. MUSSATI; NICOLÁS J. SCENNA

Santiago de Chile

Conferencia; 3rd International Conference on Continuous Optimization (ICCOPT' 2010); 2010

Centro de Modelamiento Matemático - UNiv, de Chile CNRS

This paper presents a mathematical model to determine optimal operating policies of the cooling process aiming to prevent product defects. From the quality point of view, previous simulation results showed that cooling air flow velocities, residence time in the cooling equiptment and the thermal conductivity of product have a strong influence on the number of decomised products as non-conforming. Certainly, high air velocities, especially at the beginning of the process, increase the product fragility for the wrapping stage. The most practical way of avoiding misshapen candies is by minimizing the difference of temperature between the centre and the surface on candy. Therefore, an optimization mathematical model is developed to determine the best operating policies which minimize the temperature difference during the cooling process. The resulting model is discretized using a second-order centered finite-difference method. GAMS modeling tool is used for its implementation. Numerical results are discussed through different study cases.