Food Processing
Enhance productivity by exploring granular flow behavior — the foundation for optimal quality, capacity, safety, and efficiency. Rocky DEM’s accurate particle representation is the key.
Overview
Innovative food processing technologies rely on modeling for designing and optimizing operational parameters as well as regulating product quality and safety.
Rocky DEM supplements experiments and empirical models, providing input to mixing, coating, granulation, sorting, drying, and packaging processes — reducing development costs and shortening time to market.
Applications applications
Coating
Simulate real-scale equipment by using custom polyhedral, shell and fiber particles that model chip, nut, and candy coating/seasoning processes, including covering homogeneity.
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Polyhedral elements
Accurately predict dynamic bulk behavior. Polyhedron models eliminate artificially bumpy surfaces that can significantly affect particle dynamics.
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Collision statistics
Improve equipment design to reduce breakage via collision statistic data analysis.
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CFD-DEM coupling
Run coupled simulation during the coating process to account for convective heat transfer with hot/cold airflow.
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Liquid film modeling
Model liquid-film-spray injection and drying to evaluate coating homogeneity system-wide —all while accounting for liquid-bridge adhesion forces.
Mixing and blending
Rocky DEM accurate predicts mixing- and blending- equipment efficiency, enabling increased batch sizes, reduce blending times, and minimal segregation.
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Greater productivity
Optimize mixing-device design to reduce blending time and increase productivity.
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Upscale equipment
Apply DEM to evaluate the best upscaling strategy, from lab to commercial.
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Add complex motions
Simulate complex, combined-geometry motions using Rocky DEM’s fully integrated motion kernel.
Packaging process
Evaluate and improve packaging processes with custom-imported particle shapes that simulate unique scenarios, such as snack chips filling a bag.
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True physical representations
Perform virtual experiments on diverse product lines with real-life behavior results.
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Faster results
Advanced computing methods and multi-GPU capabilities provide faster and better results.
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Add complex motions
Simulate complex, combined-geometry motions using Rocky DEM’s fully integrated motion kernel.
Controlling Discharge
Rocky DEM simulates real-world bulk-flow regulation, helping to keep flow rates at levels appropriate to the process.
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Realistic particle shapes
Accurately predict bulk material dynamic behavior using polyhedral or shell particles.
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Improve hopper discharge
Evaluate discharge flow pattern to both eliminate stagnant zones and mitigate degrading-material problems.
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Evaluate feeders and valves
Optimize valve/feeder designs for uniform hopper drawdown.
Drying and Heat Exchange
Rocky DEM particle simulation accurately models both conductive and convective heat exchange — as well as drying processes — for bulk materials.
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CFD–DEM coupling
Rocky-Ansys Fluent coupled simulations enable analysis of convective heat transfer between particles and fluid.
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True physical representations
Increase simulation accuracy with realistic particle shapes that account for collisions and fluid forces.
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Multi-GPU processing
Leverage multi-GPU capabilities to handle huge cases with millions of particles.
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Liquid film modeling
Model liquid-film spray injection and drying processes to evaluate system-wide coating homogeneity — all while accounting for liquid-bridge adhesion forces.
WEBINAR
Designing More Efficient Food Processing Equipment
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Challenges in designing food processing equipment
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What is particle simulation?
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Food processing equipment examples, engineered and designed for compliance
