Automated incoming control with advanced functionality for processing frozen meat raw materials on continuous process lines with application of single-stage grinding

Abstract

The article presents the functionality of the incoming control system (ICS) of raw materials (frozen blocks) processed on an automated line for production of meat products. The parameters of the cutting process of raw materials depending on its temperature and the effectiveness of procedures for recognizing foreign inclusions in the raw materials have been studied. It has been determined that the key controlled thermodynamic parameters for a frozen block are not only the temperature of the meat layer directly in the grinding zone, but also the temperature of the subsequent layers (a mathematical model of the temperature front propagation) that determine the change in the plastic properties of the grinded meat. The authors performed a mathematical calculation of heat transfer in a block of frozen meat in the process of its grinding and an approximate method for calculating the assessment of the heat of phase transition is offered. A cost-effective option was found (based on a neural network-classifier that considers the cost function) for detecting foreign inclusions in raw materials (when creating an ICS), which makes it possible to determine the block size that can be triggered without the risk of entering the specified inclusion into the grinding product.