ADCOSBIO project abstract
The acronym of the ADCOSBIO project stands for "ADvanced COntrol Systems for BIOprocesses in food industry".
The significant improvement of performance and quality of products in a vital economic domain represented by the food industry can be done by using modern monitoring and control techniques.
The project follows the recent research trends and it attempts to unify the team experience in order to apply the research results to bioprocesses in food industry, particularly to bread production and to related wastewater treatment processes.
Bioprocess modelling and control can be successfully achieved using interdisciplinary approaches from control engineering, biochemistry, applied mathematics and information technology. The bioprocesses are complex nonlinear systems, characterized by modelling uncertainties, interconnections, delays, and lack of cheap and reliable instrumentation. Taking into account the previous results obtained by the team in the field of applied automatic control, these interdisciplinary approaches will be used to develop advanced control systems that will be able to deal with the above mentioned specific problems of the bioprocesses.
Firstly, the project will develop advanced control techniques based on nonlinear algorithms (adaptive, predictive, sliding mode, neural, fuzzy, hybrid) for bioprocesses, in different control system structures.
Secondly, it will implement, test and validate these techniques on processes in food industry, primary at mills and bread factories.
Three main processes are envisaged: bread production, wheat grinding and flour processing, and wastewater treatment.
The main research objectives are:
- Analysis and modelling of processes in food industry;
- Development of novel estimation and identification techniques for bioprocesses;
- Design of advanced control techniques for three classes of bioprocesses;
- Implementation of advanced control systems for processes in food industry.
These objectives deal with several challenging topics, considered open problems by the Technical Committee on Biosystems & Bioprocesses of the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC). These scientific interdisciplinary problems can be investigated and can produce many original elements, and thus the Romanian research in the area can be highlighted.
The research product of the project will be a package of innovative procedures and technologies (algorithms, software and hardware) for bioprocess control, with direct applicability in food industry and wastewater treatment. The specific expected results are as follows: experimental models of fermentation and wastewater treatment bioprocesses, novel identification and estimation techniques (including software tools) for bioprocesses, innovative advanced control technologies, intelligent tuning algorithms for low-cost controllers, practical control solutions for industrial processes in food industry.
The ADCOSBIO project is conceived in order to apply these research results in a real industrial environment; by using new control technologies, the processes in food industry can be significantly improved in terms of performance and quality. The applicability of the obtained results can be extended with minor costs to related areas, such as other bioprocesses in food industry (alcoholic and lactic fermentation, synthesis of enzymes) and to various chemical processes.
The research consortium is composed of four partners: three research organizations (University of Craiova - coordinator, "Politehnica" University of Timisoara, University "Dunarea de Jos" of Galati) with well known national and international experience in scientific and research area, and one enterprise (SC Moara Calafatului SRL), the biggest mill and bread production enterprise in south-region of Dolj County. The research teams are multidisciplinary, with specialists in control engineering, information technology, electrical engineering, biotechnology, biochemical and agricultural engineering.
