Small scale simulator for ice cream production

Research Lead, Development Opportunity

Scientists at France’s agricultural research institute Cemagref, have developed a small scale simulator the size of a yohurt carton, for simulating the complex hydrodynamic and thermal process that are involved in the production of ice cream. The simulator will assist in the design of new products.

In ice cream production, the starting liquid or semiliquid is placed in a heat exchanger, whose internal surface is scraped with the blades of a rotor. The liquid or semiliquid undergoes abrupt and rapid temperature changes and mechanical shearing that substantially modifies its form, particularly its viscosity. This cream is transformed from a liquid state, somewhat like concentrated milk, to a product whose texture is rigid.

The progression results from the progressive formation of a multitude of small ice crystals. However, the precise mechanisms remain poorly understood and controlled, presenting technological barrier to innovation in the industry.

Cemagref scientists studying these complex hydrodynamic and thermal processes have developed an experimental tool the size of a 100-ml yogurt pot, making it possible to simulate volumes greater than 500 liters an hour. This simulator can apply the temperature changes and mechanical shearing intensities that these products undergo in industrial equipment.

With the simulator, describing and predicting the changes in flow behaviour of products in extreme condition down to minus 40 degrees centrigrade is now possible, varying parameters such as duration, flow speed, pressure, temperature, scraping, and rotor speed.

The simulator makes it possible to test a large number of formulations in a short period of time, with obvious cost gains, in the search for new products with hitherto unknown properties.

This equipment was developed within the SIMPFRI (Sûreté, Innovation et Maîtrise de l’énergie dans les Procédés Frigorifiques) project, which was financed by the National Agency for Research (Agence Nationale pour la Recherche; ANR) within its National Project for Research on Nutrition and Human Foods (Projet National pour la recherche en Nutrition alimentation humaine), launched in 2005 by INRA.