PROCEDURE FOR OPTIMAL PROCESS DESIGN CONSIDERING QUALITY:

APPLICATION IN MOLASSES PRODUCTION

Abstract

Introduction:
Food process design has often been approached using methodologies developed for chemical process design. These particularities demand that the design engineer explore other alternatives focused on guaranteeing product quality. In Ecuadorian Amazon context, cane derivatives process is carried out in small artisanal units designed with insufficient technical criteria. This affects final product quality and
producers economy.
Objective:
To propose a procedure that, from the conceptual design, considers product quality. 
Materials and methods:
A procedure was used that considers product quality from the conceptual design, which consists of eleven activities and three decision-making. It is supported by GNU Octave software for process simulation and optimization using the objective function (FO) that maximizes the net present value (NPV) and as a novel aspect, the FO minimizes quality indicators variance.
Results and Discussion:
In the applied study case, the operational range was determined as: a pH of 3.63 to 4.16, °Brix from 75.12 to 76.73 and NPV fluctuates between 2 603 469.38 USD to 6 669 971.27 USD with a sigma level greater than three.
Conclusions:
Uncertainty of operational variables decrease increases product acceptability and this is reflected in optimal values obtained from the NPV and quality attributes.