Strengthening of the Italian Research Infrastructure for Metrology and Open Access Data in support to the Agrifood
UNIPR3 – Food process control unit
(Reference person: Sara Rainieri)
The Food Process Control Unit operates within the Department of Engineering and Architecture, Industrial Engineering section. The research team of the OU has a consolidated experience in the design/control/simulation/validation of the equipment adopted for the efficient, safe and secure processing of foods. In particular, an extensive research work was developed by the OU on innovative techniques for enhancing thermal treatments of fluid foods, also addressing some typical problems of the food sector. The main topics on which the research group has gained a specific expertise are: passive and active innovative convection heat transfer enhancement techniques for application to the food industry, modeling and control of food thermal treatments, advanced experimental techniques for the monitoring of the local heat transfer performance of heat exchangers also accounting for the complexity of the rheological fluid behavior. In particular, important experience was developed on advanced solutions of the Inverse Heat Conduction Problem formulated by using as input data the temperature distribution acquired by means of high performance and in situ calibrated infrared thermographic control units. This expertise is essential for an optimal control, monitoring and design of the food transformation processes. The developing of advanced sensors for capturing not only local temperatures but also local velocity and other important local properties of the food matrix, is part of this context.
External surface of a corrugated helical tube used in the food sector to increase the heat exchange performance in heat exchangers
Temperature map of the external surface of a helical corrugated pipe obtained by infrared thermography
Sara Rainieri
Graduated summa cum laude in Physics (1993), PhD in Applied Physics (1997), University Researcher (1999), Associate Professor (2002) and Full Professor (2015) in Applied Physics at the Department of Engineering and Architecture of the University of Parma. At present, Vice-Rector for Education and Student Affairs at the same University. The research activity is focused mainly on heat transfer enhancement techniques, with particular attention to the problems of the food industry.
Benedetta Bottari
Graduated in Food Science and Technology at UNIPR in 2004, obtained a Doctorate in Food Science in 2010. University researcher until 2018, since then Associate Professor of Food Microbiology at the Dept. of Food Sciences Food and Drugs (UNIPR). Extensive experience in the field of microbiological analysis of food products and processes and in the study of the response of microorganisms to stress such as thermal stress.
Fabio Bozzoli
Graduated with honours in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Parma (2001). PhD in Industrial Engineering (2005), University Researcher (2005) then Associate Professor (2015) in Applied Physics at the Department of Engineering and Architecture, University of Parma. His research activity, both theoretical and experimental, is mainly focused on solving the problem of reverse thermal conduction and studying the physical phenomena governing the operating principles of pulsating heat pipes.
Luca Cattani
Graduated summa cum laude in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Parma (2011). PhD in Industrial Engineering (2015), Post-Doc Research Fellow (2015) and then University Researcher (2021) in Applied Physics at the Department of Engineering and Architecture of the University of Parma. The research activity, both theoretical and experimental, is focused on the convective heat transfer enhancement techniques mainly applied to the optimization of heat exchangers for food industry. At the same time, his research activity has been focused also on the study, the application, and the elaboration of inverse heat conduction problem solution techniques.
Luca Pagliarini
Graduated summa cum laude in Mechanical Engineering (2019), he has concluded the PhD course in Industrial Engineering in October 2022. He holds the position of research fellow at the University of Parma, dealing with heat transfer and fluid dynamics problems in two-phase systems through thermography and the Inverse Heat Conduction Problem resolution approach.
Pamela Vocale
Born in 1983, graduated in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Parma in 2007. In 2012 she received her Ph.D. in Applied Physics from the Department of Industrial Engineering of the same university. She currently holds the position of researcher in the same department. Her research activities addressed different topics: fluid-dynamics and heat transfer in microdevices; heat transfer in enhanced heat exchangers; energy efficiency of heating and cooling systems.
Matteo Malavasi
Employed as a technologist at the Dept. of Engineering and Architecture hired within the NPRR METROFOOD-IT project., he holds a degree in Food Science and Technology from UNIPR, qualified as a food technologist and completed the XXXV cycle PhD in Industrial Engineering in October 2022. Extensive experience in both the evaluation of hygienic aspects of food equipment and the optimisation of thermal processes for food industry.