Coconut Sweetening Process Elizabeth Casey Justin Dillingham Mohd Hussain Brady Stewart BAE 4012 Fall 2005
Mission Statement Palm Tree Processing is a consulting group that strives to help family owned and operated food businesses achieve the highest quality food products available. 8/30/2017 2
About Griffin Food Company Founded in Muskogee, OK in 1908 by John T. Griffin Major products available Syrups Jellies and preserves Mustards Coconut flakes 8/30/2017 3
Coconut Flakes Popular confectionary product Enhances food properties Texture Flavor Visual appeal 8/30/2017 4
Problem Definition Consumers demand the longest length of coconut flakes possible Flake length of Griffin s coconut degrades during processing Before After 8/30/2017 5
Project Goals Pinpoint and quantify degradation Make recommendations to: Prevent flake length degradation Increase processing capacity Improve quality of work for employees 8/30/2017 6
Process Steps Delumping Conveyance to cooker Cooking and blending Tempering Packaging 8/30/2017 7
Delumping Clumps of coconut form during storage Delumper used to separate clumps Rotating spikes Employee designed and built 8/30/2017 8
Delumper 8/30/2017 9
Conveyance to Cooker Auger transports coconut from delumper to cooker Contained within PVC pipe Frequently clogs Limits processing speed 8/30/2017 10
Cooking and Blending Double ribbon agitation cooker Blends slurry, sugar and coconut Runs continuously during delumping and conveying 8/30/2017 11
Tempering Barrels store coconut overnight Allows for uniform moisture distribution Large clumps often form 8/30/2017 12
Packaging Barrels unloaded Extensive manual labor required Auger conveys coconut to packaging machine Frequently clogs 8/30/2017 13
Design Criteria Recipe may not change Production capacity must not decrease Simple transition from existing to improved process line Minimal cost 8/30/2017 14
Concept Development Quantifying coconut flake length Modified ASAE Standard S424 Image Analysis with MatLab Potential Solutions Proposal A Steam Injection Proposal B Replacement of Auger Conveyor Proposal C Replacement of Cooker 8/30/2017 15
Modified ASAE Standard S424 Sieves separate coconut flakes Average geometric mean length calculated using: X gm log 1 M i log X M i i X gm X i M i = = = geometric mean length geometric mean length of particles on i th screen mass on i th screen 8/30/2017 16
Image Analysis with MatLab Picture taken of coconut flake sample Average flake length calculated with MatLab Morphological Operations in Image Processing Package 8/30/2017 17
Results Average Flake Length (mm) 20 16 12 8 4 0 Average Length of Coconut Flakes Initial Delumper Auger Cooker Process Step Red V Phildesco 8/30/2017 18
Results Sample Phildesco % Degradation Red V % Degradation Initial - - Delumper 5.18 8.94 Auger 18.87 23.98 Cooker 10.62 30.41 8/30/2017 19
Proposal A Steam Injection Steam injected into bags of coconut to break up clumps Replaces delumping and conveying process steps Pros Less handling of coconut Cons May change coconut properties 8/30/2017 20
Proposal B Replacement of Auger Conveyor Pneumatic Conveyor Pressurized air moves coconut flakes Pros High capacity Minimal stress on product Cons High power requirement Bucket Conveyor Buckets carry coconut flakes Pros High capacity Gentle on product Cons Maintenance 8/30/2017 21
Proposal C Replacement of Cooker Replaces cooker with tumble blender Rotating chamber mixes ingredients Types of tumble blenders Slant-Cone V-Shaped Double-Cone 8/30/2017 22
Proposal C Tumble Blenders Slant-Cone Pros: Fast and uniform blending Cons: Requires large headspace V-Shaped Pros: Efficient blending Cons: Difficult to clean Double-Cone Pros: Minimal space requirements Cons: Longer blending time 8/30/2017 23
Spring Schedule Continued development of flake length measurement methods Further investigation of proposals Evaluation and testing of proposals Final recommendations 8/30/2017 24
Acknowledgements We would like to thank the following people for their help and support: Griffin Food Company Richard Hall Craig Duncan David Clary John Trammel BAE Faculty and Staff Dr. Paul Weckler Dr. Gerald Brusewitz Dr. Tim Bowser Dr. Glenn Brown Roshani Jayasekara 8/30/2017 25