Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
  • A23G—COCOA; COCOA PRODUCTS, e.g. CHOCOLATE; SUBSTITUTES FOR COCOA OR COCOA PRODUCTS; CONFECTIONERY; CHEWING GUM; ICE-CREAM; PREPARATION THEREOF
  • A23G1/00—Cocoa; Cocoa products, e.g. chocolate; Substitutes therefor
  • A23G1/0003—Processes of manufacture not relating to composition or compounding ingredients
  • A23G1/0006—Processes specially adapted for manufacture or treatment of cocoa or cocoa products
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
  • A23G—COCOA; COCOA PRODUCTS, e.g. CHOCOLATE; SUBSTITUTES FOR COCOA OR COCOA PRODUCTS; CONFECTIONERY; CHEWING GUM; ICE-CREAM; PREPARATION THEREOF
  • A23G1/00—Cocoa; Cocoa products, e.g. chocolate; Substitutes therefor
  • A23G1/0003—Processes of manufacture not relating to composition or compounding ingredients
  • A23G1/0046—Processes for conditioning chocolate masses for moulding
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
  • A23G—COCOA; COCOA PRODUCTS, e.g. CHOCOLATE; SUBSTITUTES FOR COCOA OR COCOA PRODUCTS; CONFECTIONERY; CHEWING GUM; ICE-CREAM; PREPARATION THEREOF
  • A23G1/00—Cocoa; Cocoa products, e.g. chocolate; Substitutes therefor
  • A23G1/04—Apparatus specially adapted for manufacture or treatment of cocoa or cocoa products
  • A23G1/18—Apparatus for conditioning chocolate masses for moulding
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
  • A23V—INDEXING SCHEME RELATING TO FOODS, FOODSTUFFS OR NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES AND LACTIC OR PROPIONIC ACID BACTERIA USED IN FOODSTUFFS OR FOOD PREPARATION
  • A23V2002/00—Food compositions, function of food ingredients or processes for food or foodstuffs

Definitions

• the present invention relates to chocolate production methods and apparatus.
• the present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for producing a chocolate product.
• the method includes delivering liquid chocolate having a viscosity through a pipe along a delivery path to a production station for producing the chocolate product.
• the liquid chocolate includes solid particles suspended within the liquid chocolate.
• the method changes the viscosity of the liquid chocolate by applying an electric field to the liquid chocolate in a direction along the del ivery path to aggregate the suspended solid particles into streamline shapes arranged in short chains extending along the direction of the delivery path.
• liquid chocolate used to manufacture chocolate products includes excess melted fat (e.g. cocoa butter) that is purposely added to the liquid chocolate in an attempt to lower the viscosity for manufacturing purposes.
• This excess melted fat is used because even at the chocolate melting temperature, the viscosity of liquid chocolate may be too high for manufacturing. Thus, an unhealthy amount of fat may be added to the liquid chocolate for the purposes of reducing the viscosity during manufacturing.
• Figure 1 is a graph depicting the relationship between shear stress and shear rate for liquid chocolate according to an embodiment of the present invention.
• Figure 2A is a side view of an electric field being applied to the liquid chocolate as it flows through a pipe according to an embodiment of the present invention.
• Figure 2B is a side view of an electric field being applied to the liquid chocolate as it flows through a pipe according to another embodiment of the present invention.
• Figure 2C is a side view of solid columns formed perpendicular to the flow of the liquid chocolate within the pipe according to an embodiment of the present invention.
• Figure 2D is a side view of chocolate product manufacturing equipment applying an electric field to the liquid chocolate according to an embodiment of the present invention.
• Figure 3A is a system diagram of a test bench utilized to measure the flow rate of the liquid chocolate as an electric field is applied according to an embodiment of the present invention .
• Figure 3B is a system diagram of another test bench utilized to measure the flow rate of the liquid chocolate as an electric field is applied according to an embodiment of the present invention.
• Figure 4A is a g raph depicting the flow rate versus time as an electric field is applied to the liquid chocolate in the test bench of Figure 3A according to an embodiment of the present invention.
• Figure 4B is a table depicting the electric field a pplication time versus strength as an electric field is applied to the liquid chocolate in the test bench of Figure 3B according to an embodiment of the present invention.
• Figure 4C is a g raph depicting the viscosity versus time as an electric field is applied to the liquid chocolate in the test bench of Figure 3B according to an embodiment of the present invention.
• Figure 4D is a g raph depicting the flow rate versus time as an electric field is applied to the liquid chocolate in the test bench of Figure 3B according to an embodiment of the present invention .
• Figure 4E is a graph depicting the viscosity versus time as an electric field is applied to the liquid chocolate in the test bench of Figure 3B according to an embodiment of the present invention.
• the present invention provides methods and systems for reducing the viscosity of liquid chocolate as it is flowing (e.g . through a metal or plastic pipe) or coating a product during production of a chocolate product.
• an electric field is applied along the direction of the flow of the liquid chocolate (e.g . along a direction of a delivery path through the pipe delivering liquid chocolate to a production station that produces chocolate products) at a specified strength and duration in order to aggregate solid particles suspended within the liquid chocolate.
• the size of the streamlined aggregates is controlled by the combination of electric field strength and duration.
• Liquid chocolate is a suspension comprised of solid particles (e.g. sugar particles, cocoa particles, milk particles, etc. ) suspended in a liquid that is typically melted fat (e.g . cocoa butter or an equivalent) .
• solid particles e.g. sugar particles, cocoa particles, milk particles, etc.
• liquid cocoa butter behaves as a Newtonian fluid.
• the shear stress of the liquid chocolate has pseudo plastic behavior. As shown in Figure 1, the relationship between the shear stress and the shear rate is close to exponential (i .e. it is not linear), and can be modeled by the Casson Model shown in equation 1 below.
• yield shear stress Two characteristics of liquid chocolate is yield shear stress and its viscosity.
• the value of the yield shear stress is related to the minimum energy required to start the chocolate flowing . If the yield shear stress is high, the chocolate will be thicker and tend to stand up, which may be beneficial for putting on sweets or in producing chocolate morsels for baked cookies, for example. A low yield shear stress may be beneficial to give a thin coating of chocolate over a biscuit, for example.
• viscosity is a measu re of resistance of a fluid which is being deformed by either shear or tensile stress. Viscosity determines the size of the pumps needed to pump the liquid chocolate through pipes and determines a coating thickness on a potential chocolate product. If a strong electric field is applied to liquid chocolate in a direction perpendicular to the shear or flow direction (see Figure 2C), then the yield stress and viscosity are increased . As chocolate flows from section 202 in pipe 206 towards section 204, the electrical field applied by electrodes 208 and 210 (e.g .
• an electric field is generated between the electrodes in a direction parallel or anti- parallel (i.e. along the delivery path) to the flow of the chocolate throug h pipe 206.
• the delivery path may be flowing from a vessel which holds the liquid chocolate, through the pipe, to a production station that produces chocolate products at a desired viscosity.
• Electrodes 208 and 210 are positioned within pipe 206.
• electrodes 208 and 210 may be metallic meshes (e.g. a pair of grates) that allows the chocolate to flow through the electrodes along the delivery direction of the pipe.
• electrodes 208 and 210 may be metallic rings, which are formed or mounted on the pipe's inner wall. Electrodes 208 and 210 may be electrically connected to an electrical power supply 212 that includes a power source and an electronic controller 232 for applying a voltage potential across electrodes 208 and 210, which results in an electric field between the electrodes.
• Electrodes 208 and 210 may also be coated with a non-conductive material (e.g. food grade plastic and/or rubber) to prevent the liquid chocolate from coming in direct contact with the electrodes. This coating may be useful in reducing electrical current flowing between the electrodes, and ensuring the integrity of the metallic electrodes over prolonged use.
• a non-conductive material e.g. food grade plastic and/or rubber
• the liquid chocolate flows through pipe 206, it has a relatively high viscosity in region 202, including 214. As it flows between electrodes 208 and 210, the solid particles suspended in the liquid chocolate begin to agglomerate into larger stream line aggregates resulting in a reduced viscosity in region 216 and 204.
• the aggregated chains in Figures 2A and 2B are different from the aggregated chains in Figure 2C, because the aggregated chains in Figures 2A and 2B are small and are arranged along the flow direction of the liquid chocolate.
• the flow of these streamlined particle aggregates becomes organized in short chains along the pipe direction, so that the apparent viscosity of the liquid chocolate is reduced.
• liquid chocolate on the left side of the pipe in Figure 2A and Figure 2B is agglomerated between electrodes 208 and 210 which produce a liquid chocolate on the right side of pipe 206 having reduced viscosity.
• the reduced viscosity may gradually increase back to the original viscosity value over a period of time after being exposed to the electrical field.
• liquid chocolate passes through electrodes 208 and 210 positioned in at least one of a plurality of locations within a delivery pipe (e.g . a metal or plastic vessel) during the manufacture of chocolate products (e.g. candy bars, etc.).
• An example of chocolate product manufacturing equipment is shown in Fig. 2D where liquid chocolate is pumped from tank 220, through pipe 206 (along delivery path 250) and is applied to candy 246, for example, using applicator 222 to produce a chocolate product 244 (e.g . a chocolate covered candy bar).
• Controller 232 controls an electrical power supply (internal the controller or external (not shown)) to generate and apply the same voltage (e.g. of a predetermined magnitude) or different voltages to the electrode pairs at locations 252 and 254 (via wires 224, 226, 228 and 230).
• the application of the voltages to the electrodes produces an electric field at a specified polarity along the flow direction (i.e. the delivery path 250) of the liquid chocolate, which changes the viscosity of the liquid chocolate.
• the magnitude of the voltages applied to the electrodes along with the spacing between the electrodes determines the strength of the electric field.
• the electric field may be a direct current (DC) or an alternating current (AC) electric field that is applied to the liquid chocolate.
• the metallic meshes or metallic rings may be of essentially any configuration that provides an electric field along the flow direction of the liquid chocolate while allowing the liquid chocolate to pass along a flow path between the electrodes.
• the applied electric field is selected to be in a strength range that is conducive to reducing the viscosity of the liquid chocolate. For example, if the electric field strength is too small, reduction in viscosity may be insignificant or may not occur at all. If the electric field strength is too large, the viscosity may actually be increased.
• the duration of the electric field is also chosen to be in a range that is conducive to reducing the viscosity of the liquid chocolate.
• an appropriate duration of the field application to the liquid chocolate may then be selected .
• This time duration may be related to the strength of electric field. For example, if the field is first selected to be strong, the duration may then be selected to be short.
• the electric field duration may be selected first, and then an appropriate electric field strength may be selected based on the duration. In general, by selecting an appropriate combination of electric field strength and electric field duration, an optimal viscosity reduction for liquid chocolate may be attained.
• controller 232 may be programmed or controlled by an operator to ensure that a predetermined viscosity of the liquid chocolate flowing through pipe 206 is obtained.
• controller 232 may be programmed to deliver liquid chocolate at a desired viscosity to applicator 222 to ensure that candy 246 on assembly line 242 are coated properly to produce desired chocolate products 244.
• These parameters along with other parameters such as temperature may be utilized by the controller 232 to determine an electric field strength and a duration to obtain a predetermined viscosity of the liquid chocolate that is beneficial for producing chocolate products such as a candy bar.
• a thicker chocolate may be desired while in other products, a thinner chocolate may be preferred.
• the viscosity of the liquid chocolate may be controlled depending on requirements of the chocolate products.
• Sensors such as flow rate and/or temperature sensors may be implemented in the pipe to determine the viscosity of the liquid chocolate at one or more locations during the manufacturing process.
• the electrical power being consumed by the pump may also be used as an indicator of flow rate and/or viscosity of the chocolate (i.e. high power consumption may indicate high viscosity).
• This data may then be utilized by the controller 232 to further control the electric field applied to electrodes 208 and 210.
• the liquid chocolate may be maintained below a predetermined viscosity level to ensu re proper functioning of the manufacturing equipment.
• control lines may include, but are not limited to, chocolate applicator line 234, conveyor belt line 236, operator interface line 237, pump line 238, sensor line 240 and/or valve line 241.
• the controller may control the production equipment by controlling the electric field applied to the liquid chocolate, pumps pumping the liquid chocolate through the pipe, applicators applying the liquid chocolate to the candy products, conveyor belts moving candy for application of liquid chocolate, heating devices heating the liquid chocolate, sensors for detecting various characteristics of the liquid chocolate (e.g. temperature, flow rate, viscosity, etc.), valves for allowing the liquid chocolate to flow through pipes and applicators, valves for mixing ingredients (e.g. melted fat) into the liquid chocolate and a user interfaces for interfacing (i.e. inputting and outputting information) to an operator,
• the controller may control the production equipment by controlling the electric field applied to the liquid chocolate, pumps pumping the liquid chocolate through the pipe, applicators applying the liquid chocolate to the candy products, conveyor belts moving candy for application of liquid chocolate, heating devices heating the liquid chocolate, sensors for detecting various characteristics of the liquid chocolate (e.g. temperature, flow rate, viscosity, etc.), valves for allowing the liquid chocolate to flow through pipes and applicators, valves for
• Figure 3A is a test bench setup that was utilized to test the viscosity of liquid chocolate in the presence of an electric field.
• a heating surface 306 maintains the chocolate in a liquid form.
• the liquid chocolate 308 is then forced through metallic meshes 310 and 312 by a weight 302 and piston 304.
• the liquid chocolate with low viscosity is then collected in a container 314.
• the flow rate is then measured by a computer 318 connected to a balance 316.
• the liquid chocolate is maintained around 40°C utilizing heating surface 306. Under gravity, the liquid chocolate flowed through the metallic meshes 310 and 312 which applied a predetermined electric field in the flow direction of the chocolate. The balance 316 measured the liquid chocolate's mass as a function of time. This allowed the flow rate through pipe 320 to be determined.
• Figure 4A shows a graph of the flow rate of the liquid chocolate (402, 404, 406, 408 and 410) versus time for the test bench in Figure 3A.
• the liquid chocolate first flowed down through the pipe without any electric field being applied.
• the flow rate was approximately 0.0106 g/s (see 402) indicating that the viscosity of the liquid chocolate is about 41.3 Pa.s.
• the flow rate was increased to 0.01798 g/s (see 404) which reduced the viscosity to 24.46 Pas. (i.e. a 41% decrease in viscosity after being exposed to the electric field).
• the liquid chocolate took approximately 1 minute to flow by the two electrodes and into container 314.
• Figure 3B is another test bench similar to the test bench in Figure 3A.
• the test bench in Figure 3B uses pressurized gas (not a weight) to force the liquid chocolate through pipe 320.
• the test bench in Figure 3B is located inside an incubator 328 to keep the chocolate at a desired temperature. Heating surface 306 is therefore not needed in this test bench.
• pressurized gas e.g., nitrogen
• computer 318 under control of computer 318 is applied to liquid chocolate 308 through pipe 322.
• liquid chocolate 308 is forced through electrified meshes 310/312, through tube 320 and into container 314 where its weight is measured by balance 316.
• the test bench in Figure 3B also may include a temperature sensor 326 that allows the computer to monitor the temperature of the liquid chocolate during the testing process.
• Figure 4B shows the relationship between the application time of the electric field and the optimal electric field strength for the test bench in Figure 3B.
• the strength of the electric field decreases (i.e., the longer it takes for the chocolate to flow through the electric field, the lower the electric field strength needs to be).
• This inverse relationship is shown in rows 412, 414, 416, 418, 420 and 422 of the table in Figure 4B.
• Figure 4C shows a graph of the viscosity of the liquid chocolate (424 and 426) versus time for the test bench in Figure 3B.
• a chocolate sample at 40°C took 9.37 seconds to flow through an electric field with a strength of 1838 V/cm.
• the viscosity was reduced from 43.23 Pa.s (see 424) to 29.53 Pa.s (see 426). This particular electric field application produced a 31.7% reduction in viscosity.
• FIGS 4D and 4E show graphs of flow rate (428, 430, 432, 434, 436, 438 and 440) and viscosity (442, 444, 446, 448, 450, 452 and 454) versus time respectively for the tempered chocolate.
• the flow rate was 0.477545 g/s (see 428) under 1.56 Psi of pressure.
• the electric field 1.2kV/cm was turned on, the flow rate increased to 0.584745 g/s (see 430) (an increase of 22.45%).
• the electric field was turned off and the corresponding flow rate was 0.465407 g/s (see 432).
• the flow rate was measured every 30 seconds thereafter. In about 180 seconds, the flow rate decreased to 0.33801 g/s (see 440) (reduced by 27.3%). This indicated that the tempered chocolate was solidifying.
• a suitable range for the electric field is from 100 V/cm to 6000V/cm, and works particularly well in the range of 500 V/cm to 800 V/cm for some types of chocolate (e.g. Milk Chocolate available from Hershey of Hershey Pennsylvania). If the electric field applied is too weak, there may be no noticeable viscosity reduction. On the other hand, if the applied electric field is too strong, the viscosity may actually increase. Because the liquid chocolate has a strong electrorheological effect (ER) the solid structure aggregates may become too large if exposed to an electrical field that is too strong, which would lead to increased viscosity (i.e. if the aggregates increase from micro-meter size to a larger macro-scopic size).
• ER electrorheological effect
• the duration of the electric field may be chosen based on the selected strength of the electric field (i.e. if the field is stronger, then the duration may be shortened) or visa versa. It is also noted that the duration of the electric field applied to liquid chocolate is equal to the time for the liquid chocolate to pass through the electric field. This duration can be changed if needed by adjusting the flow rate of the liquid chocolate (e.g. increasing/decreasing pump power), and/or by

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• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Food Science & Technology (AREA)
• Polymers & Plastics (AREA)
• Confectionery (AREA)

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• 2013
  • 2013-01-31 ES ES13743146.6T patent/ES2653711T3/es active Active
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