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Advanced Characterisation of a Coffee Fermenting Tank by Multi-distributed Wireless Sensors: Spatial Interpolation and Phase Space Graphs

Food and Bioprocess Technology volume 7, pages 3166–3174 (2014)Cite this article

Abstract

The fermentation stage is considered to be one of the critical steps in coffee processing due to its impact on the final quality of the product. The objective of this work is to characterise the temperature gradients in a fermentation tank by multi-distributed, low-cost and autonomous wireless sensors (23 semi-passive TurboTag® radio-frequency identifier (RFID) temperature loggers). Spatial interpolation in polar coordinates and an innovative methodology based on phase space diagrams are used. A real coffee fermentation process was supervised in the Cauca region (Colombia) with sensors submerged directly in the fermenting mass, leading to a 4.6 °C temperature range within the fermentation process. Spatial interpolation shows a maximum instant radial temperature gradient of 0.1 °C/cm from the centre to the perimeter of the tank and a vertical temperature gradient of 0.25 °C/cm for sensors with equal polar coordinates. The combination of spatial interpolation and phase space graphs consistently enables the identification of five local behaviours during fermentation (hot and cold spots).

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the Spanish Government through the SMART-QC project (GL2008-05267-C03-03), UPM project CAFECOL (AL11-PID-30) and FRUTURA (109RT0383) International Net of CYTED. We also wish to thank the Technical University of Madrid and the International Campus of Excellence CEI Moncloa/UPM-UCM for their support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio de Propiedades Físicas y Tecnologías Avanzadas en Agroalimentación; Departamento de Ingeniería Rural, E.T.S.I. Agrónomos, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid-CEI Moncloa, Av. Complutense s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, 28040, Madrid, Spain

    E. C. Correa, T. Jiménez-Ariza, P. Barreiro, B. Diezma & M. Ruiz-Altisent

  2. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnologías Aplicadas a la Ingeniería Técnica Agrícola; E.U.I.T. Agrícola, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid-CEI Moncloa, Av. Complutense s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, 28040, Madrid, Spain

    E. C. Correa & V. Díaz-Barcos

  3. Supracafé, S.A. Torres Quevedo, 15-17. Polígono Industrial Prado de Regordoño, 28936, Móstoles, Madrid, Spain

    R. Oteros & C. Echeverri

  4. Grupo de Sistemas Complejos, ETSI Agrónomos, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid-CEI Moncloa, Av. Complutense s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, 28040, Madrid, Spain

    F. J. Arranz

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  1. E. C. Correa
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  2. T. Jiménez-Ariza
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  3. V. Díaz-Barcos
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  4. P. Barreiro
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  9. M. Ruiz-Altisent
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Correspondence to E. C. Correa.

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Correa, E.C., Jiménez-Ariza, T., Díaz-Barcos, V. et al. Advanced Characterisation of a Coffee Fermenting Tank by Multi-distributed Wireless Sensors: Spatial Interpolation and Phase Space Graphs. Food Bioprocess Technol 7, 3166–3174 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11947-014-1328-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11947-014-1328-4

Keywords

  • Temperature
  • WSN
  • Attractor
  • Control
  • Food quality
  • Dynamic behaviour