V. Zettel

Image analysis and mathematical modelling for the supervision of the dough fermentation process

The fermentation (proof) process of dough is one of the quality-determining steps in the production of baking goods. Beside the fluffiness, whose fundaments are built during fermentation, the flavour of the final product is influenced very much during this production stage. However, until now no on-line measurement system is available, which can supervise this important process step. In this investigation the potential of an image analysis system is evaluated, that enables the determination of the volume of fermented dough pieces. The camera is moving around the fermenting pieces and collects images from the objects by means of different angles (360° range). Using image analysis algorithms the volume increase of individual dough pieces is determined. Based on a detailed mathematical description of the volume increase, which based on the Bernoulli equation, carbon dioxide production rate of yeast cells and the diffusion processes of carbon dioxide, the fermentation process is supervised. Important process ...

A bootstrap-based method for optimal design of experiments

Bootstrapping can be used for the estimation of parameter variances, and it is straightforward to be implemented but computationally demanding compared with other methods for parameter error estimation. It is not bound to any restrictions such as the distribution of measurement errors. And because of the possible asymmetry of the probability densities of the parameters, the parameter estimation errors acquired by bootstrapping are likely to be more accurate.