title: Remote engineering for a cheese whey biorefinery: an Internet-based application for process design, economic analysis, monitoring, and control of multiple plant sites.
abstract: The proteolysis of cheese whey with the aid of immobilized enzymes is an attractive alternative for this by-product of the dairy industry. Among some possible applications for whey protein hydrolysates, one may cite their use as protein source for individuals with reduced capacity of digestion, or with genetic metabolic disorders (phenylketonuria patients, for instance). The multipurpose plant that processes whey is named here as a cheese whey biorefinery. This work presents the remote control and monitoring of the whey biorefineries using the Internet. In an integrated environment, the web application also enables simulation and economic analyses of the process. This technology might allow small companies to access a remote "engineering centre", with know-how on plant design and advanced control techniques. The idea can also be extended to large dairy companies, providing the remote control of geographically spread sites of production.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Development and Automation of Bioprocesses, LaDABio, Chemical Engineering Department, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, São Carlos, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Gilson A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Pinto
authors.forename: Raquel L C
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Giordano
authors.forename: Roberto C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Giordano
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D002611:Cheese; D003612:Dairying / Q000191:economics / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D004738:Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D004867:Equipment Design; D005524:Food Technology / Q000191:economics / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D020407:Internet; D007700:Kinetics; D008892:Milk / Q000378:metabolism; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D012984:Software; D013997:Time Factors; D014584:User-Computer Interface