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Prevent melting while making frozen treats
Challenge Type: food science
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$1,000
top 10
62
submissions
DONE
113 months

Water ice products are manufactured via moulding and de-moulding process. Metal moulds are filled with a water ice liquid that consists of mainly sugar and thickener. The moulds are immersed in a brine bath (calcium chloride) at ca -40 degrees Celsius. After a few minutes inside the bath the water ice liquid is frozen to form a solid. The mould is then moved out of the brine bath and water is sprayed to the mould surface to melt a layer of the frozen solid adjacent to the mould surface. The water ice product is then removed from the mould and packed.

Without the melting of the product surface it is impossible to remove the product out of the mould as the frozen product forms strong adhesion with the metal surface that leads to breakage of the product. The melting process wastes energy and time in production. It also create hygienic and cross contamination issues as the melted product drips during demoulding and packaging.

Deliverables

Propose a written solution to eliminate the melting step in frozen treat making

Notes & Constraints:

- The processing time should not be dramatically increased

- You may include a sketch or mock up if it will be helpful in explaining your solution

- We are not interested considering the zero adhesion property delivered by cooling the mould to below -50 oC using liquid nitrogen as it is expensive and known.

- Alternative mould materials must consider thermo dynamic-ness vs. less adhesive (i.e. plastic may be better material but takes much longer to transfer heat for freezing/melting)

- The whole manufacturing process is continuous - constantly moving from moulds, through brine, etc.

- If you are submitting an idea that includes a hydrophobic material, make sure you include information on that material (a link to a study on it, etc.) and also that you account for potential contamination

    Submissions will be graded on the following criteria:
  • Meets Deliverables
  • Creativity
  • Clarity
Reward Tiers
5 Winners
will receive $150 each
5 Honorable Mentions
will receive $50 each
Leaderboard
$150.00 Prabhakar Pal Indian Institute of Technology - Bombay
$150.00 Tobie Sneeringer Pennsylvania State University
$150.00 James Calixto Cornell University
$150.00 Muhammad alma. University of Wisconsin - Stout
$150.00 Michael Sotiriou Suffolk County Community College
$50.00 Enrique Ivers California Polytechnic State University
$50.00 Joseph Illingworth University of Utah
$50.00 Jordon Jellicorse University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
$50.00 John Gamble Winthrop University
$50.00 Jackelyne Nguyen University of California at Berkeley
Submission questions


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