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The economic impact of a new type of ripening chamber in traditional cheese manufacturing

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Bibliographic Details
Summary:A new prototype of a ripening chamber was proposed in the CFD4CHEESE project aiming to evaluate the application of computational fluid dynamics in the optimization of traditional cheeses ripening conditions. With the purpose of evaluating the possible impact on the energy cost of cheese ripening in three Portuguese regions (Setúbal, Évora, and Beja), we demonstrated the potential economic benefits of the prototype. The proposed automation process would imply higher productive efficiency, reducing the consumption of water and electricity. The simple consideration of the reduction of electricity costs is enough to recover the investment needed to have the new ripening chambers, meaning that the investment is economically viable. In addition to the economic impact in firms, which are mostly small and medium firms, our results also contribute to an increase on the sustainable use of natural resources.
Main Authors:Teixeira, Nuno
Other Authors:Ferreira, Paulo; Carvalho, Graça P.; Santos, Rute; Rodrigues, Francisco M.; Dias, João; Caeiro, José; Pires, Maria Clara; Martins, João
Subject:Cheese ripening Ripening chambers Impacto económico Redução e custos
Year:2020
Country:Portugal
Document type:article
Access type:open access
Associated institution:Instituto Politécnico de Beja
Language:English
Origin:Repositório Institucional do IPBeja
Description
Summary:A new prototype of a ripening chamber was proposed in the CFD4CHEESE project aiming to evaluate the application of computational fluid dynamics in the optimization of traditional cheeses ripening conditions. With the purpose of evaluating the possible impact on the energy cost of cheese ripening in three Portuguese regions (Setúbal, Évora, and Beja), we demonstrated the potential economic benefits of the prototype. The proposed automation process would imply higher productive efficiency, reducing the consumption of water and electricity. The simple consideration of the reduction of electricity costs is enough to recover the investment needed to have the new ripening chambers, meaning that the investment is economically viable. In addition to the economic impact in firms, which are mostly small and medium firms, our results also contribute to an increase on the sustainable use of natural resources.