Responsible Center: NASA JSC
Grant Monitor: Woolford, Barbara
Center Contact: 218-483-3701 barbara.j.woolford@nasa.gov
Unique ID: 7487
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Solicitation / Funding Source: SBIR Phase II
Grant/Contract No.: NNX09CB05C
Project Type: GROUND
Flight Program:
TechPort: No |
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Task Description: |
This project is to develop versatile, low mass, energy efficient, and easily maintained multipurpose seed processing (MSP) equipment for food processing in space environments. Phase-1 of the project yielded a conceptual drawing for a MSP. Phase-II consists of six main tasks. The first model MSP will be manufactured, programmed and tested for ESM, function, and quality of processed product. The data will be used to refine the model and design multipurpose screws for the extrusion and press components of the MSP to simplify the equipment. Several models of MSP's will be fabricated and tested for versatility. The ESM crietia and functional parameters will be used to evaluate the optimum MSP for NASA applications and non-NASA applications. The final deliverables will be the test database, design drawings and the optimized MSP's for NASA and non-NASA applications.
POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS: The primary NASA aplication will be to perfrom a variety of food processing operations including size reduction, cooking, oil extraction, dehydration, stabilization, texturization, and expansion. This capability will lead to dry and shelf stable food products such as soy flour, textured soy protein, soy oil, breakfast cereals, expanded snacks, and pasta products. The proposed MSP will be unique in that the heat of processing will be generated internally by friction without dependence on an external heat source such as steam. The heat process will reduce microbial hazards in the space environment and also improve the stability of products by enzyme inactivation. |