Observability analysis and state estimator proposal for the chocolate conching process

Abstract

The conching process is a crucial stage involving the development of sensory attributes and rheological properties of the final product. Currently, the monitoring of critical variables during this process is done off-line through extensive mea- surements with conventional methodologies based on laboratory analysis, e.g., the quantification of the concentration of the volatile active compounds of the flavor and aroma of a chocolate batch and its viscosity. All of them are related to an indicator for the chocolate sensory quality known as Conching Degree (CD). In this work, the observability analysis for a Phenomenological Based Model for the conching process is done as a first condition for the solution of a state estimation problem. Besides, the initial idea of a virtual sensor is proposed considering the available measurements from the conching process.