ECONOMICS (Eco-efficient and safe antifouling surfaces for milk and egg processing industries)

Abstract

ECONOMICS comes to answer the problem of fouling of heat exchanger surfaces by dairy and ovo-products, which constitutes a severe health risk.
The modification of the surface condition of the heat exchangers should allow to limit the fouling, but no satisfactory solution has been developed for the moment. The challenge of ECONOMICS is to develop surfaces and materials that are both food compatible, anti-fouling and resistant to cleaning procedures.
Three avenues are envisaged:
- functionalize stainless steel with low roughness and low surface energy coatings adhering to stainless steel
- replace stainless steel with hydrophobic carbon-based materials
- use the porous hydrophobic materials developed in the other two approaches to develop biomimetic "SLIPS" (Slippery Liquid Infused Porous Surface) surfaces with low contact angle hysteresis, which have a strong potential for anti-fouling applications.

Partners
Institut Chevreul
Institut d'Electronique, de Microélectronique et de Nanotechnologie (IEMN)
Institut Jean Lamour
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - Centre Rennes (INRA)
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - Unité Matériaux et Transformations (INRA-URAMET)
Laboratoire des Matériaux Céramiques et Procédés Associés (LMCPA)
Unité Matériaux et Transformations – UMET (leader)
Dates
From 04/01/2018 to 10/18/2021
Funding
571.420 € from the ANR
Website
https://anr.fr/Projet-ANR-17-CE08-0032
Contact
vanessa.fierro@univ-lorraine.fr