ProteinProcessIO

ProteinProcessIO is a physics-based desktop simulation platform for plant protein fractionation. It couples three processing stages (RF dielectric pretreatment, hammer milling, and multi-stage air classification) into a single pipeline, letting researchers run virtual experiments that would be expensive, slow, or simply unobservable on physical equipment.

The platform was developed at McGill University in partnership with the National Research Council Canada, with concept work starting in 2023 and a public release in 2025. It emphasizes scientific validation, GPU-accelerated performance, and accessibility, and is offered free for research and academic use.

Coupled Multiphysics

The pretreatment stage solves a 9-step physics loop: RF field evaluation at 27.12 MHz, volumetric dielectric heating, thermal conduction, Fickian moisture diffusion with temperature-dependent coefficients, evaporation kinetics, latent-heat release, and moisture-dependent thermal conductivity via the Luikov model. Adaptive PLC control tracks electrode gap, belt speed, temperature, and arc events.

Energy-Based Comminution

The hammer mill uses calibrated selection and breakage functions with Rosin–Rammler daughter distributions, screen classification with (1-t)^4 passage taper, and real-time particle size distribution evolution. Thermal modeling of the 50 kg steel housing accounts for friction heating and convective cooling. Mass conservation is enforced throughout.

Lagrangian Air Classification

The classifier tracks particles through venturi, zigzag preclassifier, wheel (up to 3,000 RPM), and a three-stage cyclone system. Drag uses Schiller–Naumann for spherical particles and Haider–Levenspiel for non-spherical shapes. Gravity, buoyancy, inelastic wall collisions, bag-filter exhaust cleaning, and configurable bypass ratios are all modeled. GPU-accelerated solvers (NVIDIA Warp) deliver interactive performance.

Validation

Models are calibrated against NRC Canada experimental data (PLC logs, temperature measurements, NIR moisture analysis, and measured particle-size distributions), so simulation results track physical equipment closely.