Extending Engineering Simulations to Scientists: Food Safety and Quality Prediction Using COMSOL Multiphysics® and LiveLink™ for Excel®

A. Warning[1], A. K. Datta[1]
[1]Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
Published in 2013

The objective of this study was to develop an easy to use interface in Excel® that connects to not only the solvers in COMSOL Multiphysics®, but also existing databases of food properties, foodborne pathogenic microorganisms kinetics, and chemical kinetics, creating a comprehensive simulation software to predict food safety and quality. The user interface allows the user to select the food, pathogen, and chemical name and then press a visual basic application (VBA) macro button that retrieves the food properties and kinetic equations for the user. Effective transport properties are automatically calculated for the user inside COMSOL. The extension of macros significantly improves the data retrieval process, instead of the laborious task of searching through databases for values and calculating transport properties.