FlowBite Suite: A Browser-Based Process Simulator Built for the Food Industry

Process design in the food industry has long relied on a patchwork of spreadsheets, legacy desktop software, and in-house calculation tools that rarely talk to each other. FlowBite Suite, developed by Food Technology Services, offers a different approach: a fully browser-based platform where food engineers, bioprocess scientists, and packaging specialists can design, simulate, and analyse their processes from a single environment — no installation required.

What Is FlowBite Suite?

FlowBite Suite is a collection of three integrated simulators, each targeting a distinct stage of food and ingredient manufacturing:

Module

Focus

Unit Operations

Key Capabilities

FlowBite

Food process engineering

15 (mixers, heat exchangers, evaporators, spray dryers, sterilisers, and more)

Mass & energy balances, microbial D/Z-value kinetics, Sankey diagrams, utility tracking

BioFlow

Fermentation & bioprocessing

32 (bioreactors, centrifuges, chromatography, membrane filtration, freeze dryers, and more)

Monod kinetics, TEA, LCA, Gantt scheduling, sensitivity analysis

PackBite

Packaging line design

22 machine types across 10 packaging formats

V-Curve OEE analysis, cost-per-pack calculator, material tracking, line CAPEX estimation

All three modules share the same drag-and-drop canvas interface, the same dark/light theme, and the same cloud-based save and export system. The suite is designed to grow with the user's needs.

Who Is It For?

FlowBite Suite serves professionals and students working across the food value chain. Process engineers at dairy companies use FlowBite to model milk powder lines — from pasteurisation through evaporation and spray drying — and validate that thermal treatments achieve the required microbial log reductions. Bioprocess engineers at ingredient companies and universities use BioFlow to design fermentation routes for precision fermentation products such as recombinant whey protein, bio-vanillin, or cultured meat, complete with techno-economic analysis that calculates the minimum product selling price (MPSP) and environmental footprint. Packaging engineers use PackBite to configure filling and sealing lines, compare heart machine options, and understand how line speed affects OEE and cost per pack.

The platform is equally relevant for R&D teams exploring new product concepts, engineering consultancies preparing feasibility studies, and university programmes teaching food process technology. Because it runs entirely in the browser, students or collaborators can access the same environment from any device.

What Sets It Apart?

Food-specific thermodynamics. The engine uses Choi & Okos (1986) correlations for food-specific properties — density, thermal conductivity, specific heat — as a function of composition and temperature. Combined with CoolProp-equivalent steam and water calculations, results reflect the behaviour of real food matrices rather than idealised chemical streams.

Integrated quality and safety models. Every thermal unit operation automatically calculates microbial inactivation using D/Z-value models and vitamin degradation using Arrhenius kinetics. Engineers do not need a separate spreadsheet to verify whether their pasteurisation or UHT process meets safety targets — the answer is embedded in the simulation.

Accessible by design. The entire suite runs in a standard web browser. There are no licence dongles, no IT approvals, and no compatibility issues between operating systems. Flowsheets can be saved to the cloud, exported as JSON, and results downloaded as CSV for further analysis.

A Typical Workflow

A user starts by dragging unit operations onto the canvas and connecting them with streams. Feed compositions are entered — proximate composition and microbial loads for FlowBite; substrate concentration and inoculum density for BioFlow. After clicking "Calculate," the engine solves the full mass and energy balance. Results appear in a structured panel with tabs for stream data, energy summaries, and utility consumption. In BioFlow, additional tabs cover TEA metrics such as NPV, IRR, and payback period. Sankey diagrams provide an immediate visual overview of mass and energy flows through the process.

Getting Started

FlowBite Suite is available at www.flowbite.nl. New users can sign in and request access; once approved, all three modules are available immediately. BioFlow ships with 30 ready-made templates — from baker's yeast and citric acid to monoclonal antibodies and cultured meat — so users can start exploring before building their own flowsheets.

For questions, partnerships, or academic licensing, reach out via the contact form on the website or visit Food Technology Services.