Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Processes – Heating above ambient temperature
Patent
1995-08-30
1998-05-12
Yeung, George
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Processes
Heating above ambient temperature
99470, 422 38, 426407, A23L 300
Patent
active
057501742
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention relates to a process for the pasteurization of liquid contained in containers, such as beer in bottles or cans, in a tunnel pasteurizer comprising at least a pre-heating zone, a pre-pasteurization zone, a pasteurization zone and a cooling zone, each zone comprising a plurality of sprayers, containers being heated up and cooled down through spraying with water received in a plurality of separate receiving means, the containers in a cooling zone being sprayed with water received in a pre-heating zone. The invention also relates to a tunnel pasteurizer for carrying out such process.
A process as described in the preceding paragraph is disclosed in EP-A2-0 430 907, wherein liquid contained in containers, such as beer in bottles or cans, is passed through a tunnel pasteurizer at constant speed, and pasteurized therein through heating up the containers and cooling them down again by means of spraying with water.
During a normal, continuous feed-through of containers, the liquid in the containers is first heated up in the pre-heating area to near the pasteurization temperature and is subsequently heated in the pre-pasteurization zone to the pasteurization temperature by spraying the containers with water received in that zone, which is heated up again to a temperature higher than the pasteurization temperature. In the pasteurization zone, the containers are sprayed with water recirculated in that zone, which water is maintained at a suitable pasteurization temperature. After having passed through the pasteurization zone, the containers are cooled again in the cooling area, the containers in the first cooling zone being sprayed with water received in the last pre-heating zone. The water received in the first cooling zone, which was used as spray water and has hence withdrawn heat from the containers, is in turn fed back again to the last pre-heating zone.
The known process has as a drawback that in particular starting up or, after a failure, restarting the pasteurization, requires much energy, while, moreover, during a failure in the feed-through of containers through the pasteurizer, much energy is lost. In addition, during the pasteurization, the normal, continuous feed-through of the containers requires much energy for pumping round the spray water and bringing it to a temperature and maintaining it at that temperature.
The object of the invention is to reduce the consumption of (cooling) water and energy in a process of the type described in the preamble while maintaining the good pasteurization properties of the known process.
To that end, according to the invention, it is proposed that during the normal, continuous feed-through of the containers through the pasteurizer, the supply of water to the sprayers in the pasteurization zone is prevented.
The measure proposed in accordance with the invention is primarily based on the insight that during the normal, continuous feed-through, the temperature of the containers and the liquid contained therein, after a suitable heating in the pre-pasteurization zone, remains sufficiently high in the pasteurization zone for pasteurization, even without spraying with water which has in fact the same temperature as the containers and in particular the liquid contained therein. This is due to the close packing of the containers, the low heat transfer between air and glass, tinplate and similar materials, and a suitable degree of air humidity and air temperature in the pasteurization zone.
As in the process according to the invention, spraying in the pasteurization zone can be omitted during the normal feed-through of the containers, less energy is required for heating up spray water than in the known process.
In terms of control engineering, this operating procedure has the further advantage that the liquid can leave the pre-pasteurization zone with an optimally adjustable pasteurization value by influencing only the temperature in the pre-pasteurization zone, because no spraying takes place in the pasteurization zone anymore.
Usually, the pasteurization value of
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patent: 4704958 (1987-11-01), Braymand
patent: 4849235 (1989-07-01), Braymand
patent: 4992247 (1991-02-01), Foti
patent: 5012727 (1991-05-01), Pesente
patent: 5310566 (1994-05-01), Baudendistel
Heineken Technical Services B.V.
Yeung George
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