Heating of liquid foods in cans: Effects of can geometry, orientation, and food rheology

Rituraj Borah (1, 2) , Sanjay Gupta (2) , Lubhani Mishra (2, 3) , Raj P Chhabra (2, 4)

1 UA - University of Antwerp
2 Department of Chemical Engineering [Kanpur]
3 Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University
4 IIT Ropar - Indian Institute of Technology Ropar

In this work, the effect of geometry and orientation of food cans on the heating characteristics of processed liquid foods and the resulting lethality target values as a function of the processing times have been investigated. For this purpose, the governing differential equations have been solved numerically for elliptical and cylindrical cans of varying aspect ratios in different orientations in order to delineate their effect on the heating rate (especially of the slowest heating zone [SHZ]) and lethality values over wide ranges of rheological features including shear thinning (n < 1), Newtonian (n = 1), and shear thickening (n > 1) behaviors. The flow and heat transfer characteristics were analyzed with the help of velocity vectors, isotherm contours, average Nusselt number, SHZ temperature and heat penetration parameters, and lethality target values. Also, comparisons were made in terms of the sterilization time and heat penetration parameters to identify the preferable geometries and orientations of food cans for effective heating of non-Newtonian foodstuffs. Finally, favorable conditions in terms of the shape and orientation of the can and the rheological properties have been delineated which lead to superior heating characteristics.

Mots clés: Sterilization time; Slowest Heating Zone; Power-law model; Heat penetration; Food can

Domaines: Ingénierie des aliments

Rituraj Borah, Sanjay Gupta, Lubhani Mishra, Raj P Chhabra. Heating of liquid foods in cans: Effects of can geometry, orientation, and food rheology. Journal of Food Process Engineering, 2020, 43 (7), pp.e13420. ⟨10.1111/jfpe.13420⟩. ⟨hal-03348104⟩