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Liquid food pasteurization by pulsed electric fields: dimensionless analysis via Sherwood number for a comprehensive understanding

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Abstract

Pasteurization of liquid foods by pulsed electric fields has been a subject of research for many years. The biological membranes are damaged by the process of electroporation, allowing leakage of internal compounds and possibly leading to subsequent cell lysis. This work is a continuation and extension of a former study that correlated biological inactivation with a modified Sherwood number. The Sherwood number is normally used to describe mass transfer under an electromotive force. In the present work, the Sherwood model was modified; the electric field intensity E was replaced by the specific energy W specif a more general parameter, particularly when the chamber design results in a non-constant electric field. To deal with particular parameters, the length of the treatment chamber was also introduced. Experimental results were compared with the results obtained via the new model we propose. In addition, the model was able to satisfactorily describe results previously published in the literature. The model proposed is thus suitable for describing microbial inactivation in various systems, according to the chamber geometry, hydraulic regimes, electric signal shapes and durations, and the types of microorganisms (yeast and rod bacteria).

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Abbreviations

a :

Microorganism radius (m)

A :

Electrode surface (m2)

C :

Light velocity (m s−1)

C, C′ :

Capacitance (F)

C specif :

Specific capacitance (F m−2)

d h :

Hydraulic diameter (m)

D :

Diffusivity coefficient (m2 s−1)

e :

Electrode gap (m)

E :

Electric field intensity (V m−1)

f :

Electric signal frequency (s−1)

J :

Current density (Å m−2)

h :

Height of an electrode (m)

L :

Length of an electrode (m)

l :

Width of an electrode (m)

N :

Total number of cells per unit volume (–)

n r :

Number of passes in the treatment chamber (–)

n total :

Total number of pulses (–)

\(Nu = 0.332\,Re^{1/2} Pr^{1/3}\) :

Nusselt number (for plate heat exchanger) (–)

\(Pr = \nu /k\) :

Prandtl number (–)

Q :

Flow rate (m3 s−1)

R :

Electrical resistance (Ω)

\(Re = \rho Ud_{\text{h}} /\mu\) :

Reynolds number (–)

S :

Cross-sectional area (m2)

\(Sc = \nu /D\) :

Schmidt number (–)

Sh :

Sherwood number (–)

Sh el = Jh/zFDc m :

Sherwood number, electric (–)

T :

Temperature (K)

t d :

Direct retention time (s)

t l :

Retention time in the loop (s)

U :

Mean flow velocity in the chamber (m s−1)

V :

Electrode voltage (V)

V M :

Transmembrane voltage at the microorganism poles (V)

v l :

Loop volume (m3)

v h :

Chamber volume (m3)

\(W_{\text{pulse}} = 0.5CV_{0}^{2}\) :

Pulse energy value (exponential decay signal) (J)

\(W_{\text{specif}} = W_{\text{pulse}} /v_{\text{h}}\) :

Specific energy value (J m−3)

η :

Magnetic permeability (H m−1)

α :

Multiplicative factor (–)

ρ :

Density (kg m−3)

σ :

Liquid conductivity (Ω−1 m−1)

µ :

Dynamic viscosity (Pa s)

ν :

Cinematic viscosity (m s−2)

\(\tau = RC\) :

Time constant (s)

in:

Inlet

out:

Outlet

0:

Initial value

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Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank Dr. Samo Mahnic for his help with the preparation of this work.

Conflict of interest

None.

Compliance with Ethics requirements

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Supercritical Process and Decontamination Laboratory, CEA/DEN, BP 17171, 30207, Bagnols sur Cèze, France

    L. Schrive, G. Lumia, F. Pujol & N. Boussetta

  2. EA 4297 TIMR, UTC/ESCOM, B.P. 20529-60205, Compiègne Cedex, France

    N. Boussetta

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  1. L. Schrive
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  2. G. Lumia
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  4. N. Boussetta
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Correspondence to L. Schrive.

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Schrive, L., Lumia, G., Pujol, F. et al. Liquid food pasteurization by pulsed electric fields: dimensionless analysis via Sherwood number for a comprehensive understanding. Eur Food Res Technol 239, 707–718 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00217-014-2268-y

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