Author:

Keywords:

thermal processing, canning, internal temperatures, modeling, inverse superposition, transient temperature, model, sterilization, retorts, Science & Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Food Science & Technology, TRANSIENT TEMPERATURE, MODEL, STERILIZATION, RETORTS, 0904 Chemical Engineering, 0908 Food Sciences, 1111 Nutrition and Dietetics, Food Science, 3006 Food sciences, 3210 Nutrition and dietetics

Abstract:

A procedure was developed for theoretical calculation of internal product temperatures during in-container sterilization of foods. Experimental product temperatures were determined through traditional heat penetration tests (processing in a retort with come-up time of increasing temperature and holding time at constant temperature). These were used to produce, through a proposed inverse superposition solution, a ''standardized,'' normalized, dimensionless product temperature curve corresponding to the response of product temperature to a constant retort temperature profile. This ''standardized'' curve was then used, through Duhamel's superposition theorem, to calculate product temperatures for time-varying retort temperature profiles. Limitations associated with the application of Duhamel's theorem were also transferred to the proposed methodology. Theoretical, for perfect mixing, and experimental, for conduction heating, data were used in example calculations.