Process and article for determining the residence time of a food particle
First Claim
1. A process for determining the residence time of a plurality of food particles undergoing aseptic processing wherein each of the food particles is a constituent of a heterogeneous fluid, the heterogeneous fluid composed of at least the plurality of food particles and a fluid, the process comprising the steps of:
- substituting an analog for at least one of the plurality of food particles undergoing aseptic processing, the analog encompassing a signal generator, the analog of the at least one food particle having substantially the shape, size and rotational inertia of the food particle, the analog having a density within a range between the density of the heterogeneous fluid and the density of the at least one food particle;
placing the analog in the heterogeneous fluid undergoing aseptic processing;
heating the heterogeneous fluid to a predetermined temperature;
holding the heated heterogeneous fluid in a holding tube for a predetermined residence time; and
receiving a signal generated from the signal generator within the analog which is indicative of the residence time for the analog within the holding tube.
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Abstract
The article of the present invention is an analog of a particular object which has substantially the same size, shape and rotational inertia of the object while having the density of the medium of which the object is within. The analog encompasses a signal generator which may be used to analyze various properties of the object. More specifically, the article of the present invention is an analog of a food particulate undergoing aseptic processing wherein the food particulate is a constituent of a heterogeneous food such as soup or yogurt with fruit. The analog has substantially the same size, shape and rotational inertia of the actual food particulate while the article has the density of a fluid. The analog encompasses a signal generator which may be used to measure the residence time of the analog in a holding tube of an aseptic processing machine. The article also has the thermal conductivity of the food particulate. The process of the present invention determines the residence time of a food particulate undergoing aseptic processing wherein the food particulate is a constituent of a heterogeneous food such as soup or yogurt with fruit. The process uses the article of the present invention to generate a signal which is indicative of the residence time of the analog. The signal generator may be a magnet, and more particularly a samarium cobalt permanent magnet.
84 Citations
10 Claims
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1. A process for determining the residence time of a plurality of food particles undergoing aseptic processing wherein each of the food particles is a constituent of a heterogeneous fluid, the heterogeneous fluid composed of at least the plurality of food particles and a fluid, the process comprising the steps of:
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substituting an analog for at least one of the plurality of food particles undergoing aseptic processing, the analog encompassing a signal generator, the analog of the at least one food particle having substantially the shape, size and rotational inertia of the food particle, the analog having a density within a range between the density of the heterogeneous fluid and the density of the at least one food particle; placing the analog in the heterogeneous fluid undergoing aseptic processing; heating the heterogeneous fluid to a predetermined temperature; holding the heated heterogeneous fluid in a holding tube for a predetermined residence time; and receiving a signal generated from the signal generator within the analog which is indicative of the residence time for the analog within the holding tube. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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Specification