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Method for heating or sterilizing a liquid stream

  • US 8,425,965 B2
  • Filed: 07/29/2009
  • Issued: 04/23/2013
  • Est. Priority Date: 07/29/2009
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. A method of sterilizing a liquid food product, comprising:

  • flowing a liquid food product to be sterilized through an input channel;

    flowing the food product through a heating channel that is fluidly coupled to the input channel, the heating channel including an actively heated zone wherein a heater provides thermal energy to the actively heated zone through a direct thermal coupling of the heater to the actively heated zone;

    flowing the food product through an output channel fluidly coupled to the heating channel, the output channel being adjacent the input channel, the input channels and the output channels are configured to induce liquid flow in the channel with a Reynolds number of less than 2000 with a boundary layer thickness that is greater than one-half the thickness of the channels, and the output channel, the input channel, and the heating channel all being integrated portions of a heat exchanger; and

    transferring heat between the output channel and the input channel, the input channel and the output channel each having a plate-like layout in which the width of the channel is at least ten times the thickness of the channel, the thickness of the channel extending between shared walls of the input channel and the output channel and the input channels alternate with the output channels in a side-to-side relationship with support elements within at least some of the input channels and output channels.

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