Analysis of Continuous Sterilization Processes for Bingham Plastic Fluids in Laminar Flow

A model was developed to represent the continuous sterilization of Bingham plastic fluid foods for the laminar, isoviscous and nonisoviscous flow, with applications to design. The length of the heating and cooling sections as well as nutrient retention were numerically calculated for a required sterilization value. Thiamine and C. botulinum were considered for this purpose. There was a considerable difference between solutions obtained for isoviscous and nonisoviscous flow. Therefore, it would not be advisable to overlook the temperature effect on rheological fluid properties. Optimal nutrient retention was shown to occur for the smallest tube diameter studied.