Estimation of Kinetic Parameters for Nonisothermal Food Processes

This work deals with the hypothesis that kinetic parameters for nonisothermal processes can be reliably obtained using a 1‐step method. Parameters were estimated for 3 typical processes: (1) no residence time distribution (RTD), (2) first‐order reaction with RTD, and (3) n th‐order reaction with RTD. When nonisothermal processes were approximated isothermally, k and δ E were underestimated 80% to 3 orders of magnitude, and 30% to 1 order of magnitude, respectively. Reaction order was overestimated by up to 0.81. Therefore, accounting for thermal history and RTD is critical to obtain accurate estimates of kinetic parameters. The 1‐step method was also used to solve for equivalent isothermal temperatures and times for an arbitrary nonisothermal process.