Principle of pasteurization essentially involves heating a fluid to a certain temperature for a specific period of time without allowing for re-contamination during the heat treatment process. Application of plate heat exchanger in food process.

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APPLICATIONS OF PLATE HEAT EXCHANGERS (PHE) IN FOOD PRODUCTION

Tuesday, Day 28/07/2026

The food processing industry produces dairy products such as milk, yogurt, ice cream, and ice cream; beer and distilled products such as malt, spirits, wine, and spirits; beverages such as juices, soft drinks, tea, and coffee; and processed fruits and vegetables such as purees, pastes, sauces, and jams. Among these, pasteurization is perhaps one of the most important processes. Microorganisms that cause food spoilage can be inactivated by applying heat at temperatures below the boiling point; this method is widely and effectively used in preserving milk and other foods.

The principle of pasteurization is essentially heating a fluid to a certain temperature for a specific period of time without allowing re-contamination during the heat treatment process. Controlling this process is crucial for both pasteurization efficiency (maintaining public health aspects) and the quality of the final product (flavor, aroma, texture, etc.). The degree of inactivation of pathogenic microorganisms depends on the combination of temperature and holding time, and needs to be carefully controlled.

Example, in the pasteurization process, milk must be kept at 72°C for at least 16 seconds. Continuous pasteurization is considered the most common method, in which PHEs (plate heat exchangers) are widely used. A typical process diagram is shown in the figure, which uses a large PHE consisting of three compartments with dividing frames. Cold raw milk at approximately 5°C is fed from the tank into the heat exchanger's recovery section (middle block). The milk is warmed to approximately 55 to 68°C by heat exchange with the stream of hot pasteurized milk from the right block. Then, the warm raw milk is continuously heated to at least 72°C in the right part of the heat exchanger by vacuum steam or hot water. The milk at pasteurization temperature then passes through a residence tube with a residence time of at least 16 seconds. The pasteurized milk then flows through the regeneration unit (middle section), where it transfers heat to the input raw milk and is cooled down to approximately 32–9°C. Finally, the milk passes through the cooling unit of the heat exchanger (left block), where it is cooled down to 5°C or lower with cold water, and then ready for packaging.

PHEs are widely used for pasteurizing milk due to outstanding factors such as: (1) PHEs can be easily opened and thoroughly cleaned, and with plates made of stainless steel, ensuring the maintenance of very strict hygiene requirements and (2) the high heat transfer coefficient created by their corrugated plate grooves allows for very close operating temperature differences (as low as 1°C). Furthermore, because the three components can be assembled into a single PHE, the overall heat exchanger is very compact, thus significantly reducing installation space requirements and offering a cost advantage compared to other types of heat exchangers.

Pasteurization is also required in many types of food and beverage processing, including fruit juices, tomato sauces, ice cream, whey, cream, beer, wine, etc., and PHEs are increasingly widely used in most systems. In addition, PHEs are now applied in many other food processing fields. Typical examples include heating and cooling in processing and fermentation, drying, blending, freezing, sterilization, as well as phase transfer (boiling/vaporization) in cooking, thickening, crystallization, and polymerization.

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