Uncertainty in thermal process calculations due to variability in first-order and Weibull kinetic parameters

Alternatives to first-order model of death kinetics of microorganisms have been proposed as improvements in the calculation of lethality for a thermal process. Although such models can potentially improve predictions for many situations, this article tries to answer the question of whether the added complexities of these models are a worthwhile investment once we include the effect of uncertainties in various microbiological and process parameters. Monte Carlo technique is used to include variability in kinetic parameters in lethality calculation for a number of heating processes, for both first-order and Weibull kinetics models. It is shown that uncertainties represented by coefficient of variation in kinetic parameters lead to a wide range of final log-reduction prediction. With the same percent variability in kinetic parameters, uncertainty in the final log reduction for Weibull kinetics was smaller or equal to that for first-order kinetics. Due to the large effect of variability in the input parameters on the final log reduction, the effort to move toward more accurate kinetic models needs to be weighed against inclusion of variability.