A microwave and ohmic combination heater for uniform heating of liquid-particle food mixtures

Microwave and ohmic combination heating was proposed to improve the uniformity of thermal processing of particulate foods. Thermal patterns of a liquid-particle mixture in a small test cell were studied using both experimental and simulation approaches. Carrot cubes (10 mm × 10 mm × 10 mm) and 0.1% NaCl salt solution were used as model foods. The temperature distribution of solid and liquid phases was examined using individual and combination heating methods. Under ohmic heating, the liquid was heated faster by 18.9 °C after 250 s. The heating rate of a carrot cube was faster than liquid under microwave heating and temperature rise of carrot was approximately 11.2 °C higher than that of solution after heating of 70 s. Samples experienced different heating patterns over time during the combination heating. Carrot samples showed a thermal lead initially when heated under microwave and the trend reversed during the second stage when ohmic heating was applied. Liquid-particle temperature difference was reduced as the combination heating proceeded, and came to be less than 2 °C at the end. Results obtained from simulation showed similar patterns and all prediction data agreed well with the experimental data. The prediction errors for sample temperatures ranged from 5.7% to 11.6%. The results provided better understanding for designing a continuous flow combination heater that can produce uniform temperature of solid-liquid mixtures.

If successful, this combination heating technique will find its way to effective aseptic or sterile processing of low acid multiphase foods containing large particulates (such as soups with meatballs or vegetables) that has not been a commercial reality in the United States.