CFD ANALYSIS OF HEAT TRANSER AND MICROBIAL LETHALITY DURING PASTEURISATION OF INTACT EGGS

A Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis was conducted for thermal pasteurisation processes of intact eggs.
Calculated temperature profiles were found to be in good agreement with experimentally observed data for eggs of different sizes.
Comparison with experimental data demonstrated that convective currents in the yolk were negligible, while heat transfer in the eggwhite fraction was partly driven by natural convection.
A generally accepted kinetic inactivation model for Salmonella Enteritidis was incorporated in the CFD analysis and provided a basis for process assessment.
Minimum process times and temperatures to provide equivalent pasteurisation effectiveness at 5 log reductions of the target microorganism were obtained on a theoretical basis.
Combining a CFD analysis with inactivation kinetics proved to be a very useful approach for establishing process conditions leading to consumer safe eggs.

III International Symposium on Applications of Modelling as an Innovative Technology in the Agri-Food Chain; MODEL-IT

S. Denys, J.G. Pieters, KL Dewettinck

Computational Fluid Dynamics, thermal engineering, Salmonella lethality, unshelled eggs, food safety, process impact assessment

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2005.674.24