The Research On The Key Technologies Of Pilot-phase Microwave Sterilization

Microwave sterilization has brought a new food processing technology which produces low-acid shelf-stable packed food with a longer shelf life, flavor and nutrition value, no chemical residues compared to traditional thermal sterilization methods. Microwave sterilization which as an emerging technology in recent years has been widely studied and applied. But there are many problems to be solved in the industrialization process of microwave sterilization. The experimental device of microwave sterilization basically met the technical requirements of food commercial sterilization, verified the advancement and the availability of microwave sterilization. However, there are still some disadvantages in the stage, such as the design of microwave resonator and water circulation system, the collection and analysis of experimental data. This paper discusses the key technologies of the pilot-phase microwave sterilization through theoretical analysis and computer simulation in order to provide some important basis for pilot-phase microwave sterilization system, which bases on the experimental device.Computer simulation which bases on the electromagnetic principle is established to analysis the coupled electromagnetic heating and conventional heat transfer. The electromagnetic field and temperature field distribution under different working conditions are studied by computer simulation model after simplification and assumption of the experimental system. The key parameters of pilot-phase microwave sterilization are obtained to provide the basis for the design of the pilot-phase microwave sterilization device.A designing scheme of pilot-phase microwave sterilization is confirmed on the basis of the experimental device, combined with the computer simulation results and the batch processing requirements of industrialized production at the same time. The original microwave resonator and water circulation system are optimized and improved in pilot-phase microwave sterilization.Useful results for the pilot-phase microwave sterilization are obtained through many experimental studies of the experimental microwave sterilization device. Analog food are tested and the temperature profile and the location of cold spots are determined through the use of computer graphics simulation system and the TrackSense Pro wireless data logging system. The design parameters of microwave sterilization device are constantly revised by the experimental results compared with computer simulation analysis.