Analysis of an alternative approach to the convencional venting process in still retorts

• Grant number: 07/05203-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: July 01, 2008
• End date: June 30, 2011
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Food Science and Technology - Food Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Alfredo de Almeida Vitali
• Grantee: Michele Nehemy Berteli
• Host Institution: Instituto de Tecnologia de Alimentos (ITAL). Agência Paulista de Tecnologia dos Agronegócios (APTA). Secretaria de Agricultura e Abastecimento (São Paulo - Estado). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Retorts that operate under steam pressure are the oldest equipment and still the most used in the industries that process food shrouded in metallic containers. The operation named venting is one of the phases of the sterilization process and has for purpose the total removal of the equipment interior air through its drags by injection of steam. The elimination of the air from the retort is fundamental for guarantee the uniformity and efficiency of the sterilization, since the presence of it can diminish drastically the efficiency of the heat transference process. It is estimated that the steam consumption in this phase is in the range of 30 to 80% of the total steam utilized in the sterilization process. Due to the constant crises in the world petrol sector and to the constant increasing of the oil price and its derived, the venting is more and more becoming a burdensome phase for the industries of the sector, generating need of alternative searches for the reduction of costs. Inside this context, this project has like objective to evaluate an alternative for the venting process of retorts with the low steam use. This study is going to analyze and evaluate the viability of the water utilization for displacement of the air in substitution to the conventional process with steam. Beyond the direct economy of the fuel utilized for the steam generation, being this fuel of renewable source (biomass) or not (oil, gases), this approach favors also another aspect of big environmental importance that is the reduction of greenhouse effect gases emission, beyond the reduction of noises, of humidity and of temperature, causing an increase of the comfort of the retorts rooms due to the noise and heat decrease emitted during the venting process with steam.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

BERTELI, M. N.; VITALI, A. A.; BERTO, M. I.; MARSAIOLI, JR., A.. Alternative venting in steam retorts-An approach to energy savings in thermal processing. CHEMICAL ENGINEERING AND PROCESSING, v. 70, p. 204-210, AUG 2013. (07/05203-6)