An investigation on pulsed electric fields technology using new treatment chamber design

A pulsed electric field (PEF) system was designed and constructed using modern IGBT technology. The main focus of this work was to design a new PEF treatment chamber that operate at high electric field intensities with limited increase in liquid temperature and limited fouling of electrodes. Four multi-pass treatment chambers were designed consisting of two stainless steel mesh electrodes in each chamber, with the treated fluid flowing through the openings of the mesh electrodes. The two electrodes are electrically isolated from each other by an insulator element designed to form a small orifice where most of the electric field is concentrated. Dielectric breakdown inside the chambers was prevented by removing the electrodes far from the narrow gap. The effect of PEF treatment on the inactivation of gram-negative Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 suspended in simulated milk ultra-filtrate (SMUF) of 100%, 66.67% and 50% w/w was investigated. Treatments with the same electrical input power but with higher electric field strengths provided larger degree of killing. The effect of PEF treatment using suspensions at different flow rates and different pulse frequencies was also investigated. In general, the inactivation rate of E. coli increased with increasing electric field strength, treatment time and processing temperature. More than 6 log reductions in E. coli suspended in SMUF was achieved using electric field intensity in the range of (37.2–49.6 kV/cm) with a treatment temperature not exceeding 38 °C.Industrial relevanceThis paper presents an innovative pulsed electric field system for non-thermal pasteurisation of liquid food. The system design provides uniform distribution of electric field and minimum fouling of electrodes. This PEF system can be scaled up to any industrial size, making it attractive for industrial applications.