Model-Based Settings of a Conveyorized Microwave Oven for Minced Beef Simultaneous Cooking and Pasteurization

A major drawback of microwave processing is the heterogeneity of treatment, which prevents from a plenty benefit of its flexibility and rapidity. Most of time, this operation is realized in continuous processes, composed of a series of microwave generators with adjustable power. In this paper is proposed a methodology leading to an optimal setting of these powers in order to warrant the expected microorganisms’ inactivation during simultaneous cooking and pasteurization, while preserving quality. It consists in minimizing a multicriteria formulation including hottest and coldest points on the first hand, and final logarithmic inactivation on the other one. The simulation model is composed of a reduction of the heat equation via a finite volume scheme with a source term deduced from appropriate closed-form solutions of the Maxwell's equations, whereas the non-isothermal inactivation is described by the Geeraerd model. The methodology is carried out by considering treatment of minced beef.