Alternative venting in steam retorts—An approach to energy savings in thermal processing

•Steam consumption for water venting vs. conventional venting were determined.•Water venting saves up to 50% steam with reference to conventional process.•Water venting higher temperatures yield lower steam consumption.

The venting operation in retorts operating under steam pressure is an important step in the sterilization process and it aims to steam flush the air from inside the equipment in order to ensure sterilization safety. This part of the process is short in time but intensive in steam consumption, and hence this study evaluated an alternative venting operation based on the use of water to displace the air, aimed at reducing this energy consumption. The objective was to evaluate the energy consumption in a steam retort loaded with thermally convective and conductive products, comparing the conventional and alternative venting processes. The steam flow rates showed that the alternative venting process reduced steam consumption by up to 50% as compared to conventional venting.