The present disclosure provides methods and systems for mitigating finished product temperature transients caused by changes in product flow, raw product temperature, or other disturbances in an aseptic sterilization process. The methods and systems include applying an energy balance feedforward control scheme to the aseptic sterilization process to compensate for raw product temperature changes and changes in product flow. The methods and systems prevent damage to a finished product from occurring based on adverse transient temperature responses of heaters and coolers in an aseptic sterilization process.

An automated, unmanned continuous system (200) for packaging flowable food products at elevated temperatures and pressures includes an upstream thermal processing station (202) to heat the food products and direct the heated food products to a pressurized unmanned filling station (204), whereat containers (242) are filled with the heated food products within a pressurized housing (232), and then transported to a pressurized and unmanned sealing station (206) where the containers are sealed with a lid or cover (283) within a pressurized housing (282). Thereafter, the filled and sealed containers (242) are routed from the pressurized housing (282) through a pressurized transfer tube or passageway (208) for further processing at a downstream thermal processing station (210).

A receptacle for storing, pressurizing, and dispensing packaged beverages. The receptacle includes an airtight chamber with a removable lid, wherein the joint between the lid and the chamber is also airtight. A gas valve allows for the inflow and outflow of gas, and a tap port and tap stem allow the beverage to be dispensed without breaking the seal of the chamber. A pressure relief valve allows for more rapid depressurization. The chamber can be used at high and low pressures, such as a partial vacuum, to prevent oxidation of a number of open beverages, such as beers, wines, and sodas. A pressure gauge port coupled with an optional pressure gauge allows a user to verify the appropriate pressure for the type of beverage being preserved. The gas valve may be disposed on a base of the receptacle, as may the pressure relief and/or the pressure gauge port.

A food processing and/or packaging device comprises at least one food chamber. Via a conduit system, the at least one food chamber is connected to a vacuum pump for generating vacuum in the at least one food chamber. For sterilizing the conduit system and/or the food chamber, a sterilization device is provided. The sterilization device comprises e.g. spray nozzles for introducing cleaning liquid into the conduit system. The cleaning liquid is separated by a liquid separator arranged upstream of the vacuum pump in flow direction.

A device for controlling the temperature of foods along a conveying path includes a buffer unit arranged in a region between a loading station and an unloading station. The buffer unit has at least two deflecting rollers. A first deflecting roller engages, in a first portion of a conveying device, in a continuous conveying chain, continuous conveying belt, or the like, which moves from the loading station toward the unloading station when driven. A second deflecting roller engages, in a second portion of a conveying device, in the continuous conveying chain, continuous conveying belt, or the like, which moves from the unloading station toward the loading station when driven. The first drive unit is coupled in the region of the loading station and a second drive unit is coupled in the region of the unloading station to the continuous conveying chain, continuous conveying belt, or the like.

A food sterilization tube includes a layer including a fluoropolymer, wherein the fluoropolymer includes a copolymer of tetrafluoroethylene and perfluoropropyl vinyl ether (PFA), a fluorinated ethylene propylene copolymer (FEP), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), or combination thereof, wherein the fluoropolymer has a dielectric constant of less than 3 as measured by ASTM D150.

An electrode, a preparation method therefor, and uses thereof. Titanium or titanium alloy is used as a base material of the electrode, the outer surface of the base material is coated with a composite material coating, and the composite material coating is prepared by coating a composite material solution and carrying out drying and sintering. The composite material solution is a nanoscale solution formed by dissolving transition metal elements in ethanol. The nanoscale solution is an ethanol solution of the nanoscale transition metal with particles of the transition metal as solutes thereof. The transition metal elements are platinum, iridium, ruthenium, gold, cerium, rhodium, tantalum, manganese, nickel, palladium, yttrium, gadolinium, cobalt, europium, lanthanum, neodymium, zirconium and titanium, and the molar ratio of the transition metal elements platinum, iridium, ruthenium, gold, cerium, rhodium, tantalum, manganese, nickel, palladium, yttrium, gadolinium, cobalt, europium, lanthanum, neodymium, zirconium and titanium in the composite material solution is 5-15:23-34:14-21:1-7:9-17:3-12:15-27:3-6:2-9:10-23:15-27:2-8:15-30:3-12:4-14:1-10:6-15:20-50.

A system for irradiation of grain foods using one or more ultraviolet emitting sources is provided. The system includes an irradiation region in which the grain foods are irradiated by ultraviolet light. The system can include means for moving the grain foods through irradiation region, means for detecting the flow rate of the grain foods moving through irradiation region, and a control system for adjusting power provided to the ultraviolet emitting sources based on the flow rate of the grain foods.

A container-processing apparatus includes a pasteurizer with plural zones, and a transport element. The zones, which follow one another in a transport direction, include a preheating set, a cooling set, and pasteurizing set. The transport element moves containers through the sets, where they are subjected to a treatment medium at different treatment temperatures. Treatment temperatures in zones in the preheating set rise in steps from zone to zone. In the pasteurizing set, treatment temperature is maintained at or above pasteurizing temperature. In the cooling set, treatment temperatures decrease in steps zone to zone. The transport element transports containers in the pasteurizer at a changeable transport speed that is subject to continuous control.

An apparatus for maintaining the temperature of an article at a temperature that is below the ambient air temperature includes an enclosure having an outer wall that defines an interior chamber for holding a volume of sealed air. An insert is disposed inside of the chamber and has a body that is made of a porous graphite foam material. A vacuum pump penetrates the outer wall and fluidly connects the sealed air in the interior chamber with the ambient air outside of the enclosure. The temperatures of the insert and article is maintained at temperatures that are below the ambient air temperature when a volume of a liquid is wicked into the pores of the porous insert and the vacuum pump is activated to reduce the pressure of a volume of sealed air within the interior chamber to a pressure that is below the vapor pressure of the liquid.