JBT’s Sterideal Ohmic Heat Exchanger: Offering a Sustainable Alternative

Looking to improve your sustainability score while gaining better control over sterilization processes? For liquid foods companies in segments such as soups, sauces, fruit preparations and even aromatized water, sterilization is a vital part of the processing line, but far too often it can be energy-intensive and less than sustainable. JBT’s Sterideal® Ohmic Heat Exchanger offers a solution.

For food companies, the gaining of green certification makes financial sense and increasingly helps boost the value of a business. However, many traditional sterilization processes are anything but green. Little wonder then that many companies are looking to transition away from fossil fuel sources to greener alternatives.

Enabling sustainability

The Sterideal Ohmic Heat Exchanger can deliver a means of achieving these goals by making it easy to switch from steam-powered processes to the use of electricity produced by wind, solar or other environmentally-friendly sources, says JBT’s Research & Technology Centers Manager, Antonio Aldini.

“A number of major customers have told us that they want to stop burning oil by 2050, which means moving away from the use of steam-generated processes to using electricity from sustainable sources,” he explains. “Ohmic offers this option.”

Ohmic heating works by applying a high voltage to products inside a heat exchange unit. The liquid food reacts as an electric resistance and generates heat through the Joule effect. Ohmic systems are especially effective for diced foods as the whole product area is heated evenly, preventing overheating and preserving quality.

Cutting emissions

One segment where the Sterideal is proving effective is in the growing market for aromatized water. Produced in huge quantities, aromatized water can open up a range of inviting commercial opportunities, but the ‘natural’ branding typical of such products can be damaged by fossil fuel-reliant production processes.

By applying heat directly to a product, rather than relying on over-heated water or steam, the Sterideal also provides an effective solution for pasteurizing liquid eggs. Thanks to its precise heating, the Sterideal can deliver a safe product while avoiding coagulation and unwanted cooked egg clogging up tubes and piping.

“The Sterideal system brings together Ohmic heating with a conventional heat recovery system, offering a way of heating products without spending excessive amounts of money,” says Aldini. “Additionally, it offers customers the option of using electricity from a supplier or they can produce it themselves.”

The combination of the system offers what Aldini describes as a “zero emissions sterilizer”. “Because of the way the system runs, you don’t need any energy other than electricity, which can be regenerated, so it’s a circular system.”

The Sterideal® Ohmic Heat Exchanger is available for customer testing at the JBT Research Technology Center in Parma, Italy. Customers can test the technology on their products or applications with the support of Antonio and his team.JBT will be exhibiting at Anuga FoodTec 2024 in Hall 6.1, Stand D090-F119 from March 19-22, 2024 in Cologne, Germany.LEARN MORE about the JBT Sterideal® Ohmic Heat Exchanger