Numerical Simulation of a Non-linear Control of Pulsed Electrical Fields for Non-thermal Pasteurization

Several liquids and semi-liquid foods, such as eggs derivatives, milk derivatives, juices, beers, wines, and ice creams are thermally pasteurized. Pasteurization purposes to eliminate pathogenic bacteria that could cause spoilage of the product. Nevertheless, it is known that thermal pasteurization has effects on food’s nutrient composition, flavor, texture, and color. Non-thermal Pulsed Electrical Fields pasteurization is a promising process that can improve the pasteurization process and offer consumers micro-biologically safe, minimally processed, and fresh-like products. However, there are difficulties in imposing electric fields in non-homogeneous solutions, and treatment failure could cause food poisoning and even be lethal. This work achieves a sufficient hysteresis control system for the application of different high voltage waveforms in non-homogeneous loads through numerical simulation of a pasteurization system of orange juice using COMSOL and electronic simulation using PSIM. Due to the undefined characteristic of the load the nonlinear control is the most indicated. This concept is a part of a non-thermal pasteurization system that can be used for non-thermal pasteurization processes in industries and research.