Transient temperature distributions in canned products during heat sterilization and cooling

This research was performed using experimental temperature data and a simple analytical model to estimate the temperature distributions at the centres of cylindrically canned products (diameter/thickness ratio = 4/1) during heat sterilization and cooling under continuous flow conditions for two retort temperatures (115 and 121 degrees C). The recorded experimental temperature data for an individual can for two different retort temperatures were then used to construct the dimensionless experimental centre temperature curves. In order to predict dimensionless centre temperature profiles with a mathematical model, the convection boundary condition (i.e. 0.1 < Bi < 100) in transient heat transfer was considered. The predicted temperature profiles were compared with the experimental centre temperature measurements for two cases-heat sterilization and cooling. The experimental temperature values were in very good agreement with the theoretical predictions. The results of this study show that the present technique is a seasonable tool for estimating in a simple and accurate form the temperature distributions of a cylindrically canned product subject to both heat sterilization and cooling.