A Method for Thermal Process Evaluation of
Conduction Heated Foods in Retortable Pouches
SANTI FL BHOWMIK and SHWETA TANDON
ABSTRACT
A mathematical model was developed to evaluate thermal processing
of conduction heated foods in retortable pouches. This model uses
any given finite value of surface thermal conductance (h) which is
encountered in commercial sterilization of retortable pouches using
hot water as the heating medium. The model is capable of determining
process time, mass average sterilizing value and nutrient retention for
a prefixed critical point sterilizing value using any retort temperature
profile. Results of thiamin assay in pea puree processed in retortable
pouches indicated good agreement between experimental and model
predicted values of thiamin retention.
INTRODUCTION
SATURATED STEAM is the most commonly used heating
medium for commercial sterilization of packaged foods due to
several advantages. During the heating period, steam conden-
ses on the surface of the package resulting in very large values
of surface thermal conductance (h). The rate of heat transfer
from the heating medium (steam) through the package wall
into the outer layer of food is high. From this point, penetration
of heat into the coldest region of the food is controlled by
thermal properties of the food itself. Although steam is a highly
desirable heating medium, its application in certain cases is
limited.
Retortable pouches, becauseof their flexible nature and lim-
ited seal strength, are unable to support internal pressure de-
veloped by expansion of headspacegasesat thermal processing
temperatures. Therefore, the pouches are sterilized in an en-
vironment where the.external pressure in the retort is equal to
or greater than the internal pressure of the pouches during
heating and cooling cycles of the process. In most cases, this
is achieved by processing the pouches using hot water (heating
medium) under overriding air pressure to equalize the internal
and the external pressures of the pouches undergoing sterili-
zation (Mermelstein, 1978). However, this reduces the value
of surface thermal conductance (h) to a finite value as opposed
to a very large value achieved by using steam.
Beverly et al. (1980) identified h as one of the critical op-
erational parameters involved in safe thermal processing of
retortable pouches. Pflug and Barrero (1967) observed an in-
crease in the rate of heat penetration into flexible packages by
increasing the rate of hot water circulation which was associ-
ated with a rise in h value. Terajima (1975) reported that the
effect of h on heat transfer into retortable pouches was greater
with conduction heated than with convection heated foods.
Peterson and Adams (1983) determined the values of h for
retortable pouches at various flowrates of hot water (heating
medium) in an experimental retort. They showed that the as-
sumption of a very large value of h was not valid for thermal
processing of retortable pouches while hot water was used as
the heating medium. They stated that large unknown variations
Author Bhowmik is currently affiliated with the Dept. of Food
Science & Nutrition, The Ohio State Univ. 122 Vivian Hall, 2121
Fyffe Road, Columbus, OH 432 lo- 1097. Author Tandon is with
the Division of Food Science & Processing, Inst. of Catering,
Madras, India.
20240URNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE-Volume 52, No. 1, 1987
in the h values due to differences in retort hook-up and flowrate
of hot water could actually cause potential health hazard due
to inadequate sterilization of the processed food.
To date, all published mathematical models for thermal
process evaluation of retortable pouches are based upon a very
large value of h assuming negligible resistance to heat transfer
on the surface of the pouches. A review of the literature in-
dicated no method available for evaluation of thermal process-
ing of retortable pouches considering finite values of h while
using hot water as the heating medium. This research was
initiated to develop such a model using a finite difference tech-
nique for any time variable retort temperature profile, and to
verify the model experimentally.
THEORY
Development of mathematical model
Institutional size retortable pouches (28.6 x 40.6 x 4Scm)
were used for this study. The length of a pouch was consid-
erably larger than its width and thickness. Hence, a two-di-
mensional equation was considered for heat transfer analysis
in a retortable pouch. The transient, isotropic heat conduction
in a pouch containing conduction heated foods can be ex-
pressed by the following equation: (All symbols are defined in
the Nomenclature)
(1)
where, T = temperature as a function of x, y, and t; t =
time; cp = specific heat of food; K = thermal conductivity
of food; p = density of food.
When the temperatures at the boundary points are unknown
and resistance to heat transfer on the surface of the pouch is
high, the boundary condition effecting the heat transfer phe-
nomenon is described by the equation shown below:
aT
%=K ’ (Tr - Ti,) (2)
Where, T, = heating medium temperature; Tb = boundary
aT
node point temperature; z = outward normal gradient of
temperature; h = apparent surface thermal conductance (heat
transfer coefficient).
The finite difference forms of the heat conduction equation
(Eq. 1) with convective boundary condition (Eq. 2) were de-
rived using energy balance principle (Croft and Lilley, 1977)
as the following.
Considering two-dimensional heat transfer, the cross section
of a food-filled pouch was divided into elements of volume
Ax.Ay.1 superimposing a rectangular grid pattern. It may be
noted that although two-dimensional heat transfer was consid-
ered in the pouch, a numerical technique that is based upon
the concept of cell control volume of unit width in Z-direction,
without any heat flow in this direction, was applied. The ir-
 28.6 cm

cm

Fig. I-Cross section of a food filled retortable pouch indicating rectangular grid pattern.

Tr 2

2
r - - - - _ - - _ - _ -, : ._.__ _ ________,

.-..

Y/2

1
Qcond I
_ -- - - - - - - _ - - -,
1 -

: Qcond

!J 1

_- - - _ - _- - - - _J
Qcond
f

Fig. Z-Codes for external corners and side of the pouch. Fig. 4-Heat flow pattern at node point on side 3.

following:
r - - - - - - -
-----7 ,-------- ------,

0 I
I

,
,
I ;
qi+ lj + ij = 2 (Ti+l,j - Ti,j) (3)
L -----I
i 32 ;-----I
2 ; 21 :
:-----I L - - - - -- : qi- 1j -+ i,j = hAy(T, - Tij) (4)
3 1
Tr
qi,j+ 1 + ij = $(Ti.j+l - Ti,J (3
r------ -. -------1
I I
I :---, 4 rd--J 4,
I I I0 qi,j - 1 + ij = *(Ti,j- t - Ti,j)
; 43 I 14 : (6)
L -_-___--_-_ 1 c-o- - _..-----_ A
1 DAY

Fig. 3-Codes for internal corners and side of the pouch. = pC,V $ (where summation is over all the cell faces)(‘l)

where, i and j signify the location of the nodes; Ax is increment

regular boundary was approximated as shown in Fig. 1, so that of lengtyh in x-direction; Ay is increment of length in y-direc-
the boundary points would always coincide with the super- tion; V is volume of a cell control volume.
imposed grid pattern’s side nodes. Location of each node point Therefore,
with respect to the boundary was then determined by the com-
puter program developed in this study. Each node point was AxAy aT
taken as representative of a region around it, called a cell PC, - 2 -at = z (Ti+l,j - Ti,j)
control volume as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3.
Heat flows across the surfaces of such a region from adjoining + hAY(Tr - Ti,j)
regions by convection and/or by conduction depending on the
location of the node. Three types of boundary nodes occur as + =(Ti,j-r - 2Ti,j + Ti,j+l) (8)
portrayed by Fig. 4 (side nodes), Fig. 5 (external corner nodes) DAY
and Fig. 6 (internal comer nodes). An interior node is rep-
resented by Fig. 7. Replacing K with alpha, where alpha is thermal diffusivity
Considering Fig. 4, the pattern of heat flow (cl) across the 9
surfaces of a cell control volume can be represented as the of food, and applying the ADI (Alternating Direction Implicit)

Volume 52, No. 1, 198740URNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE-203

 THERMAL PROCESS EVALUATION OF FOODS IN RETORT POUCHES. . .

+ g (‘I’m - T*i,j>
c 1 I
I I
I Qc+ k---
Y/2 ;
t ~ Qconv + $i,j-1,” - 2Ti.j.o
,
” c-- - - -- - - - -.
I
I
Qcond f + Ti,j+l,rJ (9)
The corresponding equation implicit in the y-direction is: I

Ti,j,o+ 1 - T*i,j = g (T*i+ 1.j - T*i,j)

+ f$ (Tr n - T*i,j)

---- - ---- - _________--I__ - _______-__________. + F$ (Tij-l,n+l - 2Ti,j,n+ I

+ Ti,j+l,o+l) (10)
where subscript n indicates time instant, and T* is the inter-
mediate value of temperature at the end of the first half-time
step.
Similarly, we obtained the following equation for surface
Fig. 5-Heat flow pattern at corner node point 12. comer node point 12 (Fig. 5). The equation for implicit in x-
direction is:

+ $$rn - Ti,j,n)
S@! (T,, - T*i,j,n,)
+ AyK
I 43
I !%--
cond
L-,-em, -,-.J + SC!! (Ti,j- l,n - Ti,j,n) (11)
f Qcond Ay2

Fig. 6-Heat flow pattern at corner node point 43. while the corresponding equation implicit in y-direction is:
i.j+l
Ti,j,n+1 - T*i,j = $ (T*i_t,j - T*i,j)

r _- - - - - - - - - - -
I
JL Qcond
- - - - - - __ _ _ _I
I
+ $$ CT,,, - T*i,j)
I
Qcond 1
---$f
i-1.j
1
i+l,j + f$ (Tr” - T*i,j)
m I
I i,j 'I
I ; Qcond
Y/2
AL
I
,
L--- ---- -- ------ ---__ 2
I
+ G (Ti,j-l,n+l - Ti,j,n+l) (12) I
AY2
Qcond

Equations for interior comer node point 43 (Fig. 6):

The equation for implicit in x-direction is:
It -- xl2 -- i,j-1

1
T*i,j - Ti,j,, = $ (2T*t-t,j - 3T”ij + T*i+t,j)

+ $$ (Tm- Ti,j,d
Fig. 7-Heat flow pattern at an interior node point.

method (Ames, 1977) to resolve problems of instability and

minimize the number of iterations, we obtained the following + oldt (2Ti,j- t,n - 3Ti,j,n
3Ay2
finite difference equations. The. equation for implicit in x-di-
rection is: - Ti,j+l,d (13)

T*i,j - Ti,j,n = $l (T*i+l,j - T*i,$ While the corresponding equation implicit in y-direction is:

204-JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE-Volume 52, No. 1, 1987

 (-y-) m
------_. -1
Ti,j,n+ 1 - T”i,j = -$ (2T*i-l,j - 3T*i,j
i

+ T*i+l,J
I I I /
+ ?J$$ (Trn - T*iJ & J I
Read Calculate
PVXt?SS FC and F,
I
1
+ $$ (Trn - T*iJ Parameters

I
1
+ $$ (2Ti,j-l,n+l - 3Ti,j,n+ I Read
I
Retort kllqzlerature I
+ Ti,j+l,n+l) (14)
Profile I
I
I
I
Equations for internal node point (Fig. 7):
The equation for implicit in x-direction is:
1 I
Read Pouch Profile I
Superirqmse Grid
T*i,j - Ti,j,, = s (T*i+l,j - 2T*i,j + T*i+lJ I
I
Print Results I
+ s (Ti,j-l,a - 2Ti,j,n + Ti,j+l,n) (15) And Teminate
I
each node using I
I
While the corresponding equation implicit in y-direction is:
I
I
I --__-------d---- -.I
+ T*i+l,J Fig. &Abridged flow diagram far thermal process evaluation
using the developed computer model.
+3 CT+l,n+l - 2Ti,j,n+l (16)
K=-
2.303
(19)
+ Ti,j+l,n+l) D

An abridged flow diagram (Fig. 8) outlines the major steps Rearranging:

involved in execution of the computer program using the above c = c, 10-‘/D (20)
Eq. (3) through 16 and the relevant process parameters (Table
1). The temperature for each node point was estimated for a
transient boundary condition. Each of these estimated temper- The temperature dependenceof D is expressed by:
atures was used to determine the concentration of survived D = ~,lo[(Tr - TWI
target bacterial spore or nutrient by applying first-order reac- (21)
tion kinetics equation for inactivation of spores or destruction
of nutrients, respectively, as shown below: The critical point sterilizing value F,, at the end of each time
dC step was estimated by:
---KC (17)
dt
F, = 1@ C T- T,Yzl dt (22)
which integrates to:
2.303 where T is the temperature at the critical point or slowest
Kc- t 1% WC (18) heating point in the pouched product. The sterilizing value at
the end of the process was estimated by summing up the le-
thality at the critical point for each time step using Simpson’s
where, K = proportionality factor and (Camahan et al., 1969) Rule.
The mass average sterilizing value, F,, was estimated using
the following relationship:
F, = D, (log C, - log C) (23)
Table l-Process oarameters
= 100,000
= 100% MATERIALS 81 METHODS
TO = 71.O”C
a = 0.1903 x 10-e m*/sec
EXPERIMENTS to verify the mathematical model were performed in
z = 10.0 C” a vertical still retort (Modified RDTI-3 Dixi retort, Fig. 9). The tem-
2” = 31.0 c peratures in the retort and at different locations in the test retort pouch
0, = 1.0 min filled with 10% bentonite suspension or pea puree were measured with
36 guage copper-constantan thermocouples coated with Teflon-insu-
2 = 0.125
140.4 min lation (Omega Engineering, Stamford, CT.). Institutional size (28.6
T, = 119°C X 40.6 X 4.5 cm) retort pouches with five internal thermocouples

Volume 52, No. 1, 1987-JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE-205

 THERMAL PROCESS EVALUATION OF FOODS IN RETORT POUCHES. . .
Controller

0
I
Air inlet
To Temp.1 !

Fig. &Line diagram of the experi-

mental set-up indicating position of
pouch in the retort.

Radk

water Inlet --+-+qJ qd- Drain

were used for this study. The pouches were supplied by American
Can Co. (Neenah, WI).
Thermocouple junctions were made using Kup-L-weld (Burrell Corp.,
Pittsburgh, PA.) and were inserted into the pouch through a pin-hole
in the pouch wall. A small circular area on the exterior surrounding
the hole was roughened with sand paper to expose the aluminum layer.
A high temperature silicone sealant was applied on the roughened area
of the pouch to seal the thermocouple wires in place (Fig. 10). An
Ecklund packing gland was not used to prevent errors due to heat sink
effect as discussed by Kopetz et al., (1979).
A precut strip of pouch material (flexible support strip, Fig. 10)
was used to hold the thermocouple junctions at fixed points in the
pouch. Two strips holding three thermocouples in fixed positions, 22
m m from each end surface, were heat-sealed. Then the two end flaps
of these strips were heat-tacked to the inside surface of the pouch to
form the flexible support strip. The support strip was placed such that
when the pouch was filled to its maximum thickness
thermocouples 1, 2 and 3 shown in Fig. 10 would be positioned at
the midplane of the pouch. Two more thermocouples, 4 and 5 shown
in Fig. 10, were heat-sealed between the flexible support strip and the
inner top and bottom pouch wall, to record internal surface temper-
atures. Five thermocouples were thus installed in the experimental
pouches before filling with food. One thermocouple junction (Ther-
mocouple 6 in Fig. 9) was placed close to the rack holding the pouch
to record heating medium temperature.
AI1 food-filled pouches were vacuum sealed with a heating bar
(Multivac, Sepp Haggenmiiller KG, W. Germany) to minimize the
level of entrapped gases. The pouches were placed in racks made out
of 1.6 m m thick perforated aluminum sheet with 40% open area (6.5
m m holes on 9.5 cm staggered centers) designed to fix maximum
steam spreader at the bottom of the retort. The racked pouch was
preheated to a uniform initial temperature. Subsequently, the temper-
ature of the heating water was brought up to processing temperature
of 121°C. The pouch was heat-processed under 124.1 kN/m* overrid-
ing air pressure until a desired value of F, was reached. Steam was
then cut-off and cooling water was circulated until the temperature of
the center point in the pouch was reduced to 55°C.
To increase the rate of heat penetration into the pouch, a centrifugal
pump was installed to provide recirculation of water during processing
(Fig. 10). Hot water (heating medium) was pumped out from the
bottom of the retort by the pump and introduced through the water
spreader at the retort top to insure a uniform flowback through the
retort. A flowmeter (Brown Morrison, Charlotte, N.C.) was used to
record the flowrate of the recirculating water. A constant flowrate of
water at 0.186 m3/min was maintained during preheating, come-up,
heating, and cooling periods in the retort of 0.254 m3 total capacity.
of 4.5 cm, the To maintain proper agitation and temperature distribution of the heat-
ing medium, steam and air were injected through the steam spreader
at the bottom of the retort during the processing period. Temperatures
were continuously recorded with a data logger (Digistrip II, Kaye
Instruments, Bedford, MA.) at one-minute intervals at different lo-
cations within the pouch and retort.
Before the experimental runs with food-filled pouches, heat distri-
Thermocouple Wires
4

pouch thickness of 4.5 m m durihg processing.

Flexible Stuffing Box
The actual shapes of two filled pouches were determined with a
gelatin-water mixture (Tandon and Bhowmik, 1986). The fill volume
was the same as that used for 10% bentonite suspension and pea puree.
The pouches were vacuum sealed and placed in racks to fix thickness
to 4.5 cm and transferred into a refrigerator. After the jello had set,
the pouch was cut open. The largest cross section of the pouch was
cut-out and outlined on graph paper. The x, y coordinates noted for
the boundary points of the pouch cross section were used as input data
to the computer program to simulate the actual shape of a food-filled Retort Pouch
pouch. The program automatically superimposed one x-y grid patterns
as shown in Fig. 1.
The following experimental procedure was followed to collect data.
A single institutional size pouch with 5 internal thermocouples filled
Flexible Support Strip
either with stabilized 10% bentonite (Townsend et al., 1949) or pea
puree, was placed horizontally in the rack leaving the top and bottom
surfaces of the pouch exposed to the heating medium to promote /~~Thwmocouple Junction
uniform heat transfer at both surfaces (Fig. 9). The position of the
pouch was raised about 50 cm from the steam spreader to prevent Fig. IO-Cut-out view to show locations of thermocouples in
direct contact of the pouch with steam and air-injected through the the experimental retortable pouch.

206-JOUdNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE-Volume 52, No. 1, 1987

bution tests were performed inside the retort to insure uniformity of
the heating medium temperature throughout the retort during process-
ing according to the procedure described in the Federal Register,
March 16, 1979. These tests were carried out under similar conditions
of the experimental runs in terms of number of pouches per retort
load, position of pouches, quantity of air flow, and water circulation
rate. Sixteen thermocouples located at various locations (Federal Reg-
ister, 1979) recorded temperatures with a variation of 0.5 to 1°C
within the retort.
A total of six runs was performed using the above procedure. Three
runs (#l through #3) were performed with a pouch-filled with sta-
bilized suspensions of 10% bentonite. Temperatures collected from
these experiments were used to calculate average values of fh. Finally
the value of h was determined following the procedure reported by
Peterson and Adams (1983). This procedure was based upon the fol-
lowing equation that was obtained from Ball and Olson (1957) and
Stumbo (1973):
h = k d2.303/(afh) tan d2.303 aLl(afh)
where, a is the half-thickness of a retortable pouch; fh is the slope
index of the heating curve of food; cx is the thermal diffusivity of food;
k is the thermal conductivity of food and h is the surface thermal
conductance of the food-filled pouch.
Three other runs (#4 through #6) wer performed with pouches
filled with pea puree. Average values of f,, and h were calculated
using the temperatures collected from these runs and the results are
listed in Table 2.
After processing, the contents (pea puree) of each pouch were blended
in a food processor (Model No. 14-11, Sunbeam Corp., Chicago, IL).
Samples from blended pea puree were analyzed to determine thiamine
retention after processing using the “Thiochrome Method” (AOAC,
1975) and the results are listed in Table 3.
Preliminary experiments were carried-out with pure solutions of
thiamine hydrochloride at low concentrations that produced deflec-
tions covering the entire scale of the photofluorometer (Turner As-
sots., Palo Alto, CA.). Concentration ranging from 0.0 to 0.2 p,g/
mL were used to prepare a standard reference curve of photofluoro-
meter reading vs thiamin concentration. This technique of obtaining
standard curves was repeated several times to determine repeatability
of the assay results under ideal conditions.
Thiamin retention analysis was performed on triplicate samples of
pea puree from each processed pouch simultaneously with triplicate
control sample of pea puree stored in the refrigerator. The percent
thiamin retention for a given thermal process was determined directly
by taking the difference between lowest reading from the replicate
assays of the control samples and processed sample, over the lowest
reading for the control sample after subtracting the appropriate blank
readings and multiplying by 100 for each analyzed sample. The ex-
perimentally determined thiamin retention values were then compared
with similar values predicted by the computer model for similar retort
temperature profile using rate data for thiamine destruction in pea
puree reported by Felliciotti and Esseler, (1956).
RESULTS & DISCUSSION
THE PROCESS PARAMETERS shown in Table 1 were used
to run the computer program developed in this study. The
values of thermal diffusivity (alpha) for 10% bentonite sus-
pension and pea puree were determined experimentally using
the method of Bhowmik and Hayakawa (1979). The corre-
sponding values of thermal conductivities for 10% bentonite
suspension and pea puree were computed using the relationship
K = aCpp. The values of densities for 10% bentonite suspen-
sion and pea puree were determined experimentally and their
specific heat (C,) values were obtained from literature (Nie-
kamp et al., 1984; Dickerson, 1968):
(24) The temperatures recorded at the inside surface of the pouch
by the thermocouples 4 and 5 (Fig. 10) showed an appreciable
lag between internal surface and heating medium (retort) tem-
peratures (Fig. 11). This indicated that the assumption of very
large surface heat transfer coefficient using hot water as the
heating medium was not applicable to the processing condi-
tions of retortable pouches. Consequently, no reliable com-
parison could be made between experimental and predicted
temperatures by the computer model that did not include finite
values of surface heat transfer coefficient (Tandon and Bhow-
mik, 1986).
For experimental verification of the developed model, heat-
ing medium temperatures recorded by Thermocouple No. 6
(Fig. 9) inside the retort for Run No. 1 were used as input to
the model. Temperature distributions at the center point in a
retortable pouch filled with 10% bentonite suspension as pre-
dicted by the model and measured experimentally for Run # 1,
are shown in Fig. 12.
The maximum difference between computer predicted and
experimentally measured temperature at the center point (Fig.
12) was 1.S”C and absolute mean difference was 0.7”C. Var-
ious factors could be responsible for these differences. Firstly,
a lag of 0.5 to 1 .O”C was inherent in thermocouple response.
Secondly, there was an unmeasurable magnitude of experi-
mental error in placement of thermocouples inside the pouch,
including accuracy of the recorder.
120”

Table 2-Average values of physical and thermal properties

Physical or 105”
thermal DroDetiv Pea Duree 10% Bentonite
6 (set) 3429.00 3329.40
a (m2/sec) 0.159 x 10-e 0.19 x IO-6
P (kg/r+) 1023.54 1054.05 u0
Cp (J/kg”K) 3558.00 3926.00
K (W/m”K) 0.58 0.79 e
h (W/m*“K) 295.946 202.74a 3

a h values are different for pea puree and bentonite suspension, since these values f 85”
- -- Interior Pouch Surface
were obtained using Eq. (24) which indicates that h is a function of k, OLand fh of ‘I
the food. - Retort Tenperature

Table 3-Comparison of observed and model predicted % nutrient re-

tention in pea puree
Heating
Run Predicted Experimentala time 65”
no. % nutrient % nutrient (min) FS I I I I I I I 1
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
4 41.39 39.2 (2.1) 64.0 9.89
5 43.44 41.1 (1.6) 61 .O 8.52 TIME (mini
6 43.61 43.1 (1.2) 60.0 8.39 Fig. 7 l-Experimentally determined temperatures at the inter-
a The tabulated values are averages of three experimental data. A value in parenthe- nal surface of a retortable pouch i’lled with 10% bentonite sus-
sis is maximum deviation I%).

Volume 52, No. 7, 1987JOURNAL Of FOOD SCIENCE-207

 THERMAL PROCESS EVALUATION OF FOODS IN RETORT POUCHES.. .
120°C
Thiamin retention in pea puree was experimentally deter-
mined. The results, including the model predicted thiamin re-
tention for three experimental runs (Run #4 through 6), are
shown in Table 3. Actual thiamin retention would agree more
closely with model predicted values provided the physical pa-
rameters, rate constant, and processing conditions were pre-
cisely supplied as input data to the computer model. In biological
systems, it is unlikely to describe parameters precisely. Based
i on an error analysis study, Teixeira et al. (1969), concluded
that an error of plus or minus 6% between the actual experi-
mental values and computer predicted values of percent thia-
85-C min retention, should establish the validity of a computer model.
In this study the differences between predicted and experi-
temD mentally assayedvalues of percent thiamin retention were ana-
lyzed and were found to be not significant at 95% confidence
. Internal surface temp level. Thus, in spite of differences in predicting temperatures

65°C
I-
+ I I I I I I I I
at specific node points (Fig. 12) there was no significant dif-
ference in the values of percent thiamin retention estimated by
using the predicted and experimentally collected temperature
TIME (min) distribution within the entire mass of a food-filled pouch.
Fig. 72-Temperature history at coldest point as predicted by Therefore, the validity of the model developed in this study,
the computer model and as measured experimentally for a 10% when using actual cross section of the pouch and finite values
bentonite suspension filled retortable pouch with convective of heat transfer coefficient to evaluate a process schedule, was
boundary condition. clearly demonstrated.

Effect of heat transfer coeffkient on heating time CONCLUSION

and nutrient retention
THE DEVELOPED computer model closely emulates the ef-
Various critical processing factors influence the rate of heat fect of thermal processing on retortable pouches containing
penetration into the pouch. Pflug and Barrero (1967) observed conduction heated foods using hot water as the heating medium
that heat transfer coefficient was one of the critical processing with finite values of surface thermal conductance. This model
factors. The rate of heat transfer on the surface of the pouch has the capability of predicting temperature distribution at any
depends on the circulation rate of heating medium across pouch location at the cross section of the food-filled pouch including
surface (Milleville and Badenhop, 1980; Peterson and Adams, estimation of integrated lethal effect on target bacterial spores
1983). Computer simulations were performed to estimate the and degradation of any thermally vulnerable factors (nutrients)
effect of heat transfer coefficient on process time and % thia- for a constant or time-varying retort temperature profile. The
min retention for processes to achieve the same level of le- temperatures predicted by the model compared well with ex-
thality in an institutional-size pouch. Values of h reported by perimentally determined temperatures at the center of a retort-
Peterson and Adams (1983) for different heating water flo- able pouch. Also, the estimation of nutrient retention by this
wrates with constant values of alpha, K and other processing model showed close agreement with experimental determina-
parameters were used in this simulation and the results are tion. Computer simulation using the developed model showed
shown in Table 4. that flowrate of water had an appreciable effect on apparent
A 1% increase in thiamine retention was observed for a 4 surface thermal conductance (h). However, the values of h play
min shorter heating time when the heating water flowrate was a definite role in determination of process time and quality
increased ninefold to provide a 31% increase in the heat trans- (nutrient) retention in the processed food.
fer coefficient as indicated in Table 4. This shows that the
value of the heat transfer coefficient on the surface of the pouch
is influenced by the resistance to heat transfer of the pouch NOMENCLATURE
material, rack and the thermal properties of the food including C Concentration of spores (numbers)
the flowrate of the heating medium. CO Initial concentration of spores (numbers)
G Concentration of nutrients (thiamin) (%)
Thiamin assay results Initial concentration of nutrient (thiamin) (%)
2
I In spite of slight random variations observed among the Specific heat (J/kg C”)
replicate assays in the standard curve, a linear relationship D” Decimal reduction time of spores (min.)
between fluorometer readings and thiamin concentration was D, Decimal reduction time at a reference temp. (min.)
obtained for all observations as reported in the literature. D, Decimal reduction time for target nutrient (min.)
Therefore, the difference in fluorometer readings between the FC Critical point sterilizing value (min.)
analyzed pea puree sample was found to be directly propor- FS Mass average sterilizing value (min.)
tional to the difference in their thiamin concentration. fh S!ope index of heating curve of food (min.)

Table 4-Effect of heat transfer coefficient (h) on process time and thiamin retention in 10% bentonite filled institutional size retort pouch based on
computer simulation
Heat transfer
Water coefficienta % Thiamin Spore Process
flowratee (h) FS retention survivors time
(mYminI Wlm2.“K (min) K”) 03 (min)
0.038 202.74 7.02 56.10 0.96 x 10-z 54.25
0.064 210.02 7.01 56.52 0.98 x 1O-2 52.89
0.109 249.75 7.02 57.01 0.96 x 10-Z 51.17
0.265 255.47 7.00 57.11 0.99 x 10-Z 50.93
0.341 278.20 7.02 57.30 0.96 x lo-* 50.24
a Values obtained from Peterson and Adams (19831.

208-JOlJRNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE-Volume 52, No. 1, 1987

h Surface thermal conductance (heat transfer coefficient Felliciotti, E.A. and Esseler, W.B. 1956. Thermal destruction rates of thi-
amine in pureed meats and ve etables. Food Technol. ll(12): 77.
due to convection) (Watt/m* C”) Kopets, A.A., Prange, C.A., an d Flessner, R.J. 1979. Critical factors in
K Thermal conductivity of food (Watt/m C”) retort ouch thermal process assurance. Paper presented at the 33rd
Annua P Meeting of R&D Associates for Military Foods and Packaging
Temperature (“C) Systems, Inc., held at New York, April 24-25.
T* Intermediate temp (“C) Mermelstein, N.H. 1978. Retort pouch earns 1978 IFT Food Technology
Industrial Achievement Award. Food Technol. 32(6): 22.
TO Initial temp of food (“C) Milleville, H.P. and Badenhop, A.F. 1980. “Guidelines on Good Manufac-
T, Retort temp (heating medium temp) (“C) turing Practice for Sterilizable Flexible Packaging Operations for Low
At Time increment, min Acid Foods.”Cam den Food Preservation Research Assoc. Tech. Manual.
Niekamp, A., Unk Pesbay, K., Unklesbay, N., and Ellersieck, M. 1984.
Z Reciprocal of slope of thermal death-time curve of tar- Thermal pro erties of bentonite-water dispersions used for modelling
get microorganism (C”) foods. J. FooBSci. 49: 28.
Peterson, W.R. and Adams, J.P. 1983. Water velocity effect on heat pen-
a Thermal diffusivity of food (m*/sec) etration parameters during institutional-size retort pouch processing. J.
P Density of food (kg/m3) Food Scil48: 457.
Pflug, I.J. and Barrero, C. 1967. “Heat Media for Processing Foods in
Flexible Packages.” Phase II Tech. Report 67-47-GP. U.S. Army Natick
R&D Laboratories Natick, MA.
REFERENCES Stumbo, C.R. 1973. “‘Thermobacteriology of Food Processing.” Academic
Press, New York.
Ames, W.F. 1977. “Numerical Methods for Partial Differential Equations.” Tandon, S. and Bhowmik, S.R. 1986. Evaluation of thermal processing of
Academic Press, New York. retortable pouches til1ed.wit.h conduction heated foods considering their
AOAC. 1975. “Official Methods of Analysis of The Association of Analyt- actual shar. J., Fy SC!: 51: 709.
ical Chemists,” 12th ed. Washington, DC. Teixeira. A. . Dixon J R Zahradnik. J.W.. and Zinsmeister. G.E. 1969.
Ball, C.O. and Olson, F.C.W. 1957. “Sterilization in Food Technology.” Computer optimization of nutrient retention in the thermal processing
McGraw Hill, New York. of conduction heated foods. Food Technol. 23(6): 845.
Beverly, R.G., Strasser, J., and Wright, B. 1980. Critical factors in tilling Terajima, Y. 1975. Overall heat transmission from the heatin medium
and sterilizmg of institutional ouches. Food Technol. 44(g). (steam and water) to the contents of the retortable pouch. E annem J.
Bhowmik, S.R. and Hrkawa, R. 1979 A new method for determining 54(l): 73.
apparent thermal di usivity of thermally conductive food. J. Food Sci. Townsend, C.T., Reed, J.M., McConnel, J., Powers, M.J., Esselen, W.B.,
44: 469. Sommers, 1.1.)Dwyer, J.J., and Ball, C.O. 1949. Comparative heat pen-
Carnahan, B., Luther, H.A., and Wilkes, J.O. 1969. “Applied Numerical etration studies on jars and cans. Food Technol. 3(6): 213.
Methods.” John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York. MS received 4/18/86; revised g/15/86; accepted g/27/86.
Croft, D.R. and Lilley, D.G. 1977. “Heat transfer calculations using finite
difference uations.” Ap lied Science Publishers, Ltd,, London.
Dickerson R. % Jr. 1968. prhenna1 ro erties of food. m “The Freezing Technical Contribution No. 2565 of the South Carolina Agricultural Experiment
Preservation of Foods.” 4th ed. (EC/!)‘l%essler D.K. Van Arsdel, W.B., Station, Clemson Univ., Clemson, SC 29634-0371.
and Copley, M.J. Avi Publishing Co., WestpoA, CT.’

SOLUTION PROPERTIES Of FOUR /RON SOURCES. . .From page 201

crystallization on the infrared spectra of - and - ferric oxhydroxides. Steel, R.G.D. and Terre, J.H. 1980. “Princi les and Procedures of Statis-
Ni pon Kinsoku Gakkai-shi 33: 1371. tics,” 2nd ed. McGraw Hill, Inc., New YorR
SmitK , K.T. 1983. Effects of chemical environment on iron bioavailability Weiser, H.B. 1935. Hydrous oxide sols and gels and the hydrous oxides of
measurements. Food Technol. 37(101: 115. iron. In “Inorganic Colloid Chemistry, V. II The Hydrous Oxides and
Sommer, B.A. and Margerum, D.W. 1970. Kinetic study of the hydroxo- Hydroxides. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York.
iron (III) dimer. Inorg. Chem. 9: 2517. MS received 7114186;accepted 7/31/86.
Sommer, B.A.:, Margerum, D.W.; Renner, J.; Saltman, P., and Spiro, T.G.
1973. Reactivity and aging in hydroxy-iron (III) polymers, analogs of
ferritin cores. Bioinorg. Chem. 2: 295.
Spiro, T.G.; Allerton, S.E.; Renner, J.; Tenis, A.; Bils, R., and Saltman,
P. 1966. The hydrolytic polymerization of iron (III). J. Amer. Chem. Sot. Paler No. 2611. Massachusetts Aericultural ExDeriment Station. Univ. of Massa-
88: 2721. chusetts at Amherst. This research supported in part from Experiment Station Project
Spiro, T.G. and Saltman, P. 1969. Polynuclear complexes of iron and their No. NE-116).
biological implications. Struct. Bonding 6: 116.

Volume 52, No. 1, 1987-JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE-209