Energy consumption in batch thermal processing:

model development and validation

R. Simpson
a,
*
, C. Cortes
a
, A. Teixeira
b
a
Departamento de Procesos Qumicos, Biotecnolo gicos, y Ambientales, Universidad Te cnica Federico Santa Mara, Casilla 110-V, Valpara so, Chile
b
Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Frazier Rogers Hall, P.O. Box 110570, University of Florida, Gainesville,
FL 32611-0570, USA
Received 29 July 2004; accepted 22 January 2005
Available online 14 April 2005
Abstract
Thermal processing is an important method of food preservation in the manufacture of canned foods, retortable pouches, trays
and bowls (retortable shelf-stable foods).
The aim of this research was to develop a mathematical model to estimate total and transient energy consumption during the heat
processing of retortable shelf-stable foods.
The transient energy balance for a system dened as the steam and its water condensate in the retort requires no work term. The
heat transfer terms include radiation and convection to the cook room environment, and heat transfer to the food in the cans. Mass
and energy balance equations for the system were solved simultaneously, and the equation describing heat transfer in the food mate-
rial was solved numerically using an explicit nite dierence technique. Correlations valid in the range of interest (100 C through
140 C) were utilized to estimate the thermodynamic properties of steam, condensate, and food product.
Depending upon selected conditions, retort insulation will account for a 1525% energy reduction. In addition, initial tempera-
ture could reduce the peak energy demand in the order of 2535%.
These models should be useful in searching for optimum scheduling of retort battery operation in the canning plant, as well as in
the optimising process conditions, to minimize energy consumption.
2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Energy consumption; Batch processing; Retort insulation
1. Introduction
Thermal processing is an important method of food
preservation in the manufacture of shelf-stable canned
foods, and has been the cornerstone of the food process-
ing industry for more than a century. Although the liter-
ature in food science and thermal processing is very
extensive, most of the references deal with the microbi-
ological and biochemical aspects of the process.
The basic function of a thermal process is to inacti-
vate pathogenic and food spoilage causing microorgan-
isms in sealed containers of food using heat treatments
at temperatures well above ambient boiling point of
water in pressurized steam retorts (autoclaves).
Excessive heat treatment should be avoided because it
is detrimental to food quality and underutilizes plant
capacity. Batch processing with a battery of individual
retorts is a common mode of operation in many
food-canning plants (canneries). Although high speed
processing with continuous rotary or hydrostatic retort
systems can be found in very large canning factories
(where they are cost-justied by high volume throughput),
0260-8774/$ - see front matter 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2005.01.040
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +56 32 654302; fax: 56 32 654478.
E-mail address: ricardo.simpson@usm.cl (R. Simpson).
www.elsevier.com/locate/jfoodeng
Journal of Food Engineering 73 (2006) 217224
such systems are not economically feasible in the major-
ity of small to medium-sized canneries (Norback &
Rattunde, 1991).
Among problems confronted by canned food plants
with batch retort operations, are peak energy/labour de-
mand, underutilization of plant capacity and underutili-
zation of individual retorts (Simpson, Almonacid, &
Teixeira, 2003). In batch retort operations, maximum
energy demand occurs only during the rst few minutes
of the process cycle to accommodate the venting step,
while very little is needed thereafter in maintaining pro-
cess temperature. In order to minimize peak energy de-
mand it is customary to operate the retorts in a
staggered schedule, so that no more than one retort is
venting at any one time. Similar rationale applies to la-
bour demand, so that no more than one retort is being
loaded or unloaded at any one time.
A limited number of research studies have addressed
and analysed energy consumption in retort processing
(Barreiro, Perez, & Guariguata, 1984; Bhowmik, Visch-
enevetsky, & Hayakawa, 1985 and Singh, 1977) Most of
these have attempted to quantify total energy consump-
tion but not transient energy consumption. Further-
more, these studies were applied to processes used for
traditional cylindrical cans, and their ndings are not
necessarily applicable to processes used for exible or
semirigid trays, bowls or retort pouches. Almonacid-
Merino, Simpson, and Torres (1993) developed a tran-
sient energy balance equation for a still-cook retort,
but the model only simulated the holding time and did
not include come up time. Transient energy consump-
tion should be an important factor in deciding retort
scheduling, as well as determining optimum variable
temperature proles to achieve specied objectives (e.g.
Minimize energy consumption, maximize nutrient reten-
tion, or minimize process time) (Almonacid-Merino
et al., 1993).
Many studies have shown that maximum nutrient
retention at constant retort temperature does not dier
considerably from the one obtained from time variable
retort temperature processes (VTRT) when optimising
average quality (Almonacid-Merino et al., 1993; Saguy
& Karel, 1979; Silva, Hendrckx, Oliveira, & Tobback,
1992). However, Almonacid-Merino et al. (1993) have
shown that process time can be signicantly reduced,
while maintaining a high quality product with a TVRT
process. Another objective function that has been suc-
cessfully investigated is the search for maximum surface
retention of a given quality factor (Banga, Martin,
Gallardo, & Casares, 1991). To give a practical use to
Nomenclature
A area (m
2
)
C
p
specic heat (J/kg K)
E energy (J)
g
c
universal conversion factor; 1 (kg m/N s
2
)
H enthalpy (J/kg)
h heat convection coecient (W/m
2
K)
_ m mass ow rate (kg/s)
M mass (kg)
P pressure (Pa)
Pm molecular weight (kg/kmol)
_
Q thermal energy ow (W)
R ideal gas constant 8.315 Pa m
3
/kmol K (J/
kmol K)
t time (s)
t* time required to eliminate air from retort
T temperature (K)
T
0
initial temperature
T average product temperature (K)
v velocity (m/s)
V volume (m
3
)
Greek symbols
q density (kg/m
3
)
e surface emissivity of retort shell at an average
of emitting and receiving temperatures
(dimensionless)
c ratio of specic heat at constant pressure to
specic heat at constant volume (dimension-
less)
r StefanBoltzmann constant, 5.676 10
8
W/m
2
K
4
Subscripts
a air
b bleeder
amb ambient
c convection
cv condensed vapour
cr critical value
cw cooling water
e metal container
in insulation
p food product
r radiation
rt retort
s steam
sl saturated liquid
sv saturated vapour
rs retort surface
t time
v vapor
w condensed water
218 R. Simpson et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 73 (2006) 217224
the TVRT proles, Almonacid-Merino et al. (1993) in-
cluded a constraint to determine which of the searched
temperature proles were feasible and possible to repro-
duce in a real retort.
In order to optimise food canning plant operating
decisions and to implement optimum TVRT proles, a
comprehensive mathematical model was developed to
predict transient and total energy consumption for
batch thermal processing of canned foods including
retortable pouches, trays and bowls.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Model development
The transient energy balance for a system dened as
the retort including cans without their contents, and
the steam and condensate in the retort requires no work
term (Fig. 1). The heat transfer termsbetween the sys-
tem and its environmentinclude radiation and convec-
tion to the plant cook room environment, and heat
transfer to the food within the cans. Equations were
solved simultaneously and the heat transfer equation
for the food material was solved numerically using an
explicit nite dierence technique. Correlations valid in
the range of interest (100 C through 140 C) were uti-
lized to estimate the thermodynamic properties of
steam, condensate, and food material.
The process was divided into three steps: (a) venting
period, (b) period after venting to reach process temper-
ature, and (c) holding time. Cooling step was not ana-
lysed because no steam is required. First, the math-
ematical model for the food material is presented and
then a full development of the energy model for the
complete thermal process.
2.1.1. Mathematical model for food material
Food material was assumed to be homogeneous and
isotropic, therefore the heat conduction equation for the
case of a nite cylinder solid could be expressed as
1
r
oT
or

o
2
T
or
2

o
2
T
oz
2

1
a
oT
ot
1
where T is a function of the position (r, z) and time (t).
The respective boundary and initial conditions are as
follows:
Tfood material; 0 T
0
where T
0
is a known and uniform value through the
food material at time 0.
To estimate the temperature at food surface at any
time t, a nite energy balance was developed at the sur-
face (Fig. 2).
kA
oT
or
hAoT MCp
oT
ot
2
In most practical cases, it can be assumed that Biot
number is well over 40, meaning that the temperature
of the surface of the food material could be equalized,
at any time, with retort temperature (Almonacid-Meri-
no et al., 1993; Datta, Teixeira, & Manson, 1986; Simp-
son, Aris, & Torres, 1989; Simpson, Almonacid, &
Torres, 1993; Teixeira, Dixon, Zahradnik, & Zinsmeiter,
1969). The aforementioned statement is not necessarily
applicable for retortable pouch or semi rigid trays and
bowls processing (Simpson et al., 2003). The model
(Eq. (2)) considers the possibility of a Biot number less
than 40, but is also suitable for a Biot number equal
to or larger than 40.
Fig. 1. Still vertical retort (cross-sectional view of vertical retort used
for study). Fig. 2. Finite energy balance at the food surface (innite slab).
R. Simpson et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 73 (2006) 217224 219
2.1.2. Mass and energy balance during venting
Before expressing the energy balance, it is necessary
to dene the system to be analysed: Steam-air inside
the retortat any time t (0 6 t 6 t*), during venting
was considered as the system (Fig. 1).
Global mass balance
_ m
s
_ m
sv
_ m
a

dM
dt
3
Mass balance by component
Air: _ m
a

dM
a
dt
4
Vapour: _ m
s
_ m
sv
_ m
w

dM
sv
dt
5
Condensed water: _ m
w

dM
w
dt
6
where
M M
a
M
sv
M
w
; _ m _ m
sv
_ m
a
7
General energy balance
H
s
_ m
s

IN
H
sv
_ m
sv
H
a
_ m
a

OUT
d
_
Q d
_
W

dE
system
dt
8
where
d
_
Q d
_
Q
c
d
_
Q
r
d
_
Q
p
d
_
Q
e
d
_
Q
rt
d
_
Q
in
9
and
d
_
W 0 10
Replacing the respective terms into Eq. (9), the term
dQ in Eq. (8) can be quantied as
d Q

hAT
in
T
amb
reAT
4
in
T
4
amb

M
p
C
p
p
dT
p
dt
M
rt
C
p
rt
dT
rt
dt
M
e
C
p
e
dT
e
dt
M
in
C
p
in
dT
in
dt
11
The following expression shows how the cumulative
term of Eq. (8) was calculated. Because of the system
denition, changes in potential energy as well as kinetic
energy were considered negligible:
dE
system
dt
M
sv
dH
sv
dt
H
sv
dM
sv
dt
P
sv
dV
sv
dt
V
sv
dP
sv
dt
M
a
dH
a
dt
H
a
dM
a
dt
P
a
dV
a
dt
V
a
dP
a
dt
M
w
dH
w
dt
H
w
dM
w
dt
P
w
dV
w
dt
V
w
dP
w
dt
12
The mass ow of condensate was estimated from the
energy balance as
_ m
w
H
sv
H
sl
d
_
Q
hAT
in
T
amb
reAT
4
in
T
4
amb

M
p
C
p
p
dT
p
dt
M
rt
C
p
rt
dT
rt
dt
M
e
C
p
e
dT
e
dt
M
in
C
p
in
dT
in
dt
13
Therefore,
Therefore the steam mass ow demand during venting
should be obtained replacing Eqs. (5), (6), (7), (11),
(12), and (14) into Eq. (8).
2.1.3. Mass and energy consumption between venting and
holding time (to reach process temperature)
As was mentioned before, rst, it is necessary to de-
ne the system to be analysed: Steam and condensed
water inside the retort were considered as the system
(Fig. 1).
Global mass balance: _ m
s
_ m
b

dM
dt
15
Vapour: _ m
s
_ m
b
_ m
w

dM
sv
dt
16
Condensed water: _ m
w

dM
w
dt
17
Energy balance on the bleeder
System: Steam ow through the bleeder.
Considering an adiabatic steam ow:
H
sv
_ m
b

IN
H
b

v
2
2g
c
_ _
_ m
b
_ _
OUT
0 18
where the bleeder is assumed to be operating in steady
state condition, with no heat, no work, and negligible
potential energy eects, the energy balance around the
bleeder reduces to (Balzhizer, Samuels, & Eliassen,
1972)
_ m
w

hAT
in
T
amb
reAT
4
in
T
4
amb
M
p
C
p
p
dT
p
dt
M
rt
C
p
rt
dT
rt
dt
M
e
C
p
e
dT
e
dt
M
in
C
p
in
dT
in
dt
H
sv
H
sl

14
220 R. Simpson et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 73 (2006) 217224
H
b
H
sv

v
2
b
v
2
sv
2g
c
0 19
For a gas that obeys the ideal gas law (and has a C
p
independent of T),
H
sv
H
b
C
p
T
sv
T
b
20
Neglecting v
2
sv
in relation to v
2
b
, and replacing Eq. (20)
into Eq. (19), it reduces to
v
2
b
2g
c
C
p
T
sv
T
b
T
sv
1
_ _
21
Considering an isentropic steam ow in the bleeder
which obeys the ideal gas law, Eq. (21) could be re-writ-
ten as
v
2
b

2g
c
P
sv
q
sv
c
c 1
_ _
P
b
P
vs
_ _
c1
c

1
_ _
22
where the continuity equation is
_ m
b
qv
b
A 23
Therefore, combining Eqs. (22) and (23):
_ m
b

P
s
A
b

RT
s
c
_
P
amb
P
s
_ _

2
c 1
_ _
1
P
amb
P
s
_ _
c1
c

_ _

_
24
The maximum velocity of an ideal gas in the throat of a
simple converging nozzle is identical to the speed of
sound at the throat conditions. The critical pressure is
P
c
(Balzhizer et al., 1972)
P
c
P
amb
2
c 1
_ _
c
c1
25
Then Eq. (23) will be valid for P
s
in the following range:
2
c 1
_ _
c
c1
6
P
amb
P
s
< 1 26
If P
s
is bigger than P
c
, substituting Eq. (25) into Eq.
(24), the expression for the mass ow is as follows:
_ m
b

P
s
A
b

RTs
c
_
2
c 1
_ _ c1
2c1
for
P
amb
P
s
<
2
c 1
_ _ c
c1
27
2.1.4. Mass and energy balance during holding time
System: Steam inside the retort (Fig. 1).
Global Mass balance: _ m
s
_ m
b

dM
dt
28
Vapour: _ m
s
_ m
b
_ m
w

dM
sv
dt
29
Condensed water: _ m
w

dM
w
dt
30
Energy balance on the bleeder
The steam ow through the bleeder was estimated as
previously mentioned, therefore:
Therefore the steam mass ow was estimated as
_ m
s
_ m
w
_ m
b
31
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Preliminary validation
The developed model was tested using bibliographic
data (Barreiro et al., 1984), as a preliminary means of
validation. The following data were utilized for the fol-
lowing calculations:
Retort: m
rt
: 163.6 kg, c
rt
: 500 J/kg C, A
b
:
7.94 10
6
m
2
, A
rt
: 2.97 m
2
, V
rt
: 0.356 m
3
.
Containers: Cans dimensions: 307 409, number of
cans inside the retort: 180, m
e
: 0.06 kg, c
e
: 500 J/kg C.
Product: Pea puree with a thermal diusivity of
1.70 10
7
m
2
/s.
_ m
b

P
s
A
b

RT
s
c
_
P
amb
P
s
_ _

2
c 1
_ _
1
P
amb
P
s
_ _ c1
c

_ _

_
if
2
c 1
_ _ c
c1
6
P
amb
P
s
< 1
_ m
b

P
s
A
b

RT
s
c
_
2
c 1
_ _
c1
2c1
if
P
amb
P
s
<
2
c 1
_ _
c
c1
_ m
w

hAT
in
T
amb
reAT
4
in
T
4
amb
M
p
C
p
p
dT
p
dt
M
rt
C
p
rt
dT
rt
dt
M
e
C
p
e
dT
e
dt
M
in
C
p
in
dT
in
dt
H
sv
H
sl

R. Simpson et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 73 (2006) 217224 221

Processing conditions: The timetemperature require-
ments were calculated for the thermal sterilization of the
pea puree in 307 409 cans reaching an integrated lethal
value F
c
of 2.52 min for Clostridium Botulinum at
121.1 C (Barreiro et al., 1984). T
po
: 37.8 C, T
cw
:
26.7 C.
Surface heat transfer coecient and emissivity: h:
5.77 w/m
2
C, e: 0.94.
Table 1 shows a comparison between calculations (to-
tal energy consumption) obtained from Barreiro et al.
(1984) and the ones obtained with the model developed
in this study. Although estimations are in the same
range and compare well, values obtained with the model
developed in this research study are higher except at
TRT 104 C. One potential explanation lies in the fact
that the procedure developed by Barreiro et al. (1984)
clearly underestimates the steam mass ow during vent-
ing. One of the main contributions of this research study
was to develop a complete transient energy model, but
also to approach the critical behaviour of energy de-
mand during venting.
3.2. Model applications
To analyse the eect and the impact of dierent pro-
cess variables in total and transient energy consumption,
the following variables were studied (most data for the
simulation purposes were obtained from Barreiro
et al., 1984):
(a) Retort insulation: Fig. 3 compares the transient
and total steam consumption for insulated (3.8-cm thick
layer of asbestos cement) and non-insulated retort.
Using the insulated retort the total steam consumption
reduction was in the order of 19% when compared to
non-insulated retort (Fig. 3). Insulation did not play a
signicant role in terms of reducing peak energy con-
sumption (Fig. 3).
(b) CUT: Fig. 4 compares the transient steam con-
sumption for dierent come up times (CUT) (5, 10
and 15 min). Fig. 4 shows that if CUT increases the
maximum peak of steam consumption is reduced. As
an example, if CUT increases from 5 to 15 min the
Fig. 3. Transient and total steam consumption rate proles for
insulated and non-insulated retort.
Table 1
Comparison between data obtained from Barreiro et al. (1984) and
calculations from the developed procedure in this study
Temperature
(C)
Process time
(min)
Energy
(MJ)
(Barreiro et al., 1984)
Energy
(MJ)
(this research
study)
104.4 196 118.0 114.6
110.0 113 100.8 103.6
115.6 85 97.0 103.0
121.1 66 93.1 106.7
126.7 56 95.0 109.4
132.2 50 100.4 114.8
Fig. 4. Process temperatures and transient steam consumption rate
proles for dierent CUT times.
Fig. 5. Transient and total steam consumption rate proles for
dierent initial food temperatures.
222 R. Simpson et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 73 (2006) 217224
reduction in peak energy consumption is in the order of
12%.
(c) Initial food temperature (T
0
): Fig. 5 compares the
transient steam consumption for dierent initial food
temperatures (27.8 and 75 C). Fig. 6 shows that for
the high temperature the maximum peak and the total
steam consumption are reduced 30% and 29% respec-
tively. Clearly the most important variable to reduce
peak energy consumption was the initial temperature
of the food material.
(d) Retort size: Fig. 6 compares the steam consump-
tion per processed can for dierent retort size with the
same ratio product/retort volume (0.47).
Case 1: Retort dimensions: m
rt
: 163.6 kg, A
rt
: 2.97 m
2
,
V
rt
: 0.356 m
3
, Containers: cans dimensions: 307 409,
number of cans inside the retort: 180.
Case 2: Retort dimensions: m
rt
: 230.4 kg, A
rt
: 3.50 m
2
,
V
rt
: 0.6 m
3
(Bhowmik et al., 1985), Containers: cans
dimensions: 307 409, number of cans inside the retort:
303.
Fig. 6 shows that for the larger retort size the ratio of
steam consumption [kg]/mass product [kg] is reduced
(13%) but the maximum steam consumption is increased
(85%). Possibly the main reason behind this result is that
the area over volume ratio decreases as the retort
increases.
Previous analyses can be extended to gure out the
impact of process temperature in relation to total energy
demand for a given process. As an example, Fig. 7
shows the eect of insulation and processing tempera-
tures (104.4, 110.0, 115.6, 121.1, 126.7, and 132.2 C)
on energy consumption during retorting of pea puree
in 307 409 cans (Barreiro et al., 1984).
4. Conclusions
A complete mathematical model to predict transient
and total energy consumption was developed and tested
against published data for a preliminary validation.
The transient energy consumption in batch opera-
tions shows that maximum energy demand occurs only
during the rst few minutes of the process cycle to
accommodate the venting step, while very little is needed
thereafter in maintaining process temperature.
Depending upon selected conditions, retort insulation
will account for a 1525% energy reduction. In addition,
initial temperature could reduce peak energy demand in
the order of 2535%.
The model can be used to identify those improvements
in facility and product handling with the highest impact
on total and transient energy consumption, but also to
identify feasible variable retort temperature proles.
Acknowledgment
We kindly appreciate the contribution made by Mr.
Hector Patin o.
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