Device for heat treatment of food, biological waste and infectious materials and method for heat treatment of food, biological waste and infectious materials

Abstract

A device and method for energy-efficient heat treatment, sanitation, sterilization of bulk food, biological waste and infectious materials are described. The device design consists of a pair of parallel operating sterilization containers (2 and 8) interconnected by a system of pipes, a compressor (10) and a vacuum pump (12) enabling efficient recovery of the heat used for heat treatment. After filling the sterilization container with material, it is closed and the air is sucked out by vacuum branches of pipes (13 and 14). Subsequently, the material is heated by steam (15) supplied from an external source (16) to the desired temperature. After reaching the desired temperature and time, the excess steam is pumped into the parallel sterilization container by means of a compressor and a vacuum pump. A vacuum is created at which the material is cooled by evaporation of condensed water. Finally, depending on the further use of the heat-treated material, the container is aerated or filled with an inert gas and the contents are emptied.

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