change physical characteristics such as texture and colour, and increase product viscosity. Choosing the right pasteurisation regime and equipment is therefore vital to minimise and prevent such unwanted effects.
Various time and temperature regimes are used to pasteurise eggs depending on the product, which could be whole egg; separated egg( whites or yolks); or a treated product, like salted yolk. Each product type presents a different challenge in terms of viscosity, and products with added salt also introduce a higher likelihood of equipment degradation or corrosion.
Despite these difficulties, there are several benefits of pasteurisation, including food safety, product uniformity and improved shelf life. Depending on the exact combination of treatment time and temperature used, it may be possible to produce a shelf life of up to 16 weeks for refrigerated liquid egg products.
The benefits of corrugated tubes
Historically, plate heat exchangers have been typically used to pasteurise egg products, but these can allow product to coagulate on the plate surface. This can in turn foul the heat exchanger so that frequent cleaning is required to maintain operational efficiency, adding time, energy and cost to the process while reducing production capacity.
In comparison, corrugated tube heat exchangers such as the HRS MI Series, are ideal for pasteurising liquid egg and other egg products. The corrugated design creates turbulent product flow, which reduces fouling and improves heat transfer. This means that a smaller corrugated tube heat exchanger will provide an equivalent( or even superior) performance to a similar-sized smooth tube heat exchanger. Where there is greater risk of fouling, or where the product needs particularly careful handing( for example, with some cooked egg products), then the gentle action of the HRS Unicus Series of reciprocating scraped surface heat exchangers( SSHEs) is ideal.
A final consideration when choosing equipment for egg processing is the ability to clean-in-place( CIP), which is particularly important given the physical nature of the product and the potential for the formation of harmful bacteria. All HRS heat exchangers and pasteurisation systems are designed for efficient, thorough and traceable CIP, giving users peace of mind in addition to industry-leading performance.
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