This technology features a rotor with two sides rotating within a hollow space inside a housing. As fluid flows along two sterilization channels formed between each side of the rotor and the housing, cone-shaped dimples on the rotor surface induce cavitation to sterilize the liquid food. The fluid to be sterilized enters through an inlet in the first housing and exits through an outlet in the second housing.
Ultra-high temperature (UHT) processing, widely used for sterilizing liquid foods like milk, has been criticized for destroying nutrients, while high-temperature short-time (HTST) pasteurization using plate heat exchangers faces issues with residue buildup on corrugated surfaces, leading to secondary contamination. Alternative cavitation-based sterilization methods also have limitations: ultrasonic methods are difficult to scale up, and orifice-based methods offer limited flexibility in designing the shape, size, and number of orifices.
This technology generates micro-bubbles around the dimples simply by rotating the rotor; the heat and shock generated when these bubbles collapse kill microorganisms. The outlet is positioned radially outward from the inlet and radially inward from the dimples of the second sterilization channel, ensuring the fluid passes through both channels. Dimples can be arranged in two or more rows along the rotor radius to increase processing intensity. Applicable to liquid food sterilization lines (milk, juice), continuous pretreatment equipment in beverage plants, and fermentation or sauce sterilization, it allows for easy adjustment of sterilization conditions via rotation speed while enabling high-capacity, continuous processing without heat exchanger fouling.
This invention was developed with support from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs for the development of high-efficiency sterilization equipment for milk through direct heating.
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