Food Engineering - March 2009 - (Page 67)

ENGINEERING R&D Kevin T. Higgins, Senior Editor E-beam makes a comeback Irradiation of raw beef never gained traction in the early 21st Century, but electron beam is staging a comeback in package sterilization. Saving the planet and reducing carbon footprints are all well and good, but cutting costs moves technology from “that’s nice” to “that’s for me.” By that measure, the use of compact, modular electron beam emitters is must-have technology for sterilizing beverage packaging. Tzvi Avnery applied for his first of 22 patents surrounding low-power e-beam 12 years ago. Instead of relying on large pumps to create a vacuum inside a chamber, Avnery bundled an electron generator inside a permanently sealed chamber with an e-beam exit window. Ultra-thin titanium foil with a thickness of about 6 microns forms the window. The beauty of Avnery’s miniaturized design, besides cost magnitudes less than a conventional emitter, is the simplified maintenance. Instead of replacing filaments or exit windows periodically, users replace the entire unit, eliminating downtime and the need for maintenance personnel with expertise in vacuum and accelerator technology. And while beam intensity is insufficient to pasteurize food, it is effective at either forming chemical bonds or breaking them. This has helped the technology find commercial applications in drying and curing as well as sterilizing materials. Anne L. Testoni, Marketing Applications Director, Advanced Electron Beams, Wilmington, MA. Source: AEB. Firms like Baxter International and Johnson & Johnson have embraced e-beam to sterilize medical devices and pharmaceutical materials. Now Avnery’s firm, Advanced Electron Beams Inc. (AEB), is training its sites on food and beverage packaging. Eliminating chemicals and rinse water from the material-preparation process makes the case for sustainability, but lower operating costs are a more compelling argument for adoption. Helping to tell the economic and environmental story is Anne L. Testoni, director of marketing applications. Testoni joined AEB three years ago. She is the inventor or co-developer of eight patented analytical tools, most involving e-beam or X-ray to detect imperfections in semiconductor wafers. After earning undergraduate degrees in chemistry and mathematics at the University of Dayton, Testoni received a doctorate in chemical physics from Northwestern University. FE: How does electron beam for package sterilization differ from e-beam for food pasteurization or sterilization? Testoni: The high-energy systems to treat food are to integrate in an HVAC system to purify return air. We fabricate two sizes of emitters, with the larger unit measuring about 2 feet long and weighing about 40 lbs. They can be plugged into conventional industrial the size of a room and are housed in a large building, electrical service. which means products have to be treated in a central location. If a slab of meat 6 inches thick is being FE: How is it used in food and beverage? treated, a large integrated dose of electrons needs to Testoni: Three years ago, a customer outside the be delivered to penetrate it. US began using e-beam to sterilize caps in an asepOur emitters are low energy and only penetrate to tic juice filler, as well as the air around the capping about 200 microns. Instead of shipping product to and operation. Since then, we’ve applied the technology from a facility, our customers put modular devices right to pouches, PET containers and all types of equipon their processing lines. The units are small enough ment surfaces. www.foodengineeringmag.com | Food Engineering | March 2009 67 http://www.foodengineeringmag.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Food Engineering - March 2009

Food Engineering - March 2009
Contents
Editor’s Note
Calendar of Events
Manufacturing News
Food Packaging
Technology Sourcebook
Food Safety at the Crossroads
Managing Traceability and Public Trust
Tech Update: Sanitary Design
Classified Advertising
Engineering R&D

Food Engineering - March 2009