What is ohmic heating? Read more about it here.

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What is ohmic heating?

Ohmic heating from Emmepiemme is an advanced thermal treatment where food acts as an electrical resistance and is thus heated by passing electricity through it.

Electrical energy is dissipated into heat, which results in rapid and uniform heating.

Ohmic heating can be used to heat liquid foods that contain large particles, such as soups, stews, sliced fruit in syrup, sauces and other heat-sensitive liquids.

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What the customers say

In this video, Finn Frost, Area Manager at Kerry Ingredients & Flavors, talks about the benefits of ohmic heating and the benefits they have achieved.

He says, among other things, that there is no water in the product and disturbances in the system due to steam affecting the viscosity, as is the case with traditional heating methods.

In addition, the system is running so stable that they are considering removing the buffer tank on their product line before the spray towers. With this, they will be able to save a tank and a pump, on which they will not need any maintenance and cleaning.

Last but not least, they have some clear goals about improving their sustainability, and in this regard, ohmic heating is a clear step in the right direction.

Contact

If you want to hear more about ohmic heating from Emmepiemme, get in touch with Philip or Martin.

Philip Ellegaard Andersen

Area Sales Manager Food & Beverage

T:+45 2917 3230

M:pea@alflow.dk

Martin Kjældgaard Pedersen

Product Manager

T:+45 2295 1461

M:mkp@alflow.dk

Improvement of the product

Ohmic heating has many advantages, including:

Fast and uniform heating
The quality, nutritional value and taste of the food are preserved - the smell/taste can be improved in certain cases
Minimal temperature fluctuations - the temperature can be controlled with 0.1-0.3°C accuracy
Gentle treatment - no overheating is necessary
Minimum risk of burns - no hot surfaces
Extremely slow buildup of fouling - no hot surfaces and no overheating
Denaturation is reduced
Less mechanical impact

Improvement of operations

Energy efficient - 96% of the energy goes into the product
Rapid heating
Operating temperature is created as soon as the first product is at the last temperature sensor
Rapid cooling - the energy and heat addition are gone as soon as the power is switched off
Precise heating - the temperature increase is adapted specifically to each applicator tube
Homogeneous heating - the energy is distributed evenly over the entire product surface in the applicator tubes at once
Less need for cleaning, shorter CIP times and longer production time
Can heat large particles - same plant regardless of product composition
Pressure stable
Fluctuations all the way down to 0.1 bar

Contributes to sustainability goals

CO2-neutral operation - provided green electricity is used
No loss of energy during downtime due to circulation/maintenance of boiler temperature
By investing in an ohmic system, you reduce Scope 2 (CSRD report)

Experiences from the Danish Technological Institute

In this video, Christian Vestergaard, senior consultant for food safety & quality at the Institute of Technology talks about their experiences with ohmic heating.

He mentions, among other things, energy efficiency as a very important parameter. The effectiveness of ohmic heating is approx. twice that of what is typically found in traditional heating systems, where fossils are burned and steam is generated for heating.

In addition, he points out that the method is gentle as you can quickly increase the temperature, with which the thermal load on the product will be lower than with conventional heating, where you have heat gradients.

The method is also volumetric, which means that the entire product is heated simultaneously and very quickly, so there are no heat gradients, and therefore no burns. Overall, this results in a better product quality.

Applications

Ohmic heating is a well-documented technology with many possible applications:

Treatment of large particulate products - e.g. whole and cut fruit and vegetables
Meat dishes - where heating times are approx. 45 sec.
Treatment of delicate liquids and pastes - e.g. sterilization of vegetable soups and purees
Pasteurization of milk products - where the heating time is around 10-15 sec.
Treatment of liquid products, such as juice, where the heating time is less than 1 sec.

About Emmepiemme

Emmepiemme has invented and manufactures systems for Ohmic heating and offers various types of installations and technical solutions to ensure a reliable and efficient process.

Emmepiemme srl is the world's leading manufacturer in ohmic-heating technology and produces a wide range of plants for the food industry and other areas.

Emmepiemme Ohmic heating is the result of a research project started in 1993, which resulted in a very reliable heating system with a wide range of applications.