Ohmic Heating

FOOD PROCESSING
FD-410
COMPLEX ENGINEERING PROBLEM
(CEP)
GROUP MEMBERS: YUSRA WASIF (FD-016)

LINTA ZAHID (FD-023)
ANOUSHA REHMAN (FD-031)
TOPIC: OHMIC HEATING
SUBMITTED TO: SIR JAWWAD

OHMIC HEATING
INTRODUCTION:
Since fresh foods have a high water content and easy access to nutrients for microbes, they have
a short shelf life and deteriorate very quickly. The main causes of food spoilage are mechanical,
physical, chemical, and microbiological activities. Food processing is therefore essential for
preserving the nutritional value and quality of foods. Conventional thermal processing is widely
applied to preserve food and ensure microbiological safety. Microorganisms that cause spoilage
and diseases are successfully inactivated by this method. High temperatures, however, have a
negative impact on food quality, including color, texture, flavor, and nutritional and bioactive
components. Convection, conduction, and radiation are the three modes of heat transmission
used in conventional thermal processing. Because of internal resistance, heat is distributed
unevenly throughout the food, which has an adverse effect on food quality. Alternative
technologies need to be applied as a result to solve these problems. Ohmic heating, also known
as Joule heating, is a new method of food processing that appears to be a good substitute for
conventional heat treatment. https://jfrm.ru/files/archive/21/Jafarpour.pdf
OHMIC HEATING:
The process of ohmic heating, often referred to as Joule heating, electrical resistance heating, and
direct electrical resistance heating, is an emerging technique, which involves transfer of electric
current through the food. It is a technique used in food processing applications where food is
heated primarily by an electric current that is passed through it. Due to the electrical resistance of
the food under these conditions, heat is internally produced, which is what gives this technique
its unique properties.
Ohmic heating quickly and uniformly raises the internal temperature of the food by converting
electrical energy to thermal energy. There are consequently less sensory changes, fewer off
flavors, fewer nutrient losses, and fewer bioactive degradations. This technique is widely use in a
variety of industrial food applications including the stabilization of baby foods, pasteurization of
orange juice and milk, as well as aseptic processing of particulate products, such as broccoli in
cheese sauce, shrimp gumbo, strawberries in glaze, chicken, stews, or pasta in tomato based
sauce, cauliflower in sauce, apricots in syrup etc. . It is frequently categorized as one of the
‘novel food processing technologies’.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25830778/#:~:text=Ohmic%20heating%2C
%20also%20known%20as,dissipated%20directly%20into%20the%20food.
https://www.newfoodmagazine.com/article/610/ohmic-heating-in-the-food-
industry/
https://jfrm.ru/files/archive/21/Jafarpour.pdf
Quantification of metal release from stainless steel electrodes during conventional and pulsed ohmic
heating - ScienceDirect
PRINCIPLE OF OHMIC HEATING:

The heating unit, electrodes, data recording system, alternating current (AC) power source,
voltage control unit, and thermocouples are the key components of the ohmic heating system. In
most foods, there are large amount of water and dissolved salts, which can make them more
electrically conductive, when exposed to an electric field, these ions will move in the direction of
the electrodes of the source of the opposite charges, creating ion collisions that raise the
temperature of the food. The substance must have electrical conductivity for ohmic heating to
occur. Ionic solvents can be utilized since they are naturally conductive, or non-conductive
materials can be made conductive by adding an electrolyte such NaCl (Sodium Chloride) or
soluble organic salt (tetra-alkyl ammonium), which do not interfere with the reaction.
The alternating electric current that flows through the food when electrical conduction heating
takes place causes the ions to travel in the direction of the electrodes with opposing charges. Ion
collisions caused by this movement of ions result in resistance to ion motion and increase kinetic
energy. The heat inside the product is produced instantly and volumetrically as a consequence of
the movement of ions, converting food into electrical resistance.
The electric field, voltage, current, and electrical conductivity of the food significantly affect
how much heat is produced. Ohm's law governs the flow of electrical current through food
because heat is produced when food acts as an electrical resistance.
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/6/2507
PROBLEM
Although viewed as a promising food processing technology, ohmic heating has a few
constraints.
Despite of all the advantages, it is still important to have a better understanding of the
undesirable electrochemical reactions that happen at the electrode-liquid food interface as a
result of an electric current (generally alternating) passing through the ohmic heater.
Quantification of metal release from stainless steel electrodes during conventional and pulsed
ohmic heating - ScienceDirect
In ohmic heating, the electrical energy provided to the heating cell is ideally used only for heat
generation; and electrochemical reactions at electrode|solution interfaces are considered
undesirable. Electrodes in ohmic heating can be regarded as a junction between a solid-state
conductor (i.e. current feeder) and a liquid-state conductor (i.e. heating medium). They play a
vital role by conveying the current uniformly into the heating medium. At low-frequency (50–60
Hz) alternating currents, corrosion of electrodes and apparent (partial) electrolysis of the heating
medium were noticed with most of those electrodes. In electrochemistry, it is generally known
that both physical and chemical properties of electrodes (specifically, the electrode surfaces)
have an influence on electrochemical processes at the electrode|solution interfaces.
It is already known that electrochemical phenomena at electrode-solution interfaces can be
effectively suppressed by using high frequency alternating currents However, the use of high
frequency generators, especially for industrial scale ohmic heating, may be limited by cost
considerations. Therefore, commercially viable methods that minimize electrochemical
phenomena are of great interest. https://ucanr.edu/datastoreFiles/608-276.pdf
SOLUTION:
Pulsed ohmic heating is capable of significantly (P ≤ 0.05) reducing the electrochemical
reactions of stainless steel, titanium, and platinized-titanium electrodes. The use of IGBT
(Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor) pulse input can significantly reduce electrochemical reactions
during ohmic heating. IGBT, a member of a broad power semiconductor family, is basically a
rapid switching device that enables the application of current and voltage as high frequency short
duration pulses. The use of IGBT switching devices for ohmic heater circuitry is a relatively
inexpensive alternative route of moving into high frequencies.
In pulsed ohmic heating, there is no evolution of hydrogen or any other gases at the electrode-
solution interfaces and also no detectable pH change of the heating medium at any frequency or
pulse width.
Furthermore, the delay time is also a critical factor in pulsed ohmic heating. With increasing
delay time, the corrosion rate can drastically reduce or may become insignificant.
CALCULATION
EFFECT OF DELAY TIME
Preliminary experiments were conducted at the above frequencies and pulse widths, while
varying delay time, with all the electrode materials. Bipolar pulses were spaced according to the
following relationship
T = 2tp + td1 + td2
The delay time denoted by td1 was varied from 0 to td1 = td2 (that is, until pulses were equally
spaced). These experiments indicated hydrogen generation at all the frequencies and pulse
widths, and with all the electrode materials, when td1 = 0 µs.
It was further noticed that the hydrogen generation was gradually diminished with increasing td1,
and completely disappeared when td1 > 10 µs.
TOTAL ENERGY INPUT:

Total energy input in the pulsed ohmic heating can be determined by integrating the power input
equation
Pinput = VpIpθ

Ohmic Heating

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FOOD PROCESSING

GROUP MEMBERS: YUSRA WASIF (FD-016)

TOPIC: OHMIC HEATING

SUBMITTED TO: SIR JAWWAD

PRINCIPLE OF OHMIC HEATING:

TOTAL ENERGY INPUT:

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