Linear Model for Predicting Transient Temperature during Sterilization of a Food Product

The thermal behavior of a conductive canned food during retorting was represented using an input-output linear system, with a finite order N, and a time-delay. The input of the system was the retort temperature, the output was the temperature at the thermal center of the can. This model was applied for a typical sterilization process composed of two isothermal steps. The can internal temperature was expressed as a sum of N exponential terms in which appeared the constant holding retort temperatures, the come-up and come-down times and N pairs of heat penetration parameters identified in a preliminary experiment. The model was tested on a potato mash packed in metal cans processed in a vertical still retort. Temperatures estimated by the model agreed closely with those measured during thermal processing.