Alternative venting in steam retorts—An approach to energy savingsin thermal processing

Abstract

tThe venting operation in retorts operating under steam pressure is an important step in the sterilizationprocess and it aims to steam flush the air from inside the equipment in order to ensure sterilizationsafety. This part of the process is short in time but intensive in steam consumption, and hence this studyevaluated an alternative venting operation based on the use of water to displace the air, aimed at reducingthis energy consumption. The objective was to evaluate the energy consumption in a steam retort loadedwith thermally convective and conductive products, comparing the conventional and alternative ventingprocesses. The steam flow rates showed that the alternative venting process reduced steam consumptionby up to 50% as compared to conventional venting.