Improvement of construction materials used in the food industry to lengthening processing time (MODSTEEL) / Funded by European Commission, GROWTH (G5RD-CT-1999-0066)

Fouling of processing equipment upon heating is one of the major problems in the dairy industry as deposit formation limits the desired heat transfer required for the microbiological safety of the product, reduces the flow and leads to pressure build up, whereas bacterial adhesion in the cooling section can lead to post-pasteurization microbial contamination. Cleaning at regular intervals is essential to overcome these problems. However, this requires interruption of processing, use of cleaning agents and large amounts of rinsing water, all attributing negatively to the cost of a process and leading to environmental problems. The aim of the project is to minimize fouling and to reduce cleaning by altering the surface properties of the heating surface, i.e. steel, to make it less attractive for the fouling components.