THE LETHALITY‐FOURIER NUMBER METHOD: EXPERIMENTAL VERIFICATION OF A MODEL FOR CALCULATING TEMPERATURE PROFILES AND LETHALITY IN CONDUCTION‐HEATING CANNED FOODS

摘要

ABSTRACTA new method (lethality‐Fourier number method) for calculating the center point sterilizing value of a thermal process applied to conduction‐heating foods was developed by combining first‐order destruction kinetics with the Arrhenius equation and dimensionalizing this equation. The temperature profile used in the Arrhenius equation is the theoretical center point temperature profile for heating and cooling of a finite cylinder. These temperature profiles were experimentally verified as adequate models. This verification procedure also produced estimates of the variation in the thermal properties or heating rates of conduction‐heating foods. The final equation is numerically integrated to give charts of dimensionless lethality versus dimensionless time with dimensionless activation energy as a parameter. The method compares favorably with sterilizing values obtained from the Improved General Method and the Formula