Pasteurization of Milk

by Alejandro Barbosa Alzate

Submitted : Spring 2010

For this project I was asked to determine the number of minutes that the milk should be heated to achieve the same bacteria level as it would if it was heated at a constant temperature of 150oF for 30 minutes. In order to accomplish this task, I need to know how much bacteria would be at the end of a normal pasteurization with constant temperature of 150 oF. The problem was that I did not know what was the initial concentration, so I decide to make a ratio of concentration, and that ratio should be equal to the ratio of the other pasteurization with changing temperature. After solving the equations of the two pasteurizations, solve for a ratio in both equation and then making them equal I got an integration that it was not possible to find an analytical solution. Therefore I had to do a numerical computation to solve it and find the final time.

[ Back ]