Method And System For A UHT Processing Of A Drinkable Plant-Based Food Product Under Sterile Conditions

A method for UHT processing of a drinkable plant-based food product under sterile conditions,

• in which the food product (RP;
• FP) in the form of a raw product (RP) used, a homogeneous mixture of a carrier liquid (TF) and at least one plantal substrate (TM), constitutes a continuous phase (TF+TM), and at least one solid admixture (B) is fed additively into the continuous phase (TF+TM), said admixture (B) constituting a dispersed phase (B) and, with the continuous phase (TF+TM), entering into a material solution in the form of the raw product (RP),
• in which until a drinkable finished product (FP) is produced, the raw product (RP) is subjected, in the sequence mentioned in the following, to a thermal treatment (W) at least by a pre-warming (VW), a pre-heating (VE), a high-heating (HE), a heat-maintenance (HH) and a cooling (K), and in the course of the thermal treatment (W) undergoes a homogenization (HG), and
• in which the thermal treatment (W) occurs in each case by indirect heat exchange between a product-side flow (RS) in the interior of a pipe and a heat carrier medium (Wm1, Wm2) external to the pipe,
• characterized in that
• at least in one section of the thermal treatment (W), in which the at least one admixture (B) begins to precipitate out of the material solution, the raw product (RP), above a precipitation temperature (Ta),
• on the one hand, a first pulsed flow (PS1) is applied to the product-side flow (RS) in the interior of the pipe in the course of a pressure increase process using a pressure-increasing pump (9), said flow (PS1) is superimposed on a second pulsed flow (PS2) within the product side flow (RS) in the interior of the pipe resulting from the homogenization (HG) by means of a homogenizer (10), and
• on the other hand, the product-side flow (RS) in the interior of the pipe is designed for a highly turbulent flow with a Reynolds number (Re) above 30,000 (Re>30,000).