Technology

3-D process

Traditional heat treatment technologies only work on two dimensions. The temperature and time dimensions are necessary but not sufficient to preserve and guarantee the intrinsic qualities of the products.

Steripure has therefore innovated by introducing a third dimension into the debacterisation process: pressure (positive or negative). Expertise in the simultaneous management of temperature, time and pressure is the strength of the Steripure process. The perfect control of these three key elements ensures a much higher efficiency than traditional pasteurisation solutions.

Thus the control of the pressure in the pasteurisation chamber guarantees, for a given temperature, a perfect steam, neither wet nor dry. Indeed, dry steam is not effective in reducing the bacterial load and wet steam alters the characteristics of the product.

Saturated steam contains 5 times more energy, enthalpy, than water or dry air at the same temperature.

So, for example, boiling water at 100°C contains no more enthalpy than hot air at 100°C, i.e. 417 to 421 k joules. On the other hand, if you evaporate water into steam, still at 100°C, it contains 2257 joules – 5 times more energy than it gives off when it condenses on the surface of the product.

At 121°, it takes 15 minutes to fully sterilise a product with saturated steam, whereas at the same dry air temperature it takes 600 minutes.

Two types of equipment for two processes

Steripure is equipped with two systems: static and rotary. They both work on a saturated steam injection principle to control the 3 dimensions. These two systems allow Steripure to work with a wide variety of products.

The steps of the static process

The static equipment was developed in 2012. And the profession immediately recognised the innovation (ProcessAlimentaire-May 2012). This process makes it possible to process chunky or fragile products. Nuts, pistachios, almonds, macadamias, pine nuts, cinnamons (etc…) thus retain all their organoleptic qualities. Discover this technology on video.

The rotating process

The rotary equipment was developed in 2020. As soon as it was put into production, this technique made it possible to efficiently process new product families such as seeds or powders. Already, sesame, flax, pink berries, cocoa powder, chia, turmeric, lichen and cumin no longer hold any secrets for the Steripure teams. As with the static process, this equipment guarantees the cleanliness of your products and the preservation of their organoleptic qualities.

4 production lines

With its two types of equipment, and 2 production lines for each, Steripure has a double advantage:

• Steripure’s technology allows it to process a wide range of natural products while guaranteeing all of their organoleptic qualities.
• Steripure’s equipment enables it to process quantities of a few kilograms to several dozen tonnes per day with ease.