The UHT sterilizer stands for Ultra High Temperature Instantly Sterilizing, the liquid food and beverage will be heated to 137℃-140℃ for 3-5S to kill all the bacteria and reach commercial aseptic.  It is mainly used for sterilizing fruit juices, fruit purees or fruit concentrates, fruit pulp with high fiber and solid content(solid size less than 5*5*5mm and solid content less than 30%) or fresh milk, fruit juice(apple juice, orange juice, pineapple juice, pomegranate juice), beverages, and alcohol. If the sterilizer is matched with a high-pressure homogenizer, it can also be applied to highly viscous materials. The sterilizer can connect with an aseptic filler for aseptic product processing.

Dairy products: UHT treatment is extensively used in dairy products such as milk, flavored milk, cream, yogurt, and various dairy-based beverages. It helps extend the shelf life of these products up to several months, allowing for distribution without refrigeration.

Fruit and vegetable juice, puree and beverages: Fruit pulp and juices, vegetable juices, and other beverage products can use UHT sterilizer for heat treatment and make the products with a stable shelf life.

Plant-based milk products: coconut milk, soy milk, almond milk, oat milk and other plant-based milk production is widely used with UHT treatment for protein stabilization and prolong the shelf life and inactivate the enzymes.

Coffee and Tea Products: UHT processing is utilized in the production of ready-to-drink coffee and tea beverages, ensuring microbiological safety and extended shelf life.

—Low acid products(pH ＞4.6) UHT sterilizing process is 135-150℃ for 2-5S. Heat-resistant spores, molds, yeasts and pathogens are all killed with this sterilizing process, the most typical products are milk, plant-based beverage, vegetable juice, and soup.

—Medium acid products(pH is 4.2-4.6):123-125℃ for 15S heat treatment can produce commercially sterile products with the ambient distribution.

—High acid products(pH＜4.2) UHT sterilizing process is 90-95℃ for 15-30S. but if the raw material contains Alicyclobacillus bacteria or heat-resistant mould spores, the heat treatment must be above 100°C. Because in high-acid products, the acid can inhibit the Thermotolerant Bacillus, and with this sterilizing process, the mold and yeast can be killed to realize the products’ commercial aseptic. Tomato products, fruit juice, dressings, fermented milk and dairy products all belong to the high acid products.

UHT equipment is fully automated and has four operating phases: equipment pre-sterilization, production, ALC (Aseptic Intermediate Cleaning) and CIP (Cleaning In Place).

Pre-sterilization

Equipment must be sterilized before production to avoid re-contamination of sterilized products. Pre-sterilization includes:
* Hot water sterilization at the same temperature as production must be performed. The minimum time for hot water sterilization is 30 minutes, from the moment when the appropriate temperature is reached to when all parts of the equipment have reached the temperature requirements.
* The equipment is cooled to the conditions required for production.

Production

After the pre-sterilization of the equipment is completed, the material can be pumped to the balance tank on the sterilizer, and then the material is transported to the heat exchanger through the material pump and preheated to 70°C to be homogenized by the homogenizer. After the homogenization is completed, the material is heated to the sterilization temperature (130-140°C) in the heating section of the heat exchanger again, and after staying in the holding tube for 1-4S, it flows through the cooling section of the heat exchanger to cool down to the filling temperature for aseptic filling or pump into aseptic tanks for storage.

Aseptic Intermediate Cleaning

A full CIP cycle is usually carried out immediately at the end of production and takes 70 to 90 minutes. It is very beneficial to have aseptic intermediate cleaning in production. When the equipment is running for a long time, a 30-minute AIC can be performed whenever it is necessary to remove deposits in the production system without compromising sterility. Equipment does not have to be re-sterilized after AIC, which saves downtime and extends production time.

Cleaning In Place

The CIP cycle of direct and indirect UHT equipment can include the following procedures, pre-washing, alkali washing, rinsing with water, acid washing and final rinsing, all of which are automatically controlled according to the predetermined time/temperature.

• Product balance tank with level control
• Centrifuge pump for SIP and CIP  process
• Product Screw or centrifuge pump
• Hot water centrifuge pump
• Hot water tank
• Flowmeter for products and water
• SUS304/316L shell and tube heat exchanger/plate heat exchanger/scraped surface heat exchanger
• Frequency converters mounted on the frame
• The steam control valve system
• Human-machine interface(HMI) and Programmable Logic Controller(PLC) mounted on the control panel
• One SUS304 independent electronic control cabinet
• Pipes, valves, bends, internal signal wires, engineering and programming
• Machine frame

The material is heated to 130 ～ 140 ℃ through a tube and shell heat exchanger/plate heat exchanger/scrape surface heat exchanger in a continuous flow state, and maintained at this temperature for a certain time (1 to 4 seconds) to reach a commercial sterility level, and then in a sterile state fill in sterile packaging containers in a sterile environment. The entire sterilization process is completed in an instant under high temperature, which will completely kill the microorganisms and spores that can cause the material to spoil and deteriorate. At the same time, the original flavor and nutrients of the food are greatly preserved. This strict processing technology and accurate processing method of the equipment effectively prevent secondary pollution of the food and greatly extend the shelf life of the product. The UHT process preferably uses an in-line casing heat exchanger sterilization system. Because of its reliable working performance under high steam pressure and ultra-high temperature conditions, especially the continuous working time can be up to more than ten hours. Sterilization systems are more widely used.

Tubular UHT sterilizers are widely used in fully automatic systems for “sterile” and “non-sterile” heat treatment of liquid foods. The product has a wide range of viscosities and can adapt to fibers and particles. and the control components are all international famous brand products, including PLC program controller and industrial control panel, steam pressure reducing and regulating valve, diverter valve, pressure regulator valve, material pump, hot water pump.

1. The product has a wide range of viscosity. The use environment pH value is 1 to 14. It is suitable for fresh milk, pasteurized milk, yogurt, color milk, fruit juice, tea beverage, wine, ice cream, soy milk, milk beverage, longevity milk, jam Aseptic production of products such as foods, sauces, etc. The products treated by the UHT sterilization system can be maintained at room temperature for 3 to 6 months (without the addition of any preservatives) under aseptic packaging conditions.
2. The equipment is fully or semi-automatic computer controlled, touch LCD operation.
3. Instant processing to maintain the original flavor of the product.
4. PID temperature control system, the sterilization temperature is continuously recorded on the recorder in real time.
5. The product heat treatment process is uniform, and the heat recovery rate is as high as 90%.
6. There is no contact point in the tube, no dead corners, the product will not stick to the tube, and the corrugated tube forms a high turbulence during the sterilization process, and has a self-cleaning effect in the material flow process, so it is not easy to form scale and pollution in the tube.
7. Long continuous running time and better CIP self-cleaning effect.
8. Fewer spare parts and lower operating costs.
9. Easy installation, inspection and disassembly, convenient pipeline maintenance.
10. Reliable materialSUS304 or SUS316L, can withstand higher product pressure.
11. The temperature difference between the heating medium and the material is small, and gentle heating can be achieved. The heat exchange tubes adopt a combination of multiple tubes. Each tube adopts automatic polishing technology and automatic welding technology. There are no dents in the tube. This increase the continuous working time of the sterilizer.
12.  High degree of automation, the entire process from CIPprocess, SIP process and material sterilization processcan be automatically controlled.
13. The sterilization temperature control is accurate and reliable: the steam valve is used to automatically adjust the temperature to maintain heat and pressure.
14. The system has strong security, and the system accessories are selected with good performance and high reliability. The system design attaches great importance to personnel, equipment safety, steam, hot water, materials, etc. have pressure protection measures and alarm systems.
15. Sterilizer series production capacity can be from 1 ~ 30t / h, typical sterilization temperature is 90 ~ 140 ℃, can be connected to any filling machine (sterile or other types), sterilizer and control system installation On the chassis, the control components are all international brand-name products, including PLC program controller and industrial control panel, steam pressure reducing and regulating valve, diverter valve, pressure regulator valve, material pump, hot water pump.
16. Designed for high precision product / water temperature difference control. The product is pumped from the balance tank, preheated to the homogenization temperature, and then preheated to 90 ~ 95 ° C to stabilize the milk protein, then sterilized by ultra-high temperature, and finally cooled to the filling temperature. Hot water pre-sterilization of the system is in the circulation loop, saving energy.

Q: What do we need to know before asking for the quotation?

A: 1. Please offer us what product/material you want to sterilize.

2. The product/material pH, viscosity value, fiber, or pulp content.

3. The processing capacity of the sterilizer you need and if the capacity needs variable.

4. What is the product/material inlet and outlet UHT sterilizer temperature?

5. Do you prefer to use a direct and indirect heating system.

6. Is the product/material heat-sensitive?

Q: What products can this sterilizer be used for?

A: Milk, flavor milk, plant-based milk(soymilk, oat milk, almond milk, coconut milk, rice milk, seed milk), NFC juice, juice with pulp or fiber, fruit puree, coffee drinks, tea drinks, aseptic products.

Q: Which type of UHT sterilizer do you have? 

A: From the heat exchanger, the UHT sterilizer can be divided into the plate heat exchanger(PHE), tubular heat exchanger(THE) and tube in tube heat exchanger(TTHE) and scraped surface heat exchanger(SSHE). These sterilizers can process the viscosity of the product is PHE＜THE＜TTHE＜SSHE

From the heating method, it can be divided into direct heating and indirect heating. The direct heating method refers to DSI(direct steam injection/infusion), which is suitable for treating gentle and accurate heating of high-quality products; The indirect heating method refers to tubular sterilizer, it is using steam to heat water and hot water to heat the product/materials, which is suitable for sterilizing fiber juice or puree, tea drinks, and coffee.