UHT SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR HEAT TREATING TEMPERATURE-SENSITIVE FOOD PRODUCTS

摘要

The invention relates to a UHT system for heat treating temperature-sensitive food products, in particular desserts or dessert-like products, comprising a pre-heating zone and a subsequent high-heating zone according to the preamble of claim 1. The aim of the invention is to achieve accurate and fast temperature adjustment of the food product leaving the pre-heating zone to the temperature conditions at the inlet of the high-heating zone in a UHT system of the generic type, and at the same time, with an equal dwell time for all partial amounts of the food product, to ensure that the food product is treated in a particularly thermally gentle manner and to keep the mechanical loading of the food product as low as possible. Said aim is achieved in that the first line section (L1) is conducted across a trimming heater (10) heated by means of a third heating medium (M3), a return line (LR) branches off from the second line section (L2) at a branch point (V1), the return line opening into the first line section (L1) at a union point (V2) upstream of the trimming heater (10) with respect to the flow direction of the first heating medium (M1) in the first line section (L1), a second conveying device (3) that conveys from the branch point (V1) to the union point (V2) is arranged in the return line (LR), and of the product-conducting heat exchangers of the pre-heating and high-heating zones (100, 100-1,...; 100+1, 100+2,...), at least the first heat exchanger of the pre-heating zone (100) is designed such that, for the at least one tube bundle (100.i), all inner tubes (300) are arranged in the shape of a circular ring, on a single circle (K), and, in an outer channel (200*) designed as an annular chamber, extend in the longitudinal direction of the outer channel, and are supported at each end in a tube support plate (700, 800).