摘要 |
A low liquid volume retort system is provided with a tunnel disposed within and spaced from the side walls and cover of a retort. A plurality of spaced containers are loaded in the tunnel, and a liquid maintained at a temperature different from that of the containers is then pumped from an inlet end of the tunnel to the outlet end to completely fill the tunnel and to evenly transfer heat between all of the containers and the liquid. The liquid then overflows from the outlet end of the tunnel and gravitates to the lower portion of the retort for return to a desired processing temperature and recirculation through the tunnel. The quantity of liquid required for processing is greatly reduced by filling only the tunnel with liquid, and collecting only a small portion of the liquid at the bottom of the retort before again recirculating the liquid through the tunnel and past the containers therein being processed. |