What is ohmic heating? Learn more about it here.

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What is ohmic heating?

With ohmic heating from Emmepiemme, current is applied directly to the food, which is heated by the resistance created when current flows through the product. It is thus the food's (medium's) own conductivity that creates energy-efficient, fast and precise heating.

A minimal - but sufficient - heat treatment is gentle on the product and results in a more uniform consistency, as well as better flavour and aroma in the heat-treated product.

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Improving the product
- Fast and even heating
- Food quality, nutritional value and flavour are preserved - aroma/flavour can be improved in some cases
- Minimal temperature fluctuations - temperature can be controlled with 0.1-0.3°C accuracy
- Gentle treatment - no overheating necessary
- Minimal risk of burning - no hot surfaces
- Extremely slow fouling build-up - no hot surfaces and no overheating
- Denaturation is reduced
- Less mechanical impact
Improving operations
- Energy efficient - 96% of the energy goes to the product
- Quick warm-up
- Operating temperature is created as soon as the first product is at the last temperature sensor
- Fast cooling - the energy and heat addition is gone as soon as the power is switched off
- Precise heating - temperature rise is customised specifically for each applicator tube
- Homogeneous heating - energy is distributed evenly over the entire product surface in the applicator tubes immediately
- Less cleaning needed, shorter CIP times and longer production time
- Can heat large particles - same system regardless of product composition
- Pressure stable
- Fluctuations as low as 0.1 bar
Contributing to sustainability goals
- CO2-neutral operation - provided green power is used
- No energy loss during downtime due to boiler temperature bypass/maintenance
- By investing in an ohmic system you reduce Scope 2 (CSRD report)

What customers say

Finn Frost, Area Manager at Kerry Ingredients & Flavours, talks about the advantages of ohmic heating and the benefits they have achieved.

"Unlike our previous processes, with ohmic heating we avoid adding water to the product during the process. In addition, we don't experience any reversals, just a precise and stable process. Therefore, we are able to remove a tank and a pump from our line, which optimises our workflow and saves us 1 hour of our CIP. An added bonus for us is that it speaks to our goal of a more sustainable production"

Contact

If you want to learn more about ohmic heating from Emmepiemme, get in touch with Philip or Martin.

Philip Ellegaard Andersen

Area Sales Manager - Food & Beverage DK

T: +45 2917 3230

M: pea@alflow.dk

Martin Kjældgaard Pedersen

Product & Field Service Manager

T: +45 2295 1461

M: mkp@alflow.dk

Experiences from the Danish Technological Institute

Christian Vestergaard, Senior Consultant for Food Safety & Quality at the Danish Technological Institute talks about their experience with ohmic heating.

Among other things, he mentions energy efficiency as a very important parameter. The efficiency of ohmic heating is about twice that of traditional heating systems that burn fossil fuels and generate steam for heating.

In addition, he points out that the method is gentle as you can quickly increase the temperature, so the thermal load on the product will be lower than with conventional heating, where you have thermal gradients.

The method is also volumetric, which means that the entire product is heated simultaneously and very quickly, so there are no heat gradients and therefore no burns. This results in better product quality overall.

Areas of application

Ohmic heating is a proven technology and has a wide range of applications:

Heating liquid and semi-liquid (pumpable) foods such as soups, stews, sliced fruit in syrup, sauces and juices, etc.
Processing protein foods that tend to denature and coagulate (burn) when heat treated.
Juices and juices can be electro-heated quickly and gently to retain flavour and aroma.
Processes such as blanching, thawing, fermentation, peeling, dehydration and extraction.

About Emmepiemme

Emmepiemme has invented and manufactures Ohmic heating systems and offers different types of installations and technical solutions to ensure a reliable and efficient process.

Emmepiemme srl is the world's leading manufacturer of ohmic heating technology, producing a wide range of systems for the food industry and other areas.

Emmepiemme Ohmic heating is the result of a research project started in 1993, which resulted in a highly reliable heating system with a wide application.

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You are always welcome to contact us if you want to learn more about how we can help with flow solutions that make a difference.

At Alflow, it's not just about technology - it's about creating confidence, efficiency and results together with you.