HIPLT

-Prashanta Pokhrel

QQQQQQQQQQ ???
Q Which rays have highest energy ?
options a) having lower wavelength
b) having higher wavelength
E = h .....................(1)
=c/
or, E =h.c/ .........(2)
Q: How are electromagnetic waves produced?

Introduction to HIPL Technology

Q: what is pulsed light? Any examples?
Non-thermal method.
Intense, short duration, broad-spectrum light is
exposed to a food or package.
Safe use of a source of high intensity light to control
microorganisms on the surface of foods.
Spectrum of the pulse ranges from UV to NIR.
In comparison to general continuous UV treatment,
PL has higher penetration depth and emmission
power.

Introduction to HIPLT processing..

wavelength of
UV, IR, visible

Although the spectrum is similar to sunlight, the

disinfection effect is due to the high intensity
which is 20,000 to 90,00 higher than that of
sunlight at the earths surface.
Some specificaitons of pulsed light .
Energy density: 0.01-50J/cm2.
Number of pulses 1-20.
Duration of pulses 1us to 0.1 second.

Pulses = incoherent, however we can screen the

required spectrum (UVC more effective.)

Principle of PL
1. Photothermal effect:
When electromagnetic waves hit a surface some are
reflected while some waves are absorbed by materials which
penetrate the object. The absorbed light energy is generally
dissipated as heat, resulting in a temperature equal to
Ec =A.k.t. (dT/dx) (3) Ec=Heat transfer by conduction

2. Photochemical effect: UV-rays entering around 260-280

nm are strongly absorbed by nucleic acids and the rays are

therefore genotoxic. The rays work principally by forming
dimers between two thymines (see figure below). Dimer
structures bring about replication errors.
Fig: Formation of dimer

 Irradiation source: Xenon flash lamps 2001100 nm wavelength.

Pulse durations no longer than 2 ms.
Total cumulative treatment not to exceed 12
J/cm2.
The treated products temperature.....

Pulse light Vc Continuous light

The most imp feature
number of pulses
pulse light have therefor e
higher depth of penetration.

Fig 1: power delivered by continuous light and pulses of

different duration having equal energy content.

System of HIPL Technology

In a general PL system (Fig 3:), continuous lowpower electric energy is:
1 collected from a primary energy source
2 accumulated and temporarily stored
3 rapidly released and converted into pulsed high-power
electric energy which is then
4 converted into pulsed high-power light energy and finally
5 delivered to the desired target.

Application
microbial inactivation of food products, food
related packaging and food processing
equipments.
Pre-treatment of food surface before taking to
other processing.
Disinfection of room,equipments and so on.
Actually Pl is only a surface treating method.

Xenon disinfection example

disinfection of caps..

Effect on food ...

No significant destruction of nutrients.
Enhancement of Vit D content.
effective in significantly reducing the activity of a wide variety of
enzymes (oxidoreductases, hydrolases, lipases, isomerases,
proteinases, etc.) present within a layer of 0.1 mm deep. However
Vegetables and fruits such as poatoes, bananas, and apples can
undergo enzymatic browning.

PPO can be inactivated using light pulses. Slices of

potatoes cut and exposed on one side to pulsed
light retain a fresh appearance. The unexposed
surface, however, does undergo browning.

Limitations of the PL Technology

Light sensitive products cannot be treated (may induce
oxidation reactions)
When we target to achieve sterilization by PL technique,
thermal effect dominates the UV effect, visual and flavour
qualities of food powders suffer undesirable change.
Seeds cannot be treated for disinfection.
HIgher amount of pulse elevate temperature, so cooling is
neecessary.
food proteins & CHOs can absorb radiation from higher no.
of pulses.
Uniformity of the treatment is limited by the product
geometry and opacity
Xenon/other lights have low life.

Thank you