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Cost Analysis and Environmental Impact of Pulsed Electric Fields and High Pressure Processing in Comparison with Thermal Pasteurization

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Abstract

The cost of high pressure processing (HPP) and the environmental impact of pulsed electric fields (PEF), HPP and thermal pasteurization of orange juice were estimated in the US. The cost analysis was based on commercial processing conditions that were validated for a 2-month shelf-life of orange juice under refrigeration conditions. Total electricity consumption was estimated to be 38,100 and 1,000,000 k Wh/year for thermal and HPP processing, respectively. Total pasteurization cost of HPP was estimated to be 10.7 ¢/l for processing 16,500,000 l/year (3,000 l/h). Of this, capital costs accounted for 59 % (6.3 ¢/l), labor costs accounted for 37 % (4.0 ¢/l) and utility charges, mainly electricity, accounted for 4 % (0.4 ¢/l). The total HPP cost was 7-folds higher than that of conventional thermal processing (1.5 ¢/l). The equivalent CO2 emission was 90,000 kg for thermal processing and 700,000 and 773,000 kg for PEF and HPP, respectively. This corresponds to an increase between 7- and 8-folds in comparison to the thermal processing. Increasing the production output by 2- to 6-folds reduced the total production costs of nonthermal processing by 50–75 %. A deeper knowledge of the processing costs and environmental impact of nonthermal technologies will afford companies a better understanding of the benefits and limitations of these novel systems.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the Fundación Española para la Ciencia y la Tecnología (FECYT) from Ministerio de Innovación y Ciencia from Spain for providing the postdoctoral grant to Dr. Fernando Sampedro. The authors acknowledge Drs. Tony Jin and Brendan Niemira for their helpful reviews of the final draft. The authors also acknowledge Mr. Joseph Sites for providing technical assistance with the HPP unit and Mr. Michael Kempkes of Diversified Technologies, Inc. (Bedford, MA), Ms. Carole Tonello of Hiperbaric S.A. (Burgos, Spain) and Mr. Nick de Pinto of Avure Technologies (Franklin, TN) for their valuable data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, 1354 Eckles Avenue, Saint Paul, MN, 55108, USA

    F. Sampedro

  2. Residue Chemistry and Predictive Microbiology Research Unit, Agriculture Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Eastern Regional Research Center, 600 E. Mermaid Lane, Wyndmoor, PA, 19038, USA

    F. Sampedro & X. Fan

  3. Sustainable Biofuels and Co-Products Research Unit, Agriculture Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Eastern Regional Research Center, 600 E. Mermaid Lane, Wyndmoor, PA, 19038, USA

    A. McAloon

  4. Office of the Center Director, Agriculture Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Eastern Regional Research Center, 600 E. Mermaid Lane, Wyndmoor, PA, 19038, USA

    W. Yee

  5. Food Safety and Intervention Technologies Research Unit, Agriculture Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Eastern Regional Research Center, 600 E. Mermaid Lane, Wyndmoor, PA, 19038, USA

    D. J. Geveke

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  1. F. Sampedro
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  2. A. McAloon
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  3. W. Yee
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  4. X. Fan
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  5. D. J. Geveke
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Correspondence to D. J. Geveke.

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Sampedro, F., McAloon, A., Yee, W. et al. Cost Analysis and Environmental Impact of Pulsed Electric Fields and High Pressure Processing in Comparison with Thermal Pasteurization. Food Bioprocess Technol 7, 1928–1937 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11947-014-1298-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11947-014-1298-6

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