Finite Element Simulation of the Acoustic Pressure Inside a Beverage Container for Non-Thermal, Ultrasound-based Pasteurization

Technical Report · Thu Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 2022

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1887000· OSTI ID:1887000

Branch, Darren W. ^[1]

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1. Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), Albuquerque, NM, and Livermore, CA (United States)

The purpose of this effort is to investigate whether large acoustic pressure waves can be transmitted inside beverage containers to enable pasteurization. Acoustic waves are known to induce large nonlinear compressive forces and shock waves in fluids, suggesting that compression waves may be capable of damaging bacteria inside beverage containers without appreciably increasingly the temperature or altering the freshness and flavor of the beverage contents. Although a combined process such as thermosonication (e.g., sonication with heating) is likely more efficient, it is instructive to compute the acoustic pressure field distribution inside the beverage container. The COMSOL simulations used two and three-dimensional models of beverage containers placed in a water bath to compute the acoustic pressure field. A limitation of these COMSOL models is that they cannot determine the bacterial lysis efficiency, rather the models provide an indirect metric of bacterial lysis based on the magnitude of the pressure field and its distribution.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); NMSBA program
• DOE Contract Number: NA0003525
• OSTI ID: 1887000
• Report Number(s): SAND2022-12273R; 709756
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES