Tetra Therm® Aseptic VTIS - Direct UHT treatment unit0 pages

Tetra Lactenso™ Aseptic

Tetra Therm® Aseptic VTIS
Direct UHT treatment unit

For direct UHT treatment in tubular or plate heat exchangers, available as a separate unit or as an integrated
part of a Tetra Lactenso Aseptic dairy production solution,
with guaranteed performance.

Before production can start, it is necessary to sterilize the
aseptic area by circulating pressurized hot water. After sterilization, the unit is cooled down to production temperature.
Finally, sterile water is circulated through the product circuit.

Application

Production starts by lling the unit with product via the balance
tank. The product displaces the water/product mix to the drain
or reject tank. A specially designed balance tank and valve
arrangement minimizes the amount of mixed product.

Aseptic processing unit for continuous UHT treatment with
direct steam injection. Mainly for heat-sensitive low-acid
products such as milk, enriched milk, cream, soy milk, formulated dairy products, ice-cream mix, dairy desserts as well as
ESL (extended shelf life) products.

Working principle
The unit is fully automated to safeguard the aseptic status
while in production. The operation can be divided into four
steps:
• Pre-sterilization
• Production
• Aseptic intermediate cleaning (AIC)
• Cleaning in place (CIP)

When an aseptic tank or lling machine is ready, production
can start. The product is regeneratively pre-heated to about
80 °C in a Tetra Spirao tubular heat exchanger or, as an alternative, in a Tetra Plex plate heat exchanger. Instant heating
to sterilization temperature takes place in the steam injector by continuous injection of high pressure steam into the
product.
The product enters a holding tube where it is held at sterilization temperature for the required period of time. The
product then enters the ash vessel where the pressure and
temperature drop instantly. The excess water in the form of
steam is ashed off.