The Practical Courses aim at providing hands-on experience on major topics relevant for PEF applications.
Course 1: Microbial Inactivation and Preservation by PEF
Lecturer: Felix Schottroff, Marija Zunabovic-Pichler and Anna Krottenthaler
- Batch and continuous PEF treatment of liquids
- Role of product and process parameters on the inactivation
- Consideration of thermal effects
- Inactivation kinetics
- Characterization of PEF damage to microbial cells (Flow Cytometry)
Course 2: Plant Cell Disintegration by PEF
Lecturer: Thomas Fauster, Cinzia Mannozzi and Peter Pirc
- Treatment of solid or pumpable plant raw materials
- Methods for the quantification of cell disintegration
- Impact on subsequent processing steps (juice recovery, drying, extraction, cutting, peeling)
- Comparison to other cell disintegration techniques
Course 3: Modelling & Simulation (kindly conducted by TU Berlin and University of Salerno)
Lecturer: Tobias Horneber, Christopher McHardy and Gianpiero Pataro
- Material parameters relevant for PEF modelling and simulation
- Introduction to modelling and simulation software
- Description of flow pattern, electric field and temperature distribution
- Experimental validation concepts
- Simulation tools for treatment chamber design optimization
- Modelling electric field and thermal effects on cells, tissue and ingredients
Course 4: Pulse Generation & Equipment Design (kindly conducted by University of Ljubljana)
Lecturer: Eva Pirc, Matej Rebersek and Bernhard Schmeitzl
- Components of pulse generating systems
- Design of pulse generators for different pulse characteristics
- Measurement of electrical output parameters
Course 5: Emerging Food Processing Technologies
Lecturer: Henry Jäger and Max Gratz, CEPLANT/Roplass: Dusan Kovacik, Tomas Moravek, Vlasta Stepanova
- Ohmic Heating for preservation and thermal cell disintegration
- High Pressure Processing for microbial inactivation and structure modification
- Pulsed Light surface decontamination
- Cold Plasma applications