There is no commercially available continuous IPL system on the market. Therefore an experimental continuous IPL apparatus must be developed for this project. A typical IPL equipment is composed of one or more xenon lamp units, a power unit, a high-voltage connection that allows the transfer of a high current electrical pulse, and a mechanism to transport foods to where exposure to IPL takes place.
Our design is based on following principles: (1) It will be a continuous process; (2) Food particles are fluidized/dispersed in treatment volume; (3) The aerodynamic conditions within the treatment volume will ensure all particles and their surfaces are exposed evenly to the prescribed IPL dosage (fluence) (sufficiently high probability); and (4) Energy input, flow rate, and treatment time can be conveniently regulated.
An experimental IPL was developed (picture on the right) and has been used extensively in the experiments to study the effects of different processing conditions on bacteria inactivation. Since then, several generations/modifications were developed. Current system includes sample conditioning and environmental control, which enables uniform and relatively long continuous treatments without the needs to re-feed samples to meet the treatment time requirement.
