Steritherm DSI
Safeguard what makes your products exceptional -taste, aroma, texture, appearance, and nutritional value. Using advanced UHT treatment and direct steam injection, the Alfa Laval Steritherm™ DSI food sterilizer protects quality across liquid foods and plant-based beverages. It rapidly heats to sterilization temperature, cools quickly, and delivers consistent aseptic performance. This high-performance UHT sterilizer maximizes uptime, extends shelf life, and achieves high product integrity.
Maximize uptime and product safety with UHT treatment for liquid food and plant-based beverages
- Protect heat-sensitive products with rapid heating and cooling
- Increase uptime and reduce maintenance costs with automated diagnostics
- Ensure safety with FDA-approved verification of critical parameters
- Reduce energy costs by fully using 100% of the latent heat of steam
- Save space with a compact system that does not require a condensate return
Continuous UHT treatment enhances product stability while preserving natural taste, nutritional value, and sensory qualities of liquid foods, plant-based beverages and other heat-sensitive food products. Using direct steam injection, the Alfa Laval Steritherm DSI gently sterilizes heat-sensitive, low-acid and fouling-prone products. Rapid heating and cooling minimize browning, overcooking, and protein denaturation.
This module combines high-performance steam injection with continuous UHT processing, achieving consistent results while protecting delicate ingredients. Integrated into a complete aseptic bag-in-box production line, it supports reliable production of soups, sauces, baby foods, coconut milk, plant-based beverages, and starch-based products.
Equipped with an automated diagnostics supervision system, the Steritherm DSI improves efficiency, maximizes uptime, and supports continuous production.
How the Steritherm DSI achieves UHT treatment
Direct steam injection flow chart
Before production begins, the module undergoes sterilization-in-place (SIP) using superheated water. After SIP, the system remains sterile under aseptic conditions until production starts. When the aseptic tank and/or filling machine are ready to receive the processed product, production can start.
Product flow and heating
The product enters the balance tank, the entry point of the Steritherm DSI module. It is first preheated by regeneration in an indirect heat exchanger up to approximately 80°C (176°F). Final heating to sterilization temperature occurs in the steam injector, where high-pressure superheated water is continuously injected directly into the product.
The fully automated module maintains precise control of product temperature and water content. A temperature deviation of more than ±1°C (± 1.8°F) triggers an alarm.
Holding and flash cooling
Sterilization takes place in the holding tube, where the product remains at the desired temperature for the required time. The product then enters a flash vessel operating under vacuum. Pressure and temperature almost instantly drop to 85°C (185°F). Excess water from the injected steam evaporates as vapour and is removed.
The product then enters an optional aseptic homogenizer or can be introduced directly into the cooling section of an indirect heater, where it reaches the required filling temperature.
