Patent ID: 8691310

Claim:
A method of extending the production time of a pasteuriser, the pasteuriser being of the type which includes a plate heat exchanger with a number of sections, of which at least one section consists of a regenerative section, the regenerative section including an upstream part and a downstream part configured so that a product flows through the upstream part prior to flowing through the downstream part, the method comprising: raising the temperature in the downstream part of the regenerative section to a temperature above 50° C., during a certain predetermined period of time and at regular intervals; during normal production, shunting past the downstream part of the regenerative section a portion of the product which would otherwise flow through the downstream part of the regenerative section; and at the regular intervals and during the predetermined period of time: (i) shunting past the upstream part of the regenerative section a portion of the product which would otherwise flow through the upstream part of the regenerative section; and (ii) passing all of the product through the downstream part of the regenerative section.