Patent ID: 7644654

Claim:
An apparatus for pasteurizing a liquid product in a continuous flow, the apparatus comprising: regenerative heat exchanger having a first inlet, a second inlet, and an outlet, the first inlet being configured to receive the product from a pump; a pasteurizing heat exchanger having an inlet conduit fluidly coupled to the outlet of the regenerative heat exchanger so as to receive the product therefrom, and an outlet conduit fluidly coupled to the second inlet of the regenerative heat exchanger; a hot water source and a cold water source; a water conduit fluidly passing through the pasteurizing heat exchanger; a temperature sensor operatively associated with the pasteurizing heat exchanger so as to generate an output signal indicative of the temperature of the product in the pasteurizing heat exchanger; and a mixing valve fluidly coupling the water conduit to the hot water source and the cold water source, the valve being operable to supply a controllable-variable mixture of hot and cold water to the pasteurizing heat exchanger in response to the output signal from the temperature sensor.