Industrial Food Cookers—Design Challenges

The food industry utilizes large cookers for sterilization of food products in a variety of containers. Typically, these cookers are in the form of large, slender steel tanks that are partially filled with water and product. Depending on the application, these tanks can be installed in a horizontal or vertical configuration and are supported at discrete limited locations to provide for thermal expansion. The design challenges arise when designing for wind and seismic effects that include sloshing effects and wide temperature variations. In addition, with changing consumer demands for healthy food, cookers are retrofitted for new product lines that put demands on the original design that require modification and upgrades. Cookers can weight in excess of 1,000 kips (454 tonnes) and have temperatures in excess of 250°F (121°C). Several large industrial food cookers are presented in this article, and the analysis and design challenges associated with developing structural design and retrofit solutions to ensure safe operations of these giant cookers are discussed.