The Need: Enabling Efficient Food Heating and Sterilization for Space Missions and Beyond

As human exploration ventures further into outer space, the need for compact, lightweight, and efficient food heating and sterilization technology becomes critical. Traditional heating methods for packaged foods result in uneven sterilization, leading to nutrient and quality loss. Space missions, in particular, face energy constraints, making it essential to have a technology that can heat and sterilize food with minimal electrical power usage. A hermetically sealed container that ensures uniform heating while being reusable for waste processing is highly advantageous.

The Technology: Lightweight and Uniform Ohmic Heating Packet

The ohmic heating packet presents a cutting-edge solution for storing, heating, and sterilizing food and beverage items. The rectangular prism-shaped packet is constructed using a multilayer laminate material, including a sterile food-contact surface, a gas and moisture barrier, and a durable exterior. Its innovative design features electrically conductive tags, electrodes, and stuffings, enabling efficient heating through an electric current. The reverse patch configuration ensures a hermetic seal while preventing short-circuiting and external contamination.

Commercial Applications:

• Space Missions: Ideal for providing astronauts with compact, lightweight, and energy-efficient food heating and sterilization solutions during extended missions in outer space.
• Transport Vehicles: Suitable for use in earth-based transport vehicles, where electrical energy resources may be limited, offering a convenient means for heating and sterilizing food during travel.
• Military Rations: Can be used for carrying and storing pre-sterile, shelf-stabilized food, similar to the Meal Ready to Eat (MRE) packets issued by the US Army.

Benefits/Advantages:

• Energy Efficiency: The ohmic heating packet requires relatively little electrical power, making it highly advantageous for energy-constrained environments, such as space missions.
• Uniform Heating: With its uniform electric field, the packet ensures even heating, reducing sterilization time and preserving food quality and nutrients.
• Hermetic Seal: The reverse patch configuration maintains a hermetic seal, preventing transmission of contaminants and ensuring food safety during heating and sterilization.
• Reusable and Versatile: After food consumption, the packet can be reused for processing waste materials that are otherwise challenging to handle and sterilize, increasing its practicality and sustainability.
• Compact and Lightweight: The lightweight design of the ohmic heating packet makes it an excellent choice for space missions and transport vehicles, where space and weight are critical considerations.

In conclusion, the ohmic heating packet revolutionizes food heating and sterilization for space missions, transport vehicles, and various other applications, offering energy-efficient, uniform heating and a hermetically sealed solution for preserving food quality and safety. Its versatility and reusability further contribute to its appeal as a groundbreaking technology in the field of food heating and sterilization devices.