Industrial-scale electroporation of plant material using high repetition rate marx generators

Summary form only given, as follows. Electroporation of biological cells is meanwhile a well understood process. Two possible applications in industry are visible, namely decontamination of liquids from micrometer-scale microorganisms and electroporation of plant material to gain fruit juice and ingredients like starch. Electroporation meets the interest of industry since this procedure promises a lower energy consumption for denaturation than heat treatment procedures. Another important point is to avoid heating of sensitive food products. A review of the literature shows that electric field strengths in the order of 100 kV/cm with microsecond or even submicrosecond pulselengths are under discussion. This calls for pulse generators with several hundred kilovolt output voltage, pulse duration of typical microsecond, 1 kJ stored energy and a repetition rate of minimum 20 Hz. At the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe Marx generators of this type have been developed-mainly for underwater fragmentation purposes which meet industrial demands. Even higher repetition rates seem possible, since the discharge mode is aperiodic. The mobile pilot device KEA (Karlsruhe Elektroporation Anlage) supplied with a 300 kV pulse generator and a mechanical conveyance is able to treat plant raw material. Supplied with a special electrode system KEA can also be used for debacterialisation of liquid products.