INACTIVATION OF PSEUDOMONAS-FLUORESCENS BY HIGH-VOLTAGE ELECTRIC PULSES

A 30 kV pulsed power treatment system was designed and developed to pr ocess fluid materials. Our objective was to investigate the effects of high voltage electric pulses on microbial inactivation in an aqueous solution under different operating conditions and fluid properties. El ectric fieId strength at 10 kV/cm for 10 pulses (2 sec pulse period an d 2 mu sec pulse width) with a spike of reverse polarity resulted in s ignificant microbial control. P.fluorescens in various aqueous solutio ns were reduced in population by more than six log cycles. However, th e critical electric field strength was affected by the nature of the p ulse waveform across the treatment chamber which, in turn, was a funct ion of electrode distance and fluid properties. Sudden charge reversal immediately at the end of a pulse provided maximum microbial decay.