Packed (Belgium)

Abstract Alternative packaging concepts for two dry, shelf‐stable food products were evaluated. A trade‐off between recyclability (monolayer materials) and performance (multilayered high‐barrier materials) was made for the packaging materials. Caramellized cookies were packaged in flowpacks made of PP film (OTR 1307 cc/m2/d, WVTR 5 g/m2/d), acryl‐coated PVdC/PP film (OTR 21.8 cc/m2/d, WVTR 4.2 g/m2/d) as a reference material and metallized PP (MPP) film (OTR 31.2 cc/m2/d, WVTR 0.4 g/m2/d) and stored at 22°C and 50% relative humidity. Texture was compromised after 6 months of storage for the former two materials, while the latter provided an extension of textural acceptability. Whole milk powder was packaged in unsealed PE bags as a reference, representing a typical paper bag with a PE liner that is stapled shut without a seal. Alternative packages were sealed PE bags (OTR 1464 cc/m2/d, WVTR 3 g/m2/d), PE/PA/EVOH/PA/PE (OTR 0.25 cc/m2/d, WVTR 0.95 g/m2/d) and PA/EVOH/PA/PE (OTR 1.24 cc/m2/d, WVTR 8 g/m2/d) multilayer bags, and PP/Al/PE (OTR 0.1 cc/m2/d, WVTR 0.1 g/m2/d) bags and stored at room temperature and relative humidity between 70% and 90%. Unsealed bags were found to be unacceptable for storage at high humidity, due to excessive caking, discolouration and mould growth. Sealed PE bags provided adequate protection against moisture, yet not against oxygen ingress, leading to oxidative off‐odours. The barrier efficiency of PA/EVOH/PA/PE was compromised by the high humidity. Both PE/PA/EVOH/PA/PE and PP/Al/PE bags provided adequate protection for over a year.

We develop an evaluation framework for the validation of conformance checkers for the long-term preservation. The framework assesses the correctness, usability, and usefulness of the tools for three media types: PDF/A (text), TIFF (image), and Matroska (audio/video). Finally, we report the results of the validation of these conformance checkers using the proposed framework. In general, the presented framework is a high-level tool that can be quite easily employed in other preservation-related tasks.

A conceptual design is presented for a reactor producing 3000 deg F, 400 psi steam to supply process heat for high temperature endothermic chemical reactions. Specifically, the supplying of heat to a coal hydrogenation plant is studied but other applications are possible. Such a market for nuclear heat is economically interesting because the competition is with the relatively expensive oxygen combustion of coal. It was assumed that in the present state of the art a ceramic heat source could not contain nuclear fuel in an open cycle due to the hazard of fission product leakage into the process stream. This assumption limited the high temperature heat source to the order of 10% of the total reactor power. The particular design studied was found to be not economically feasible due 10 the unusually large inventory of enriched uranium required. However, it is felt that with the suggested changes, nuclear process heat from this type of reactor oould be competitive if the excess power produced could be sold economically. (auth)