Modular Engineering of FloUV Systems (Copy)

UV-C treatment of opaque and viscous liquids—milk, juices, brines, syrups—fails at scale for one simple reason: dose physics does not scale linearly. As reactors grow larger, optical path length increases, turbulence patterns shift, residence time distribution widens, and dose uniformity collapses.

Most UV systems respond by redesigning reactors at every capacity, forcing re-validation, unpredictable performance, and compromised efficacy.

FloUV was engineered around a different principle:

Freeze the physics. Scale the architecture.

Core Design Philosophy: Lock the UV Dose Environment

FloUV’s technology is built on a serpentine helical tubular reactor that delivers controlled UV-C exposure in opaque liquids by tightly managing:

• Optical path length

• Hydrodynamic regime (Reynolds number)

• Dean vortex–driven radial mixing

• Residence time distribution (RTD)

• Lamp-to-fluid geometry

These parameters define dose certainty. Once validated, changing them invalidates the system.

FloUV therefore never scales by enlarging the reactor. Instead, it scales by replicating identical reactor modules.

640 LPH: The Foundational Reactor Module

The 640 LPH system is not a pilot in disguise—it is the fundamental building block of the FloUV platform.

Engineering characteristics

• Fixed tubing diameter and curvature

• Controlled transitional–turbulent flow

• Narrow RTD for predictable UV exposure

• Proven linear dose–response behavior

Why this module matters

• Establishes baseline UV dose per pass

• Anchors microbial and MBRT validation

• Defines quality preservation outcomes

Every larger FloUV system is a multiplication of this exact module.

Scaling to 5,000 LPH: Parallelization, Not Enlargement

Moving from 640 LPH to ~5,000 LPH, FloUV does not increase tube diameter, lamp power, or residence time. Instead, it deploys multiple identical reactor modules in parallel.

System design

• Flow is evenly split using balanced manifolds

• Each module operates at the same velocity

• Each module receives the same UV intensity

• Output streams are recombined downstream

From a dose perspective:

One 640 LPH module × eight = 5,000 LPH system

No change in:

• Optical path length

• Turbulence profile

• UV fluence per pass

This preserves:

• Linear microbial reduction

• Consistent MBRT improvement

• Identical product quality

35,000 LPH: Industrial-Scale Modular Arrays

At 35,000 LPH, FloUV systems transition from “units” to reactor arrays designed for continuous industrial processing.

Architecture at scale

• Dozens of identical reactor modules

• Zoned UV lamp control for redundancy

• Skid-based modular construction

• Parallel CIP loops matched to flow paths

Operational advantages

• No single-point failure

• Maintenance without line shutdown

• Incremental capacity expansion

• Predictable validation transfer

Instead of one oversized reactor, the system behaves like a distributed UV processing network.

Validation Logic: Why Modular Scaling Holds Up

UV-C lethality is governed by:

Dose = Intensity × Exposure Time

Because every FloUV module delivers the same dose, system-level validation scales mathematically rather than empirically.

What this enables

• One-module validation → N-module deployment

• No re-derivation of dose distribution

• Simplified regulatory documentation

• Confidence in log-reduction claims at scale

This stands in contrast to:

• HTST, where heat transfer changes with flow and diameter

• HPP, which is batch-limited and throughput constrained

• Membranes, which sacrifice yield and foul with scale

FloUV remains:

• Continuous

• Non-thermal

• 100% yield

• Predictable at any throughput

Modular Design Enables Retrofit, Not Replacement

Because FloUV scales modularly, it integrates cleanly into existing plants:

• Inline installation without line redesign

• Can operate as a pre-kill step before HTST

• Scales alongside demand instead of upfront oversizing

• Maintains identical validation logic after expansion

For processors, this translates to lower CAPEX, faster commissioning, and reduced regulatory risk.

Engineering Summary

Design FactorTraditional Scale-UpFloUV Modular DesignReactor geometryChanges with sizeFixedUV dose certaintyDegradesPreservedValidation effortRepeatedReusableMaintenance riskCentralizedDistributedExpansion strategyStep-changeIncrementalYieldOften reduced100%

FloUV’s modular architecture is not a mechanical convenience—it is a validation-first engineering strategy.

By locking the UV-C dose environment and scaling throughput through replication, FloUV achieves something rare in food and ingredient processing:

Laboratory-grade dose control at industrial flow rates.

This is what allows FloUV systems to move seamlessly from 640 LPH pilots to 35,000 LPH production lines—without changing the science.