Thermal hygienization of waste animal by-products (ABP) before anaerobic digestion is imposed by EU regulations in order to minimize its sanitary risk during digestate land application. This process is energy and time consuming. The present paper deals with the hygienization of ABP using pulsed electric field (PEF) in a continuous system. Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 19433 and Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 were tested as indicator bacteria characterizing the microbial inactivation efficiency. Four electric field strengths (15, 20, 25 and 30 kV∙cm⁻¹) were applied to the continuous treatment chamber where circulated the ABP suspension. Synergistic effect of PEF and ohmic heating (T_ave = 41 °C) and single effect of PEF (T_ave = 28 °C) on bacterial inactivation were investigated.

With the effect of ohmic heating, PEF treatment at 25 and 30 kV∙cm⁻¹ for 0.9 ms could obtain 5-log10 reduction of Ent. faecalis. This efficiency complies with the EU criteria to validate an alternative hygienization process. The time estimated by Weibull model for 5-log10 reduction of both indicator bacteria (5-D value) was significantly reduced by 2–24.5 times when the synergistic effect of PEF and ohmic heating was present. The increase in electric field strength from 25 kV∙cm⁻¹ to 30 kV∙cm⁻¹ did not amount to a further inactivation. PEF process coupling ohmic heating at 25 kV∙cm⁻¹ was the most efficient for ABP hygienization among the four electric field strengths studied.

欧盟法规要求在厌氧消化之前对废动物副产品（ABP）进行热卫生处理，以最大程度减少其在消化土地应用过程中的卫生风险。该过程耗费能量和时间。本文研究了在连续系统中使用脉冲电场（PEF）对ABP进行卫生处理的问题。测试了粪肠球菌ATCC 19433和大肠杆菌ATCC 25922作为表征微生物灭活效率的指示细菌。将四个电场强度（15、20、25和30 kV∙cm ^-1）施加到使ABP悬浮液循环的连续处理室。PEF和欧姆加热（T _ave  = 41°C）的协同效应和PEF的单效应（T _ave = 28°C）进行细菌灭活研究。

借助欧姆加热的作用，在25和30 kV∙cm ^-1的PEF处理0.9 ms可以使Ent降低5-log10 。粪便。此效率符合欧盟标准，以验证替代的卫生过程。当存在PEF和欧姆加热的协同作用时，Weibull模型估计的两种指示菌的5-log10减少时间（5-D值）显着减少了2–24.5倍。电场强度从25 kV∙cm ^-1增加到30 kV∙cm ^-1并不意味着进一步的失活。在研究的四个电场强度中，PEF过程耦合的25 kV∙cm ^-1的欧姆加热是ABP卫生处理最有效的方法。