Thermal death of microorganisms in the liquid medium follows first order kinetics. If the initial cell concentration in the fermentation medium is 10⁸ cells / ml and the final acceptable contamination level is 10⁻³ cells, for how long should 1m³ medium be treated at temperature of 120° (thermal deactivation rate constant = 0.23 / min) to achieve acceptable load? (A) 48 min (B) 11 min (C) 110 min (D) 20 min

Thermal death of microorganisms in the liquid medium follows first order kinetics. If the initial cell concentration in the fermentation medium is 10⁸ cells / ml and the final acceptable contamination level is 10⁻³ cells, for how long should 1m³ medium be treated at temperature of 120° (thermal deactivation rate constant = 0.23 / min) to achieve acceptable load?
(A) 48 min
(B) 11 min
(C) 110 min
(D) 20 min