A pilot-scale plate heat exchanger (PHE) system having modified surfaces was tested for possible thermal energy savings while pasteurizing milk and tomato juice. The surfaces tested were stainless steel 316 (control), and SS-316 coated with three different commercially available food-grade materials; Lectrofluor-641 (TM), graded Ni-P-PTFE, and AMC148-18. The PHE system was operated continuously for 6 h at a flow rate of 0.162 m(3) h(-1)channel(-1). Of the three coatings, Lectrofluor-641((TM)) had the most promising results. Calculation for total thermal energy consumption indicate that using the Lectrofluor-641TM coated plates results in about 7.68% and 15.86% less energy, respectively, for processing tomato juice and skim milk than when traditional SS-316 plates were used. Overall, results indicate that modifying food processing equipment surface could result in substantial energy savings and need to be explored further. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.