Product category:
Food Processing News
News Release from: Ingredient Handling Solutions | Subject: AZO dairy handling
Edited by the Processingtalk Editorial
Team on 22 October 2004
Sanitary designs for conveying in the
dairy
System concepts in bulk materials handling for food products have become increasingly similar to the pharmaceutical industry over the last few years, in line with machine and consumer requirements
System concepts in bulk materials handling for food products have become increasingly similar to the pharmaceutical industry over the last few years, in line with machine requirements Top-notch production requires high-quality raw materials without impurities
This article was originally published on Processingtalk on 9 Feb 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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For production process flexibility, with a focus on sanitary design and automated materials handling, customers are demanding closed systems and low-dusting product intake with air regulation by means of large sized filters.
Safety in the work place, as well as the avoidance of cross-contamination, is also a key issue.
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Systems must have good-flow characteristics and easy-to-clean access.
At a quick glance silos, hoppers, conveying systems, screeners, weighing systems and process-leading systems may seem similar.
A complete system will need to be divided into individual parts.
The devil is in the detail when it comes to calculating costs, particularly in regards to sanitation.
ATEX-regulations have brought the subject into the spotlight and any critical zones within production areas will be identified through safety risk assessments.
Also popular within food production, taking a lead from the pharmaceutical industry, is the use of modular technology.
Raw material supply and handling materials supplied in bags can go off and the tendency is to use medium sized packings, BIG BAGs, containers or supply in silo vehicles.
Materials supplied in BIG BAGs need to be transferred to the discharge station, docked dust-tight, and discharged (even those with bad flow properties).
As a basic variant the BIG BAG connection system has achieved market-wide success.
Raw materials supplied by silo vehicles are fed pneumatically into outdoor silos and during product change-over it is useful to clean the silos.
Silos generally have a manhole cover with a hoist for this purpose.
A manhole with sight glass and one-hand operation is recommended for indoor silos, if possible with a materials deflector in order to avoid residuals in the manhole area.
These are tiny details but have a positive effect on the practical work undertaken.
Self-cleaning filter systems ensure safe and fault free silo feeding and it is useful to design silos with a mechanical filter.
More common for a maintainable design is the cleaning of filters by compressed air.
This means the filter bags can be inspected quickly, demounted and replaced.
Low dusting product intake into the closed system is very important - particularly with regards to ATEX compliance.
Ergonomic feeding hoppers are recommended for use in the product intake area so that bags are discharged with a minimum of dust into the closed system.
It is essential that any discharge opening is exhausted accordingly.
This can be done by a central filter, ie one filter for several discharge stations, or with individual filters for each feeding hopper.
The advantage of individual filters is the possibility to trace the exhausted product back to the process.
Modern food plants use screening to check supplied raw materials.
Tank-truck screeners can be used for silo supply where raw materials are fed from the silo vehicle into the silos via a vibration screener.
Meanwhile coarse pollutions are removed.
A quick acting opening device allows for the removal of any coarse materials from the vibration screen.
This can be done more comfortably by cyclone screening machines, with self-dosing capabilities.
This means that no dosing unit is necessary and therefore much lower height needed within the factory.
Additionally, the feeding screw and the screening rotor are driven by separate motors.
Both can be extracted and inspected quickly or cleaned.
The special advantage in this is that the machine does not have to be dismantled to inspect the screening basket.
The basket can be extracted, swivelled to the side and cleaned.
Dosing units and rotary valves play a crucial roll in pneumatic conveying systems.
If it is suitable to equip them with an extracting device, the rotor can be extracted to the side and installed again quickly.
Dosing screws are used for the continuous input of raw materials in pneumatic conveying systems.
Pneumatic conveying systems must always be equipped with corresponding filters.
AZO recommends self-cleaning filters, for intake or discharge of product and for these to be inspected from time to time.
In order to feed mixers with main components, 70% of vacuum weighing systems consist of conveyor scale and multi-port valves.
The conveyor scales usually work with 'underpressure' and are equipped with self-cleaning filters.
Additional service units, for removing the pressure supply to the side are available.
In this way filter cartridges can be inspected and replaced if necessary.
The same design can be used for hopper weighing systems, where feeding is done by dosing screws.
One new concept for the food industry in the fully automated containment of materials without contamination is the use of a closed hopper, without the conventional pneumatic conveying system.
In this special case the individual raw materials are collected by a container which moves below the individual components - major components in silos, medium components in containers, BIG BAGs, dosing stations or feeding hoppers.
Micro quantities, precisely weighed on weighing stations can be added.
The advantage of such a system is that collection and formula preparation can be configured freely at any time.
Components remain contamination free within the automated process.
Collection can be done via linear moveable drives or via an automatic guided vehicle, a complex system with great results.
Process leading technology in dairy production has a special challenge to react quickly to market trends, especially if formulas change often.
The 'first-in-first-out' use of raw materials means products don't become obsolete.
Maintenance and cleaning programmes ensure that preventive action and a quick elimination any problem is possible by fault indication.
In this way throughput capabilities can be greatly increased.
In modern food production, the flexibility and cleaning access of sensitive equipment is closely related to the production outputs.
Therefore an exact specification of requirements is necessary for an optimised design of the system.
The ideal scenario is the user and the supplier have close co-operation and the investment costs decrease.
Such was the case with the RHM Holgran manufacturing alliance with HO Short and Son at the brand new cereals plant in Berwick on Tweed, Northumberland.
With substantial investment on new systems the production plant increased productivity by a third.
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