Equipment Round Up: May 2023

Multi-shaft mixer designed for medium viscosity and shear

The Model CDA-200 is customized for shear-sensitive applications with low to medium viscosity. This mixer allows for semi-continuous operation, ease of adding ingredients to the batch, ability to monitor temperature and enabling vacuum operation up to 29.5”Hg to create air-free pastes, slurries, gels and suspensions. Designed for heavy-duty use, all the Multi Shaft Mixers reduce agitator shaft deflection and vibration, contributing to the robust quality and longevity of these machines while offering better protection against contamination. Ross Mixers 

Detect salmonella and listeria

The Gene-Up Enviropro simultaneously detects both salmonella and listeria from environmental swabbing, including PCR confirmation, with one swab, one enrichment and one sample prep, improving overall sampling efficiency and sustainability. The solution provides cost savings, laboratory waste reduction and a streamlined workflow to empower rapid and effective quality decisions and can be applied across food industry verticals with applications, including dairy, dry fruits, nuts, seeds, berries, nutraceuticals and multicomponent products such as ready-to-eat meals. BioMerieux 

The WZK dual channel diverter valve is specially designed for use with bulk food materials such as sugar, grains and coffee. The unit has an asymmetric design with approximately 33-36° angle suitable for distributing and collecting in pneumatic conveying lines and in gravity applications, whether transfer from multiple sources or transfer to multiple destinations such as blenders, bins/silos and/or other process equipment. The rotor has symmetrical channels that can be reversed to extend life, making it ideal for potentially high-wear materials such as abrasive types of grains. It’s engineered with pressure differential up to 5 bar(g) and pressure surge proof to 10 bar(g) by design. The valve is equipped with a pressure assisted seal and maintenance can be performed without removing from service. Coperion K-Tron 

Vacuum conveyor recycles ingredients

The VS pneumatic vacuum conveying system automatically captures unused or excess ingredients from a process and returns them upstream for immediate reuse, or to a hopper for reuse at a later date, helping food, pharmaceutical and other manufacturers in cutting costs, reducing cleanup and improving sanitation. Featuring 100% stainless steel in-product contact areas, fine particles as small as 0.1µm may be safely recovered and gently transferred without damaging the particle shape or adding heat. Volkmann USA

Rotary retort machines turn cans, jars, pouches and other containers during sterilization and cooling processes to accelerate the heat transfer inside of the can and allow the food to cook evenly. This process helps prevent discoloring or burning of the food product. This equipment is good for some heat-sensitive products, including milk-based beverages and soups. Rotary retorts feature a robust design for clamping baskets or stacks of trays individually to ensure the loads are well supported. The clamping mechanisms, as well as alternate moving parts like the rotor shaft or supporting rollers (trunnions), are designed for heavy duty movements and a lengthy lifespan. These retorts are available in vessel diameters between 1400mm and 1700mm and feature a maximum five basket capacity. Surdry North America 

Heat exchanger provides flexibility

The Waukesha Cherry-Burrell Votator II, a vertical scraped surface heat exchanger, has been updated with upgrades that allow for easier, quicker and safer use. The Votator has become a fixture within multiple industries by providing continuous processing solutions for meat, dairy and confectionery applications. The updated vertical version offers dual lift capacity with controlled alignment to ensure efficient operation, decreased cleaning and inspection time and reduced downtime. SPX Flow Inc.

Mini evaporator

The Rototherm Mini uses the same thin-film separation technology as the company’s production-scale Rototherm evaporators. It is designed for continuous evaporation and liquid-to-powder drying of heat-sensitive materials. Unlike vertical evaporators, this unit has a horizontal orientation, which provides control over residence time. This allows for liquid-to-powder drying in a single pass and improved product yield. It includes a high-speed rotor, which utilizes centrifugal force to create an agitated thin-film, an improvement over traditional wiped-film evaporators. Artisan Industries