40 F & S International Edition No. 16/2016
Highlights 2015
Centrifuge technology
The Z5E-4/01 decanter from Flottweg
was hygienically designed for the safe
processing of food (Fig. 1). All of the
components that come into direct contact
with the medium, are made from rust and
acid resistant stainless steel and fi nished
with a surface roughness Ra of 0.8 μm.
This ensures good cleanability. Typical
applications in the food processing sector
are the separation of coagulated proteins,
the production of soya drinks and starch
as well as the clarifi cation of fruit juic-
es. A decanter fi tted with an adjustable
centripetal pump can be used to achieve
optimum separation effi ciency from varia-
ble infeeds. The centripetal pump controls
the draining of the clarifi ed liquid from
a closed system under pressure and as a
result of an adjustment, the diameter of the
outfl ow can be varied and the separation
effi ciency can be optimised to match the
infeed characteristics.
Milk processing systems are gaining in
relevance that enable the processing to be
carried out at the lowest possible tempera-
tures, which increases the sensory quality
with a simultaneous reduction in energy
consumption. Andritz Separation exhibit-
ed a cold milk separator, which is the fi rst
of its type without a gripper / peeling disc
and is equipped with a special abstraction
tube. The design of the CremaViva model
range from Andritz Frautech (Fig. 2) con-
trols the discharging of the skimmed milk
and cream as a result of the hydrostatic
pressure difference being used as the driv-
ing force. This type of discharge enables
the separation to occur at very low tem-
peratures of around 5°C with a maximum
temperature increase of one degree. The
discharged products, whose viscosities at
these low temperatures are relatively high,
are better preserved. The raw milk is fed
in from above, which enables the drive
system and the parts that come into contact
with the product to be completely separat-
ed from one another.
Membrane technology
Membrane fi ltration is one of the
established dairy technology processes
for concentrating product fl ows contain-
ing proteins. Reverse osmosis is used
here to concentrate the proteins from the
whey and the ultrafi ltration permeate from
the skimmed milk and whey fi ltration.
Previously, it was normal and sensible
to concentrate the whey up to an 18 -
30% DM concentration. The three-stage
ALPMA PRO High DM reverse osmosis
plant now enables the whey to be concen-
trated in an approx. 6% DM to 28 - 30%
DM process. The fi rst two stages of this
plant attain a concentration of approx.
18% - 20%. This ensures that the osmotic
pressure of the infeed into the third reverse
osmosis stage is very high. Special mem-
branes are installed in it. The permeate
from this third stage has a very high CSB
value, which is why it is fed back to the
plant’s inlet together with the concentrate
as a polisher. This prevents dry mass
losses, which reduces the contaminated
load in the waste water and saves energy
as opposed to evaporating a concentrate
with 18% - 20% DM. The reverse osmosis
plant described here was awarded the sil-
ver International FoodTec award.
The ultrafi ltration, nanofi ltration and
reverse osmosis membrane processes ena-
ble all of the ingredients to be concentrat-
ed, which cannot pass through a specifi c
membrane. Advanced processes are aimed
at selectively accumulating very specifi c
whey proteins in order to allow natu-
ral binders and emulsifi ers or functional
Innovations and further developments in the food and beverage industriesH. Lyko*
Anuga FoodTec, the international supplier trade fair for the food and beverage industries continued to build on its past
success by setting new exhibitor and visitor records. More than 45,000 specialists from the industry were informed
about the products and services by a total of 1,501 exhibitors from 49 countries. The corresponds to a near 13.5%
increase in the number of exhibitors as compared to 2012 and an approx. 6% increase in the number of visitors.
The exhibition is arranged into food processing, food packaging, food safety, ingredients and services and solutions
sections. Different types of separation technology and separation processes accompanied by the relevant measures
for contaminant detection and quality monitoring are now included in the processing technology and for guaranteeing
product qualities. During the production of food and beverages, exhaust air and/or waste water fl ows are also
generated and these have to be treated. Exhibits and processes from these sectors are described in the following. At
the exhibition the International FoodTec awards from the German Agricultural Society were awarded for the 9th time
in cooperation with specialist and media partners. These awards included 9 gold and 9 silver medals, whereby one
of each was awarded for technological innovations in the separation technology sector and a gold medal was also
presented for an analysing process.
Fig. 1: Z5E-4/01 Flottweg decanter with hygienic design for processing food and other hygienic-sensitive applications
*Dr.-Ing. Hildegard LykoDortmund, Germany, Tel: +49 (0) 231-730696
Highlights 2015
F & S International Edition No. 16/2016 41
nutritional supplements to be gathered and used, e.g. in baby
food. The Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and
Biotechnology has been working on the further development of
the electro-membrane process that was previously developed at
Hohenheim university, so that specifi c proteins can be selectively
accumulated. The process is based on combining ultrafi ltration
with an electrical fi eld. This ensures that proteins are not only sep-
arated according to their size but according to their charge as well.
This increases the output and reduces the cleaning effort when
compared to pure ultrafi ltration. Preliminary trials at Hohenheim
university have shown that peptide or protein fragments, such as
casein macro-peptide, can be separated from the whey proteins
α- and β-lactoglobulin using an electro-membrane process. The
EU’s “Whey2Food” research project, which has been running
since 2013, is optimising the processes for industrially-relevant
quantities and in accordance with the stipulated hygiene and clean-
ing standards. The process has been tested under real conditions in
automated pilot plants installed at partner dairies.
Food analysis
Virtually gapless quality controls are imperative along the pro-
cessing chain for the preparation of raw and auxiliary materials up
to the fi lling or packaging of fi nished products. The controls are
implemented in accordance with the trend towards automation of
production processes as automatically running inline analyses or
at least as bypass analyses. Infrared spectroscopy is used to ana-
lyse the chemical composition of the process fl ows. The Austrian
company, Insort GmbH, calls this process “Chemical Imaging
Technology“ (CIT), as it is based on the chemical composition
of the food colour image generated at high resolution and it is Fig. 2: Functional diagram of a CremaViva cold milk separator (image: Andritz Separation)
Individual Developments and Production
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FLOTTWEG SEPARATION TECHNOLOGYfor the processing of lupines protein
by centrifugal forceOur customers decided on the Flottweg Sedicanter®.
Thanks to its high speed, this machine gets outstanding separation results while simultaneously processing large
quantities of solids.
42 F & S International Edition No. 16/2016
Highlights 2015
classifi ed and sorted in industrially-suited
real time. The technology is realised in the
SHERLOCK food analyser process diag-
nostics system, which was awarded the
gold International FoodTec award.
The refractometry used for determining
the relative density of a process liquid is a
probate resource that is used in production
and especially in processes that measure
the concentration of the ingredients in
liquids. It is used in the form of manual
or laboratory devices for determining the
sugar content in must, wine, fruit juices,
honey, etc., as well as inline process
checks. One of the ways to implement the
latter is to use the inline PR-23 refractom-
eter made by K-Patents, a Finnish compa-
ny, which is approved for use in the food
industry under the American 3-A Sanitary
standard and the EHEDG guidelines. The
different sensor versions enable instal-
lation in both pipelines with relatively
small diameters as well as in tanks and
larger pipelines (see Fig. 3). The feature
of this measuring device is that all of the
components needed for measuring, such
as the light source, the temperature sensor,
the prism on which the incident light is
partially refracted and partially refl ected,
as well as the CCD camera, which records
the resulting sample in high resolution,
are all installed in an environmentally and
mechanically isolated nucleus. The meas-
uring system delivers the liquid concentra-
tion in brixs, regardless of the suspended
particles, bubbles, fi bres, possible temper-
ature or colour changes. It does not need to
be recalibrated after being installed.
Degassing of fruit juices
It is necessary to degas the fruit juices
prior to fi lling in order to avoid fi lling
problems and prevent the tendency to
oxidisation, e.g. by minimising the atmos-
pheric oxygen and preventing the solid
fruit content from fl oating. The liquid is
distributed over a large surface in as thin
as possible yeasty layers for the degassing,
in order to keep the gas molecule diffusion
path as small as possible. Krones AG has
developed a swirling inlet for this as this
was previously realised using an annular
gap, atomiser or tangential nozzles. This
ensures that the liquid already inside the
especially designed tank lid fi tted on the
degassing tank lies on the wall of the
tank. The juice forms a very thin fi lm as a
result of the outfl ow rate and the adhesive
force. Utilising the surface of the tank,
including the lid, reduces the overall tank
volume that is needed. In addition to sav-
ing space, this also results in a reduction
in the energy consumption as a smaller
vacuum pump can be chosen to extract
the discharged gas . This method of easy
and energy-effi cient degassing won a gold
International FoodTec award.
Innovations for food pumps
The design of the pumps that supply
the food or beverages also plays a role
with regard to hygienic aspects and easy
cleanability as it does with centrifuges
and fi lters. Grundfos presented three new
pump models that have been designed
for different food applications. The Maxa
250-400 food pump is a single-stage,
end-suction centrifugal pump made from
rolled CrNiMo steel (AISI 300), which
is used for high delivery volumes up
to 1,400 m3/h and a maximum delivery
height of 55 m. Typical applications are
suppling beer or milk, hot or cold water,
brine or the circulation of large quantities
of CIP liquids. Pumps from the F&B Hygia
range are controlled pumps used in wet
areas, such as breweries (fermentation cel-
lars, bottle washing systems or bottling).
The frequency converter for controlling
the motor is integrated in these pumps.
This has the benefi t that the cost-effec-
tive, convenient decentralised alignment
can be optimised for the pump applica-
tion as opposed to an external frequen-
cy converter fi tted in a control cabinet.
Special protection against moisture, such
as being sprayed from the operating areas,
is provided in the MGE permanent magnet
motor by the integrated anti-condensation
heater, which protects the motor and the
frequency converter from being damaged
by condensation as well as the maximum
IP66 protection class version. The pumps
from this range are single-stage, end-suc-
tion centrifugal pumps for delivery heights
up to 73 m, delivery fl ows up to 110 m3/h
and operating pressures up to 16-bar.
They are available with various nominal
width connections. The Novalobe rotary
piston pump available in the new 60/2.1
design size (see Fig. 4) is a pump for
delivering viscous food such as honey or
sauces, whose delivery volume per rev is
2.1 litres. All of the parts that come into
contact with the product are made from
1.4404 stainless steel (AISI 316L) with a
roughness of Ra ≤ 0.8 μm. The cleaning is
ensured by the design, which is certifi ed
by the European Hygienic Engineering &
Design Group (EHEDG) and the aggre-
gate can be sterilised at temperatures up
to 150°C.
Fig. 3: Operating sites of inline-refractometers in a pipeline (left) and a tank (right) (photos: K-Patents Oy)
Fig. 4: Novalobe rotary piston pump (image: Grundfos GmbH)
Highlights 2015
F & S International Edition No. 16/2016 43
Eccentric spiral pumps are preferred for delivering pasty,
mushy or lumpy media. Application examples in the food sector
for the eccentric spiral pumps made by Seepex are such materials
as tomato paste, mashed potatoes, chicken legs, marzipan or even
melons, all of which are media that cannot fl ow freely or only
with restrictions. The company has revised their BCSO and BTCS
(hopper pumps) ranges in order to satisfy the higher requirements
regarding cleanability and durability. The pumps are designed
in compliance with the 3-A Sanitary Standards and the EHEDG
guidelines. Well-proven open pin joints are used in addition to
the optimised pump casings as both together enable virtually resi-
due-free cleaning to be carried out.
The pump manufacturer Netsch provides eccentric spiral pumps
that have been optimised for the media that has to be delivered,
which in addition to hygiene, cleanability and suitability for han-
dling food also fulfi l the safe media handling conditions as well
as energy and resource effi ciencies. Honey counts as one of the
food media that is especially diffi cult to handle, as it is extremely
adhesive and can have a viscosity of up to 10.000 cP. These prop-
erties are particularly problematic with shaft seals. An eccentric
screw pump has to be installed to supply the honey and the parts
that come into contact with the product are made from stainless
steel. White tallowed cotton is used as the sealing element in the
food-compliant packed gland. The pump is also fi tted with a dry
running protection system that permanently monitors the stator
temperature and switches the motor off before it starts to run hot
as well as a contact manometer for preventing any damage caused
by overpressure.
Exhaust air cleaning in food processing
The exhaust air from operations in which a huge quantity of
fat (e.g. deep frying) is used to cure or prepare the food, produc-
es exhaust air fl ows, which being fumes or fat-droplet aerosols
have high organic loads that also include a high concentration
of odorous compounds. Thermal afterburning is a process that is
frequently used here that also exhibits a relatively high CO2 foot-
print due to the use of combustible materials or electrical energy.
KMA Umwelttechnik GmbH provides and their Aairmaxx fume
fi lter and Ultravent hybrid fi lters as alternatives to burning, whose
effi ciency and eco-effi ciency are higher than that of burning. Both
systems are of a modular construction and use different processes
in succession. For example, Ultravent can consist of units such
as an electro-fi lter for particle separation (designed as a plate
electro-fi lter), UV lighting system and an activated carbon fi lter
for fume removal. The system can also be equipped with a heat
recovery system. The Aairmaxx (Fig. 5) includes tube electro-fi l-
ter, ventilator and gas-scrubber components. Electro-fi lters have
an advantage over fi lter media made from fabrics or nonwoven
fabrics here as separated tars and oils cannot block the electro-fi lter
as they do with the pores in a textile medium. Both versions of the
electro-fi lters are cleaned automatically and periodically, in the
Ultravent system by an integrated CIP plant and in Aairmaxx by
an integrated heating register, which heats up the electro-fi lter once
every week. References are available for both systems and the
energy savings are around 80% or more when compared to after-
burning. The Ultravent hybrid fi lter is used for handling exhaust
air at 7,200 m3/h from newly installed deep-fryers for fi sh-fi ngers
and other frozen fi sh products. The operating cost savings are
given as 94% when compared to afterburning and the CO2 pollu-
tion can be reduced by 95%. Aairmaxx systems prove themselves
in meat production for cleaning the exhaust air from hot smoking
plants. Grandi Salumifi ci have installed a plant in Italy for treating
an overall exhaust air quantity of up to 2,250 m3/h. The operating
cost comparisons are for the treatment of 2,000 m3/h exhaust
air from a smokehouse that ran for 16 hours a day and 6 days a
week between the AAIRMAXX system and an afterburning plant
with a heat recovery system showed cost savings of 85% from
the tube electro-fi lter, ventilator and gas-scrubber combination
and this includes the fi lter cleaning and the waste water from the
gas-scrubber.
Fig. 5: KMA Aairmaxx fi lter systems consist of an electro-fi lter (right), gas-scrubber (left) and a ventilator (centre): The separated tar is collected in the blue tar-collecting vessel.