This website uses cookies primarily for visitor analytics. Certain pages will ask you to fill in contact details to receive additional information. On these pages you have the option of having the site log your details for future visits. Indicating you want the site to remember your details will place a cookie on your device. To view our full cookie policy, please click here. You can also view it at any time by going to our Contact Us page.

Close

Making powder processing cleaner, faster and more sustainable

03 July 2023

Sylvain Bellamy discusses the benefits of Clean-In-Place technology in powder-to-powder mixers.

Powder-to-powder mixers are a key investment for many food manufacturers. However, challenges remain throughout the manufacturing process, including food contamination risks, product loss and high chemical and energy usage.

Today, about 80% of the cleaning of powder mixers is done by manual dry cleaning. It is a costly and time-consuming operation, taking one operator about 90 minutes to clean the mixer to a level where no product residue remains and the mixer can be restarted. 

Automation technology is now able to help the food industry increase safety standards while decreasing costs. Indeed, it is an area that is projected to grow from $12 billion in 2020 to approximately $28 billion by 2026, according to Facts & Factors Research. This is, in part, due to a new focus on reducing manual cleaning, limiting the risk of contamination or spread of bacteria. 

One such technology is Clean in Place (CIP), which automates the cleaning process of powder mixers. While some CIP systems use a cleaning solution to sterilise the mixer, others use Air Jet Technology – a process that uses jets of compressed air to break the interaction between particles and stainless-steel surfaces, as well as between the particles themselves. The powerful air jets suspend powder particles so they can be extracted from the mixer using a vacuum system.

Boosting quality
Consistency in powder processing is key, ensuring that the proportions of ingredients are identical in each batch. With traditional manual cleaning, layers of powder can build up on the ceiling of powder-to-powder mixers, affecting powder homogeneity and overall batch quality. However, the jets used in air jet cleaning are positioned to clean each area of the drum in turn, flushing this top layer to reduce product loss and increase quality.

The growth in powder-based food and beverage products – including whey, coffee, flour and dairy powder – has led to many powder mixing machines handling multiple different recipes over the course of a day. This requires frequent cleaning between loads – perhaps two or three times a day in some plants, resulting in longer production times to account for this. 

Air Jet cleaning technology can help reduce the time between mixes from 90 minutes to just 30 minutes. 

Saving water
By 2030, McKinsey predicts that demand for water will outstrip supply by 40%. Water scarcity is an important topic in the food and beverage industry as it uses approximately 70% of the world's freshwater resources. While the vast majority of that is used by agriculture, any water savings that can be made within the food manufacturing industry should be made. Air jet technology removes the need for both water and chemicals in the cleaning process, avoiding the planetary and financial costs associated with each. 

Air jet technology also creates operational efficiencies. In a scenario where a machine is cleaned three times a day, there is the potential to save about 1,000 manual hours a year. In addition, product losses can be reduced by flushing, which uses air jets to remove powders stuck onto processor ceilings.

Sylvain Bellamy is Commercial Manager, Powder at Tetra Pak.


Contact Details and Archive...

Print this page | E-mail this page