FOOD & BEVERAGE
Agitators from Mixel are helping reduce energy consumption in a stirring application at a Cote d’lvoire chocolate factory
y replacing its aging stirring equipment, a major chocolate factory in Cote d’Ivoire, West Africa, has reduced its energy consumption for the process by more than 70%.
B 30m3
Serving eight tanks from 500-litres up to , agitators made by Mixel are
successfully homogenising, mixing, holding and suspending highly viscous products up to 6300 cps across process temperatures of 95˚C to 130˚C.
Marvin Bouterra from Mixel, commented: “We’re often brought in to provide an enhanced mixing solution, where the perceived belief is that more power will somehow be the answer. However, with CFD and finite element calculations, we have, in this part of Africa, been able to demonstrate that smaller motors, designed in with the right amount of specially inclined propellers would not only reduce energy costs, but also improve the whole process.”
He added: “The customer’s tanks in Cote AGITATORS AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
d’Ivoire are all cigar-shaped, which presents the significant challenge of trying to achieve comprehensive mixing in vessels that are extremely high in relation to their diameter. “Typically for water applications, we’d usually install a single helix to create sufficient axial flow over the height of the tank, but with chocolate, for such a wide variety of operations (mixing, high/low speed, homogenisation, heat exchange, storage, blending, preparation and suspension), our design experience of more than 50 years shows that we have to install three, four or even five agitators.”
He continued: “Each ingredient, from cocoa liquor to lecithin, cocoa butter and fat, has its
SENSORS HELP OPTIMISE CIP PROCESSES
he food industry is a very important contributor to the Swiss economy, generating around CHF 35 billion, or 3% of its GDP. Züger Frischkäse AG is one of the country’s largest dairy manufacturers employing around 300 people at its main plant, turning approximately 2.8 million litres of milk into more than 150 different types of cream cheese products, such as cottage cheese, mozzarella and mascarpone. The familiar challenges of achieving on-going sustainability, improving processing systems whilst meeting strict legal requirements, were key factors for Züger. A particular focus was how could they optimise their CIP (Cleaning-In-Place) processes, which has resulted in them achieving savings in water and cleaning media, thanks in part to BAUMER. Baumer’s range of sensors, encoders and measuring instruments includes the CombiLyz conductivity sensor. Züger uses this sensor for the phase separation of food materials, water and cleaning agents, during the critical stage of CIP. Thanks to the short reaction time of the temperature compensation, the CIP control system receives an exact measured value from the sensor - in just 15 seconds. This ensures that the control system can react quickly to the individual phases by actuating values quickly and precisely, something which is critical in helping to avoid the serious consequences of a faulty, or delayed measuring signal. For example, in worst cases the CIP tank can become flooded and the system goes down. Urs Koster, Divisional Manager for Technical Maintenance at Züger, said: “Whilst our priority was to avoid the consequences of a faulty or delayed measuring signal, we also wanted to optimise efficiency, which is why the quick and reliable reaction of the CombiLyz sensor is so important. The success of the optimisation of our CIP procedures is significant, now we consume up to 30% less in cleaning agents, up to 50% less disinfectant and up to 100,000 litres less water per day”.
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www.baumer.com/gb/en/ 30 DECEMBER 2024/JANUARY 2025 | PROCESS & CONTROL
own behaviour in terms of viscosity and density when mixed, so the additional helixes provide sufficient turbulence to obtain a good shear and axial flow that comprehensively mixes the tanks. The mixing of chocolate is mechanically demanding though, and likely to weaken the agitator if it is not specified correctly.”
Mixel also recognised that although the chocolate factory’s old flat turbines (inclined at 45 degrees) had functioned quite well, their single-surface, single-tilt-design meant that they were very energy-intensive. Mixel’s overall solution for this Cote d’Ivoire factory also provided mixing with just the right torque for an optimum stirring rate, with turbines installed at the base of each tank to stop solids from settling.
Mixel
www.mixel.fr
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