FOOD & BEVERAGE
HEAT EXCHANGER SOLUTIONS FOR 5 CHALLENGING FOODSTUFFS
By Matt Hale, Global Key account director, HRS Heat Exchangers T
hermal treatments, such as pasteurisation, heating and cooling, feature in the manufacture of multiple food and drink products. Many of these treatments use heat exchangers, but manufacturers must take into consideration various factors when choosing the right heat exchanger for their process, not least the physical properties of the product itself. In this article, we look at of thermal processing and the heat exchanger solutions to help manufacturers handle them correctly.
HIGHLY VISCOUS MATERIALS Highly viscous foods, including nut butters and other fat-based products, can be almost solid at low temperatures. This creates a number of challenges, one of which is physically moving the material through the heat exchanger. Other considerations include preventing the product from fouling the surface of the heat exchanger, an even temperature throughout.
products to heat, cool or pump and so a heavy duty rotating scraped surface heat exchanger (SSHE) is required. The HRS RHD Series was Combining the proven rotary scraper rod action of our standard R Series heat exchanger with a larger motor and bigger scraping rods, together with extra mounting supports, the RHD Series is equipped to handle even the toughest foodstuffs.
PRODUCTS CONTAINING PIECES The challenge when dealing with pieces of product is ensuring the mixture moves through the process at a constant speed to ensure the correct temperatures are maintained for the required time without damaging the physical integrity of the product. This type of product can contain anything from small, diced vegetables to large fruit pieces. Many manufacturers also process a range of products using the same equipment, meaning that processing lines need and soft products, such as root vegetables and berries, across a range of sizes. For this type of product, the Unicus Series of reciprocal SSHE is perfect. The separately controlled hydraulic scrapers are available in a range of designs and are fully controllable so a variety of products can be moved gently but effectively through the heat exchanger, providing damaging product integrity.
THERMALLY CHALLENGING PRODUCTS Some ingredients, such as eggs or chocolate, are very sensitive to temperature and must be processed at precise temperatures to avoid damaging the product. Liquid egg, for example, is extremely delicate as the proteins in egg are more sensitive to heat than other products, such as milk or juices. This is due to the fact that the white and yolk are distinct components with different compositions and behaviours. When mixed, they interact mutually; egg white is denatured at 58°C while yolk is denatured at 65°C. Because of this, pasteurising liquid eggs can have a number of unwanted effects, including gel formation and softening of the
With their rotating action, the HRS R and RHD Series provide thorough mixing of highly viscous materials such as nut butters and mechanically deboned meat
yolk, irreversible denaturation of the proteins or changes to the appearance. If not handled correctly, thermal pasteurisation can decrease protein content, change physical characteristics such as texture and colour, and increase product viscosity.
Choosing the right pasteurisation regime and equipment is therefore vital to minimise and prevent such unwanted effects. Depending on the required handling, corrugated tube heat exchangers or SSHEs, like the HRS Unicus Series, are ideal for processing liquid eggs and other egg-based products.
Likewise, tempering chocolate is extremely
crystals formed are of different sizes and the resulting chocolate will ‘bloom,’ having a matt appearance and waxy texture.
Without tempering, it is impossible to achieve chocolate’s characteristic ‘snap’ and glossy to maintain a working temperature until it has The HRS R Series has been successfully used to commercially temper chocolate. The system uses three R Series rotary scraped surface
22 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2024/25 | FACTORY&HANDLINGSOLUTIONS
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