food & beveRage
Reducing enviRonmental impact with hygienic design
To meet sustainability targets while maintaining production outputs and profitability, managers of food and beverage plants will have to focus on the finest of details to get the most from their operations. Bearings sit at the heart of much food processing equipment and, as SKF's Food and Beverage industry manager David Oliver writes, by choosing variants that are hygienically designed, significant reductions in the environmental impact and operational expense of food and beverage production can be achieved.
pledged to cut its carbon emissions by at least 50 per cent below 2005 levels by the year 2030, while the uK has made commitments to cut its carbon emissions by 78 per cent by 2035. meeting these targets will have a significant
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impact on the ways in which we live our lives and carry out our businesses, and the food and beverage industry is no exception- it will have to make sweeping changes to reduce the impact that its operations have on the environment. it has already made significant progress in this area. according to uK industry body the food and drink federation (fdf), for instance, companies operating in the sector have achieved a 55 per cent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions since 2016. furthermore, between 2007 and 2019, fdf members reduced their absolute water consumption by more than one-third (41.5 per cent), and the amount of water they consumed per tonne of product was also reduced by 44.5 per cent during the same period.
round the world, governments are setting ambitious targets as they work to combat climate change. the usa has
An eye FOr DeTAil these results are encouraging, but to achieve further reductions in their environmental impact, food and beverage manufacturers will have to interrogate every aspect of their operations. at the same time, they will not be able to take their eyes off their traditional plant-level goals—ensuring food safety, reducing maintenance and downtime, maximising output and limiting waste. succeeding in all of these objectives can be challenging; improvements in one area could inadvertently hinder efforts in another. make the right changes, however, and the results can be significant.
PrOBlemS wiTh BeAringS bearings, for instance, sit at the heart of much food processing equipment and by choosing varieties that are designed with hygiene in mind for use in such settings, significant cuts in environmental impact – not to mention operational expenditure – can be achieved. the fitting of conventional bearing units to an otherwise hygienically designed machine, such as a conveyor, can create collection points for
bacteria and allergens. contaminants created by the processing of foods and beverages can find their way into the bearing housing if it is not effectively sealed, creating a moist environment in which bacteria can grow and proliferate. further, when the conveyor is cleaned as part of routine maintenance procedures, the proximity of the bearing units means bacterial contaminants can be sprayed onto previously disinfected areas, such as the belts. this not only puts food safety – and, of course, consumer health – at risk, it is also highly inefficient as it can lead to periods of unplanned downtime and the wastage of food stuffs.
re-luBricATiOn STrATegieS to guard against these threats, machines are pressure-washed frequently, but this can introduce detergents and water into the bearing cavity, where they can cause corrosion. to prevent this, bearings are relubricated frequently – sometimes after every wash-down – and the strategies adopted to carry-out this work can have a significant impact upon sustainability efforts.
46 septembeR 2021 | factoRy&handlingsolutions
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