careful handling of sensitive spray-dried agglomerates
storage of base powders in silos
careful feeding of dry-mix and packing lines
gas-injection systems combined with big-bag filling
stringent requirements for cleaning and hygiene
end-to-end documentation, tracking + tracing, prompts to guide operators
The Solution
Bulk materials handling in the manufacture of dairy products and spray-dried products (baby food, powdered milk)
Agglomerated powdered milk is produced on the two tower-spray-dryer lines with a throughput of over 6 t/h. A AZO®MULTIAIR dense-phrase conveyor carefully transfers these spray-dried agglomerates into the surge bins over a distance of 60 m without causing any damage to the products.
AZO's pneumatic, AZO®MULTIAIR dense-phase conveyor is fitted with tandem pressure vessels to allow continuous conveying of the powdered milk into the bins.
The powdered milk is stored in surge bins, which are fitted with a discharge aid through aeration diaphragms designed for maximum hygiene. Aeration can be done using compressed air and also with nitrogen. The surge bins are equipped with load cells to monitor capacity levels.
Direct conveying to the filling area from this tower spray dryer is also possible. This guarantees the flexibility of production required in the continuous spray-drying process.
The powdered milk can be conveyed from the surge bins either to an automatic bagging line or to a line for filling big bags. In this case, AZO's pneumatic AZO®VacuumPlus dense-phase conveyor is used. This is characterised by low-impact, segregation-free transport of the powder.
AZO's big bag filling system can either be designed as a pre-gassing system or as a post-gassing system. This makes inertisation possible before or after the filling process in order to extend the keeping properties of the powdered milk. Oxygen content is monitored during inertisation. As soon as the oxygen content drops below a given value as a result of nitrogen flushing, approval is given to fill the big bags.
The plant is designed with the special ViwateQ finish in order to satisfy the strict requirements for hygiene. The ViwateQ finish provides a surface that is ideal for cleaning, in particular when using the wet cleaning method.
The entire plant can be controlled and monitored using the AZO process control and instrumentation system. The controls ensure end-to-end documentation and tracking and tracing of manufacturing process.
