Packaging
Drum drying facilities for food-grade test productions
Friday 06. March 2009 - NIZO food research, technology provider and GMF-Gouda, suppliers of machinery for drying, solidification and steam-peeling processes, collaborate in a new facility. NIZO food research's semi-industrial food-grade pilot plant has been expanded to include facilities for food-grade trial production runs on GMF-Gouda equipment.
Pursuant to this collaboration NIZO food research’s pilot plant now offers drum drying facilities for the semi-industrial scale production of batches for purposes such as market tests or the optimization of the production process. GMF-Gouda’s equipment has been installed in NIZO food research’s existing processing centre in Ede, the Netherlands. This food-grade pilot plant possesses certification including ISO9001, EHEDG, COKZ, HACCP and SKAL certification, and also complies with Halal and Kosher requirements.
Within this collaborative agreement GMF-Gouda has placed a complete drum-dryer line comprised of mixing tanks, a scraped-surface heat exchanger, a jet cooker, a drum dryer, a double drum dryer, and a powder mill. GMF-Gouda, in addition to supplying the machinery for the semi-industrial scale production line, will also provide the necessary production-process expertise.
In NIZO’s food-grade processing centre, clients will also be able to make use of NIZO food research’s pre-treatment and final-processing equipment and analytical laboratory. In addition, NIZO food research also offers experienced operators and the necessary research experience. In this way a range of flakes and powders such as baby foods, lactose, starches etc. can be produced with drum dryers in food-grade conditions. Product-development projects will benefit from the availability of scientific backup in making rapid improvements and achieving results.
The new production line pivots on GMF-Gouda’s drum dryer and double drum dryer. Drum dryers are ideally suited to drying extremely glutinous and viscous products; moreover they are also suitable for drying slurries with a low viscosity. Drum dryers offer a high capacity and low product loss, and this – in combination with a number of other extremely favourable properties, such as the absence of material circulation and the lack of accumulation of product residues – renders them ideally suited to a wide variety of trial production runs.