Located in Switzerland, a leading foods company worldwide produces tones of high quality ice cream. As part of the conversion of different production lines, waste ice is generated and must be disposed of quickly and effectively.
The ice cream is first collected centrally and then transported over a distance of 50 meters to a tank. Finally, this ice cream is used as a rich and high-energy byproduct in pig feeding.
The starting situation
At the manufacturing base, a rotary lobe pump was in use. However, the pump had difficulties in conveying the frozen ice cream. The waste ice was therefore collected in tanks and had to be stored for a long time until it had attained a flowable consistency. Only then could it be conveyed by the rotary lobe pump. To make this process faster and help the ice cream melt faster, considerable amounts of superheated steam was applied additionally. Also, the high temperature of the superheated steam always poses an additional accident risk.
The solution
The ice cream producer contacted Hidrostal Prozess Engineering, the seepex agency in Switzerland. Hidrostal Prozess Engineering looked for a suitable solution. They came up with a complete system consisting of a seepex pump from the BTQ range with an additional double jacketed feed hopper and a level measuring system.
Maintenance and cleaning is made easier due to the pump installation on a height adjustable trolley.
The benefit
„Superheated steam is completely unnecessary. This means that we make a saving of several thousand Swiss francs annually and the project breaks even under one year,“ says the project manager. Thanks to the conversion, the disposal of ice is automated and faster.
After this project was implemented, the ice is now fed to the double jacket hopper from the level above. As soon as the fill level sensors indicate a full hopper, the pump starts and conveys the ice directly and without waiting towards the external tank. At this point in time, the ice is still at a temperature of down to -6 °C. Waiting time is omitted and an additional, cost-intensive heating with superheated steam is no longer necessary.
