FDBusiness.com

Reducing down time in food sterilisation processes

MARCH 05, 2012/LONDON, UK – HRS Process Technology, the American arm of HRS Heat Exchangers Limited, a leading heat transfer specialist for the process industries, has recently supplied a leading US international manufacturer of processed meat and poultry ingredients with a Unicus hygienic scraped surface heat exchanger for an expansion of the company’s concentrated chicken broth plant. The Unicus heat exchanger is used to sterilise up to 40ltrs/min (10gals/min) of concentrated chicken broth by heating it to 132°C (270°F) using superheated steam at 150°C (305°F).

Because the concentrated broth contains 32% solids with a significant protein content, heating it to 132°C (270°F) presents an almost impossible fouling problem for conventional heat exchangers that rapidly build up a layer of “burned-on” product on the tube wall and so require frequent cleaning. The HRS Unicus design eliminates down time for cleaning by means of hydraulically activated scraper elements inside the inner tube of a shell and tube heat exchanger. These continuously clean the tube surface to maintain good thermal transfer and the reciprocating action of the scraper elements also introduces turbulence that further increases thermal transfer efficiency. The gentle movement of the scrapers allows working with delicate products (such as food products with whole fruit or vegetable pieces) without compromising the mechanical integrity of the product.

The Unicus is a scraped surface heat exchanger for high fouling and viscous fluid applications. It has specially designed and developed to offer a solution for those difficult heat transfer applications where very viscous fluids are used or fouling appears. The design is based on a traditional shell and tube heat exchanger with scraping elements inside each interior tube.

Carlos Cobian, General Manager, HRS Heat Exchangers, HRS Americas explained, “The scraped surface design of the Unicus allows the process to run for very long periods without down time and, because the reciprocating action is quite slow and the product tends to lubricate it, wear and resulting consumption of spare parts is minimal”.

About HRS Heat Exchangers Limited

HRS Heat Exchangers Limited (part of the HRS Group) is a leading international heat transfer specialist offering innovative solutions to the processing industry.

Headquartered in the UK, HRS Heat Exchangers operates at the forefront of processing technology and for over 30 years has designed, manufactured and sold heat exchangers and heat transfer technology to many different industries.

HRS products and system solutions have been used in such sectors as HVAC, Food, Chemical, Pharmaceutical, Water supply, Energy Recovery, Waste to energy and Environmental protection. All HRS products are manufactured to ISO 9001 and comply with the European PED, and are also certified to the ASME “U” stamp standard.

HRS Heat Exchangers Ltd offers a wide range of heat exchangers and associated products including corrugated tube shell and tube, scraped surface and plate heat exchangers, together with a hygienic piston pump and packages such as Pasteurisers, CIP and Food processing systems. HRS also manufactures a patented self-cleaning scraped surface evaporator system for solids concentration.

HRS has offices in Spain, Germany, USA, Peru, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur and India as well as manufacturing and assembly plants in the UK, India, Dubai and Spain.

To learn more about HRS Heat Exchangers, please visit www.hrs-heatexchangers.com