Producing Peanut Butter (Continued)
In the new peanut butter process, the diced and broken peanuts are emptied from bulk bags into an 80L hopper from which a 3.25m long, 90mm diameter flexible screw conveyor transports the stock, upwards through 45º, to a height of 3.45m above the floor. The material gravity feeds through a discharge adapter and downspout into the mill. Conveying rate is 2.46 cu m per hour.
Between the peanut mill and final packaging, ingredients such as salt and sugar are added according to the recipes. Sanitarium provides peanut butter in smooth and crunchy versions as well as no-added salt or sugar versions.
Screw geometry and enclosed tube prevent degradation and contamination
The peanut stock has a bulk density of 480 kg/cu. meter, medium oil content and an angle of repose of 60 degrees. As such it is non-free-flowing and prone to packing, caking, bridging and cavitation in a conventional flexible screw conveyor and hopper.
Sanitarium employed Flexicon’s Bev-Con flexible screw for conveying materials that tend to exhibit these characteristics. During conveying the screw imparts high directional forces and minimal radial forces while significantly reducing the residence time of material in the conveyor, eliminating or minimizing product degradation.
Photo 2:
Because the conveyor’s motor drive is coupled to
the upper end of the flexible screw above the point
at which material is discharged, material does not
come in contact with seals or bearings. The peanut
stock exits through a discharge adapter and downspout.
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Producing Peanut Butter (Continued)
The enclosed conveyor system also maintains product moisture and temperature levels during conveying and prevents contamination of the material and plant environment. Because the conveyor’s motor drive is coupled to the upper end of the flexible screw above the point at which material is discharged, material does not come in contact with seals or bearings.
Mobility speeds cleaning, changeovers
The Sanitarium conveying unit consists of the hopper and flexible screw conveyor on a caster-mounted frame to roll between the mill and the cleaning area during product changeovers. To evacuate residual material and flush the internals the operator simply removes the clean-out cap on the bottom end of the tube and reverses screw rotation. The screw is also removed for sanitising and inspection. With the exception of the plastic outer tube, all material contact surfaces are of stainless with food grade finish.
The conveyor’s electrical controls are mounted on the mobile frame in a stainless steel enclosure and comprise:
•a safety relay.
•start, stop, jog and reverse controls and,
•an illuminated reset button.
A capacitive-type proximity level switch, mounted in a food-grade Teflon sheath inside the hopper, warns of low levels of the peanut stock.
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Photo 3:
Sanitarium blends several varieties of diced
and broken peanuts to give its brand a distinct flavour
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Producing Peanut Butter
Producing Peanut Butter without Jamming
Australia based Sanitarium Health Foods , like many peanut butter manufacturers, blend several peanut varieties to give their brand a distinct flavour and aroma.
The drive to reduce costs, without compromising product integrity, encouraged the change of supply from whole, shelled and cooked peanut stock to diced and broken peanuts.
During the process the stock was emptied into a bin and conveyed to a porcelain peanut mill for grinding and blending to the desired consistency. Unfortunately, according to Plant Engineering Manager Carl Caldwell-Cook, the rigid-auger conveyor system, which had been satisfactory for transporting whole nuts, was turning the diced and broken nut stock into peanut butter while being augered to the mill.
Replacing the conveyor with a pneumatic or a gravity feed system was too complex and would lack the necessary control to prevent frequent blockages of the mill’s in-feed side. Neither could the company just dump peanut stock directly into the mill for fear of clogging the inlet; there has to be a controlled rate of feed.
Sanitarium employs flexible screw conveyors in its seven production sites and asked the manufacturer, Flexicon Corporation (Australia) Pty Limited , to design a conveyor to address these problems on the peanut butter production line.
Photo 1:
Diced and broken peanuts are emptied from bulk bags
into the 80-liter hopper from which the 3.25-m long
flexible screw conveyor transports the stock to a peanut mill.
The portable frame permits a quick move to the
cleaning area during product changeovers.
Attachments
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