GEA TDS offers a modular test plant for technologists and product developers in the food sector – designed for research, product development, the reproduction of realistic process conditions on a laboratory scale and for pre-series productions.
The test plant is used for the heat treatment of low- to high-viscosity food products such as milk, yoghurt, fruit preparations, puddings, sauces and dressings. The capacity of the modular plant ranges between 100 and 500 l/hour, depending on the product being processed.
Owing to the large variety of products that the plant is expected to handle, all product-contact parts are made of stainless steel 1.4404 or higher quality to prevent corrosion problems as a result of chlorides or a low pH value at high temperatures.
In the integrated mixing tank, the untreated pre-product is made up of liquid and powder raw materials. There is an agitator in the tank that can be equipped with various stirring elements. The pre-product is then conveyed to the next process step by a suitable pump. A centrifugal pump is best for low-viscosity liquids, while a progressive cavity pump is used for higher-viscosity and chunky products. The product can be routed to a variety of product treatment stages via swing bends with clamp connections on a panel. Aseptic seat valves from GEA Tuchenhagen are used for the heat-treated product,
The selected onward flow routes are verified by processing the signals supplied by proximity switches in the PLC S7 and visualized on a PC screen or touch screen. Heat treatment can take place in a tubular heat exchanger from GEA TDS or a plate heat exchanger from GEA Ecoflex. A scraped-surface heat exchanger can also be provided as an option.
Heat treatment involves the steps warming up, heating, high-heat treatment, cooling and chilling. The PLC records the flow rate, temperatures and the pressures between the heat exchanger units for each individual step and graphically represents the data. Archiving is also possible. The heat exchangers are arranged to provide easy maintenance and short downtimes. The integrated holding tube can keep the heating temperature constant for a period of 4 seconds up to 10 minutes in accordance with the customer’s requirements.
This test plant can be completed by adding a two-stage homogenizer from GEA Niro Soavi with homogenization pressures of up to 300 bar for products containing fats or fibres. Aseptic homogenization is another option.
For yoghurt applications, a smoothing valve can be integrated into the plant. The test plant is cleaned using the typical steps of a CIP cycle; metering of the cleaning concentrates can be controlled manually or automatically by the PLC.