When agglomeration occurs in food processing applications it can be costly and labor-intensive to break up the lumps whilst protecting the fruit integrity and keeping the individual pieces whole.
The Customer Challenge
Over the years at Quadro we have been approached by breakfast cereal manufacturers and bakeries who use raisins in their product recipes and need help with gently deagglomerating the dried, sugared and oil-coated raisins. The dried fruit is usually supplied in bulk in boxes causing them to stick together and form lumps in the box. To be able to add these raisins into any cereal or bakery mix, the raisins need to be in a singular, free-flowing form. But the fruit is fragile and easily damaged.
What is Deagglomeration?
Deagglomeration and delumping is the process of returning sticky, heat-sensitive agglomerates back to their original processed state e.g. single pieces, crumbs or powders.
Due to the high cost of dried fruit and strict quality control metrics, many companies turn to manual hand-screening to ensure complete deagglomeration and guarantee that the original particle structure remains undamaged and unchanged. However, it is no surprise to learn that this operation is labor-intensive and expensive.
Quadro solves the deagglomeration challenge
Over the decades, companies have looked to the Quadro® Comil® to provide the solution. In past tests with the original 196 Comil®, 6” lumps of raisins were processed, resulting in deagglomeration to 95% single and 5% double raisins. The raisins were not damaged and only a minimum amount of sugar was separated.
After installation a customer found that their Comil® was able to deagglomerate cranberries, whole figs, dates, apricots and many other dried/sugared fruits in their range. They were delighted with the results and the fact that no tooling changes were needed to achieve these results.
The new G96 Food Mill is added to the Quadro portfolio and offers a cost effective, fast delivery time solution with an attractive ROI.
Purpose-built for food processing and milling, the G96 Food Mill harnesses decades of trusted Comil® technology expertise. With a range of precisely engineered screens, designed to suit each application challenge, it not only provides deagglomeration and delumping but also offers standard milling operations which enable manufacturers to achieve target particle size distributions (PSDs), for efficient, high-quality production.
It is easily configurable for a variety of materials and production environments, ensuring seamless integration into diverse production settings. Designed with robust operator safety features and user-friendly controls, it maximizes operational efficiency and minimizes downtime.
Learn about Quadro's approach to Delumping/Deagglomeration & Security Screening or request a call with a member of our team to discuss the new G96 Food Mill via our contact us page.
