☑️ Food Industry Equipment and Machines
The process of converting raw materials into food, in a way that can be consumed by humans or animals, is called food processing. Generally, clean, slaughtered and harvested parts are taken and used to produce attractive and salable food products. A wide range of food industry machines and their equipment, uses, tools and equipment are used in the food industry. The role of the engineer in the food industry has gained significant prominence over the past two decades. The food processing industry is very diverse, complex and evolved. There is an increasing need for process innovation according to the market demand and the more advanced consumer market. The consumer expects freshness, value, excitement and a product that is safe in anti-flexible packaging.
Food processing equipment refers to food industry machinery, components, systems used for cooking, packaging, preparing or storing food. Although these equipments are primarily aimed at usability, preservation and palatability, few equipments also perform auxiliary or main functions such as preparation, transportation and packaging. A wide range of food processing equipment is available to perform the various unit operations required during a complete production cycle, such as separating, cooking, mixing, freezing, washing and sealing. These equipments are used for the production of food industry applications and food products such as bakery goods to drinks and dairy products. Depending on the demands of this operation, food processing equipment can be designed and built to handle solid, semi-solid and liquid products, in a batch or continuously, depending on the operational demands.
The design and construction of food industry machinery depends on the specifications and requirements of the specific application of food industry processing.
Let's take a look at the different types of food industry machinery that are classified according to the common functions used in the food processing industry.
☑️ Preparation Machinery
☑️ Cleaning
Cleaning, grading, sorting, exfoliating or peeling are some of the unit operations used by manufacturers when preparing raw materials. The cleaning process is divided into wetting and drying to remove impurities and foreign substances from the surface of raw food. The food processing equipment used in this process are: Wetting process: disinfectant (sterilizer) Ultrasonic cleaners Wet / floating tanks (soaking) washing systems Spray washer (spray washer)
☑️ Drying process:
⚫️ Screening separators
Air classifier
Magnetic separator
☑️ Grading
This type of food processing is closely related to sorting and often preventing it. The overall quality can be determined by evaluating several characteristics of food. The food processing equipment used in this process are: Image processors Tungsten lights Laboratory equipment
☑️ Peeling / Scaling
In order to increase the overall quality or appearance of the final food product, inedible or undesirable substances are removed by this food process. The food industry machines used in this process are:
Carborundum abrasive roller/bowl (abrasion peeling)
Pressure vessels (flash steam stripping)
Fixed / rotating blade (shear peeling)
Conveyors and furnaces (flame peeling)
☑️ Sort
This process is quite similar to the dry cleaning process. Based on a measurable physical characteristic, sorting and separation of impurities and foreign substances from raw food is classified and separated. The food processing equipment used in this process are:
Sieve / screen (size sorting)
Sorting machines
Machine vision sorting systems
Sorting chain conveyor
Disc Separator (Shape Sorting)
Equipment used in the dry process in cleaning.
☑️ Mechanical machinery
Now that we have an idea of the preparation equipment, let's move on to the next stage of food processing i.e. mechanical processing operation which has several units like grinding/shredding, cutting and forming. Reduce size The first unit operation in mechanical processing is to reduce the average solid food particles through mechanical processes including cutting, impact or compaction force. The types of equipment involved are: Grinding / Grinding: Roll crusher jaw crushers pressure mill Mills' influence Straighteners or pulps Absorbent mills Large measurement Mechanical processes such as agglomeration or extrusion formation increase the average size of solid food particles. The equipment involved is: extrusion : Twin screw extruders Non-thermal extruders Refrigerator extruders Single screw extruders
Density: Bullet equipment Rotating drums Rotating pots Tablet equipment High speed mixers forming: Baking molds bread mold Active machines Pie and biscuit structures homogenization / imitation The average particle size decreases and the consistency of semi-solid and liquid foods increases. Types of food industry machines are: High shear mixers Emulsifier Colloidal mills homogenizer Mixing Mixing combines and separates two or more components to achieve and maintain a uniform mixture. The type of equipment depends on the form of food components.
☑️ Fluid Mixers:
⚫️Anchor mixers ⚫️ Excited reservoirs Turbine mixers
☑️ Paste / Dough Mixer:
⚫️ Cutting mixer Horizontal dough mixers Sigma-blade mixers
☑️ Solid Mixers:
1. Drum mixer
2. Broadcast mixers (passive)
3. Convection (active mixer).
