Flexicon helps Nut Butter producers increase output by 500%

04 February 2011

The combined application of Flexicon stainless steel screw conveyors and a range of bulk bag unloaders have helped manufacturers of the MaraNatha® brand of organic and natural nut butters to increase productivity dramatically. The vastly improved production facility has been able to increase its output five-fold, paving the way forward for the company to meet escalating sales growth in the order of 20 to 30% pa.

In-line process feed

The original production line gave the company a processing capacity of just 20 to 30 jars per minute since it relied on bucket-type conveyors to move peanuts, almonds, cashews and sesame seeds to various production areas throughout the plant. This conveyor design with its many hundreds of buckets was also detrimental to productivity since each had to be dismantled and thoroughly cleaned between product changes to retain Class 1 allergen classification – a process taking around two hours.

As demand for the all-natural almond, peanut, cashew and macadamia and sesame tahini butters escalated, the company realized they needed to boost output by increasing production rates whilst reducing sanitation downtime between batches. This necessitated an entirely new bulk handling system.

To improve in-line performance the company invested in Flexicons' flexible stainless steel food-grade (finished to 3A standard) screw conveyors; two 4.6 m long flexible screw conveyors featuring stainless steel tubes were installed in the roasting areas to convey raw products, such as nuts and sesame seeds, to the roasters. Here stainless steel outer tubes (as opposed to plastic) were preferred because of the ambient heat. There are another three conveyors used in other areas, another 4.6 m long unit feeds peanut, almond and other nut products to an industrial line, which processes materials and fills pails or barrels. Two other screw conveyors which are 7.5 m long convey raw product to the manufacturing line where it is processed and eventually placed in jars for retail sale.

Each flexible screw conveyor consists of a stainless steel spiral inside an enclosed tube driven by an IP65 motor located at the discharge end. MaraNatha specified other food-grade features including stainless steel hoppers and flexible screws.

According to the site manager;

“simple design and operation of the Flexicon equipment easily outperforms the bucket-style conveyors, 150 jars per minute compared to the previous maximum of 30 jars”.

Sanitising the Flexicon screw conveyors has proven less time consuming overcoming the lengthy downtime between product changes. A removable clean-out cap at the intake end of the conveyor tube allows for both reversing of the screw to evacuate any residual material and removal of the flexible screw for sanitising and flushing of the conveyor tube, in just 45 minutes compared to two hours for each bucket-style conveyor.

Bulk Handling

To maximize the efficiency of the new in-line screw conveyors five Flexicon bulk bag dischargers were also installed as part of the production up-grade, allowing bulk raw supplies delivered in bags to be discharged and held in a hopper in-readiness to feed its associated stainless steel screw conveyors. Flexicon produce a variety of models, for the MaraNatha site the most appropriate was the BFC Series dischargers with cantilevered I-beam, electric hoist and trolley for loading and unloading of bulk bags without the use of a forklift.

Two units have been installed in the roasting rooms and are equipped with Spout-Lockâ clamp rings that make an air-tight connection between the clean side of the bag spout and the clean side of the equipment, preventing contamination of the product and plant environment. The clamp rings are located at the top of Tele-Tubeâ telescoping tubes that maintain constant downward tension of the bag spout to promote complete evacuation of the bag as it empties and elongates. Immediately above the clamp rings are pneumatically actuated Power-Cincher® flow control valves that cinch the bag spouts concentrically, allowing retying of partially empty bags with no leakage of the nut fines.

The other three unloaders are in the production room, they utilise conventional iris valves instead of the clamp rings and telescoping tubes described above because a sealed connection between the bag spout and the hopper is unnecessary. To operate, the bag outlet spout is pulled through the open iris valve, the valve is closed, the bag spout drawstring is untied, and the access door is closed. The valve is then opened slowly to prevent uncontrolled bursts of material into the hopper, reducing the escape of dust.

Flexicon have enhanced many product processes, in terms of improved performance the outcome for MaraNatha must rank as one of the most significant gains with a five-fold improvement in output, brought about by the ease of cleaning and more efficient performance.

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Flexicon helps Nut Butter producers increase output by 500%

04 February 2011

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