System Process Lines
Quality products, consistently
Over the years Flavourtech has accumulated a wide range of experience that allows us to provide both automated and semi-automated process lines that produce more consistent, higher quality products with less effort. In addition to reducing labour costs, Flavourtech’s compact lines mean a smaller operational footprint and reduced downtime through the automation of product or batch changes.
Here’s a snapshot of some of our recent projects:
- Extraction line for ready to drink (RTD) tea and coffee
- Meat broth extraction and concentration process line
- Plant extraction and concentration process line
Benefits
Extraction line for ready to drink (RTD) tea and coffee
Industry insights and identifying a notable gap in the market led Flavourtech to develop the Integrated Extraction System (IES). This is a unique and revolutionary method of producing premium liquid extracts and concentrates for RTD tea and coffee. It is now one of our key product offerings and is used by many global companies for the manufacturing of RTD beverages, from iced tea drinks through to canned coffee beverages. In fact, the IES has become a standard process line for RTD tea beverages in the USA and RTD coffee beverages in Japan and Asia.
The IES facilitates the production of extracts complete with fresh-roasted coffee characters or the light, floral notes of varietal teas. The extracts produced are superior to traditional products and often better than a fresh brew. The whole process line can be monitored and operated by only one staff member. Gone are the many extraction tanks and multiple transfer steps required in the standard process. Not only are customers’ factories now cleaner and less cluttered but the continuous process results in a standardised high quality product.
To find out more view our Webinar titled “Improve your RTD Tea & Coffee business with Spinning Cone technologies”
Meat broth extraction and concentration process line
When approached to assist with removal of undesirable aromas from meat broth solutions, Flavourtech designed, and now manufactures and supplies, an automated process line comprising bone milling, extraction and concentration modules that avoid the production of unwanted odours.
The process line can be used for various types of bone broth or soup stock concentration and many variations are possible depending on the flavour, source material and concentration required. Some of the benefits include the production of a consistent product in terms of colour and target concentration. Key to this is the Centritherm® evaporator – its low operating temperatures and short residence time of only one second avoids damage to the colour of the bone broth while gently concentrating the product to concentrations higher than other evaporation technology.
Plant extraction and concentration process line
The process for extraction of plant and botanical material is often cumbersome and labour intensive. It usually involves batch tanks to mix and boil plant material, which are then decanted, cooled and transferred to an evaporator for concentration.
To overcome these operating inefficiencies, Flavourtech has designed a continuous plant extract and concentration process line to automate this application. It consists of various Flavourtech technologies arranged in an automated or semi-automated process line. These include:
- Slurry Production Module – plant material is milled to a pre-determined size and mixed with water.
- Extraction Module – the resulting plant slurry is heated and held at a selected temperature for a specified time within the Rotating Disc Column reaction vessel.
- Clarification module – to remove liquid extract from solids to a pre-determined clarity.
- Concentration Module – using the Centritherm® evaporator the liquid extract is concentrated to the required concentration using only one second heat contact time at temperatures as low as 40° C.
Some of the benefits of this processing line include a smaller footprint, and lower labour and energy requirements than traditional methods. In addition, because it uses much lower temperatures and shorter residence times, Flavourtech’s technology results in higher product quality along with higher retention of colour and active ingredients. This has assisted many customers in differentiating their products and growing their business.
Case Study
Recently, a European extract company was able to realise the low thermal impact of the Centritherm evaporator in processing their spinach oleoresin. The client had some specific targets for the retention of chlorophyll and colour which were able to be surpassed by the one second heat contact time exhibited by the Centritherm evaporator.
In fact, the retention of chlorophyll was over three times that of their existing evaporator processing the same product. This provided the client with the choice to reduce their operating costs or release to market a new product with higher chlorophyll levels than their competitors. This is just one of many instances where the Centritherm evaporator was able to assist customers in differentiating their products by producing world leading plant extracts with higher amounts of active ingredients being retained than other evaporators on the market.
How it works
These System Process Lines are designed to meet each customer’s specific objectives. Another example is outlined here.
Flavourtech’s expertise came to the rescue of a meat bone broth extraction company by helping them to meet product specifications they were not previously able to achieve.
Flavourtech designed a series of batch kettles that operated automatically and allowed the broth to be fed directly to the Centritherm evaporator. This meat bone broth production line produced a consistent quality, lighter coloured extract at a reliably higher concentration than their previous extraction lines. This allowed the broth company to meet the requirements of existing and new customers and grow their business three-fold in a very short period of time.
