When processing tomato products, the water used to cool containers far overweighs the water used in product itself. Often, the price of utility service grows into a major portion of plant operating expenses.
At Swift/Hunt-Wesson Foods Rossford plant this trend has been reversed by replacing an aging sterilizer unit with a high efficiency unit. The change worked so well, that city water and sewage bills dropped significantly in the first five months. Savings continue to pile up savings at a rate that will pay for the replacement many times over.
The Rossford plant processes tomato products and convenience foods both in and out of season. The plant has 250,000 sq. ft. of production space and is capable of taking in 2,500 tons of fresh tomatoes daily for production of sauce and juice products. Rossford now is one of five tomato-product producers operated by Swift/Hunt-Wesson.
It was another renovation that made industrial engineer Terry Gallagher take notice of rising utility bills. The high cost of city water and process sewage effluent – both meter-billed at Rossford – became a high- priority concern.
Searched for energy-savers
He and other engineers broke a company tradition of fabricating its own equipment, and began looking for new ideas. One was a sterilizer/cooler developed by Standard Metal products Co.
The machine is 100-feet long, and accomodates bottled and canned products ranging in size from 8-oz. to 32-oz., at rates of 400 per hour. Products are delivered directly from filling to the sterilizer/cooler.
Riding the machine 10-inch wide stainless steel mesh conveyer, products first move through a 15-ft sterilizing section maintained at 215ºF. During the remaining 85-ft trip which takes about 35 minutes, products move through overhead sprays.
But cool water isn't the only way product cools down, and that's the secret to machine's success. “The main efficiency advantage of this new machine results from accelerating the cooling process with forced air,” explains Gallagher. “The machine's side panels are equipped with air-intake louvers that extend the length of the cooling section. Its overhead panels are fitted with exhaust fans that are vented straight up through the roof. Each fan draws air through the louvers at 4,000 cfm, and this air moves up and around product to create evaporative cooling action.”
In addition, the final 15-ft section adds a bottom cooling spray that further boosts efficiency by eliminating core hotspots at the lower end of product containers, an area not adequately cooled by overhead sprays alone. And, at the end of the cooler tunnel, high-volume blower unit directs a curtain of air downward over product to force off excess water. This adds to the recirculated water supply, plus makes for drier containers for labeling.
“With this combination of efficiencies,” notes Gallagher, “our cooling process ultimately requires 70% less fresh water than the older, unvented machine. And since some water is driven off as vapor into the atmosphere, we have an even greater reduction in process effluent through the sewers.”
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No broken bottles
Fresh water for the sterilizer/cooler is introduced at the final, or coolest machine position. As it warms up through contact with product, the water is circulated through five modular sections toward the entry end of the cooler. This technique prevents thermal shock and glass breakage as product emerges from the hot end. The falling spray is captured in pans and recirculated by pumps in each manifold.
One small problem is incoming water temperature. Gallagher explains that climate changes vary water temperature from 36ºF in winter to 70-75ºF in summer. To compensate, a temperature probe travels through the cooler every hour. The core temperature of product is read, and adjustments made.
Примечания к тексту:
utility service – коммунальные услуги
make for – способствовать, содействовать
pay for – окупать(ся)
meter-billed – оплачиваемый по счетчику
louver – вытяжное отверстие, отверстие в вытяжной
трубе
exhaust fan – вытяжной вентилятор
vent – отвод (воздуха), выпускное отверстие
high volume blower – мощная воздуходувка (вентилятор)
manifold – коллектор, сборник
temperature probe – температурный зонд
1. Ответьте на вопросы по содержанию текста.
1.What kind of trend has been reversed at the Rossford plant?
2.What food does the plant process?
3.Does the company fabricate its own equipment for sterilizing and cooling tomato products?
4.Is cool water the only way of cooling product containers?
5.How much water is saved due to new cooling process?
2. Опишите процесс охлаждения, обеспечиваемый новой установкой на заводе «Россфорд».
3. Переведите следующие предложения на английский язык письменно.
1.Производственные площади завода составляют 250,000 кв. футов, и завод способен ежедневно перерабатывать 2.5 тыс. тонн свежих томатов.
2.Охлаждающий тоннель оснащен конвейером из металлической сетки шириной 10 дюймов.
3.Свежая вода подается в машину на последнем этапе, когда она нагревается в результате контакта с продуктом.
4. Переведите на русский язык резюме текста.
This sterilizer/cooler cut water usage by 70%, enough to pay the
investment. The key is air circulation with overhead fans.
5. Напишите краткое изложение текста на русском языке. Прокомментируйте часть текста, которая вам показалась наболее интересной.
6. Напишите реферат по текстам 4-7 на тему “Processing fruits and vegetables”.
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