Skin packaging of meat – Dry compressing vacuum pumps as enabler
During
this presentation Leybold will demonstrate how dry compressing vacuum pumps can
support the recent trend from MAP to skin packaging.
Skin
packaging wins more and more market shares as if offers several advantages over
the conventional modified atmosphere packaging (MAP). Most important will be
here the extended shelf life, the improved product appearance and the reduced
packaging costs as less plastic material is needed and no gas is consumed.
For
the MAP process, the packages must be evacuated into a rough vacuum of ~100
mbar only before the final gas atmosphere is introduced. Skin packaging
requires a fine-vacuum level of 3-5 mbar instead.
To
safe production costs, most modern production facilities installed central
vacuum systems (CVS) to supply the required rough vacuum to their various MAP
packaging lines. These
have now a challenge, as they can’t supply rough vacuum for MAP and fine vacuum
for Skin packaging at the same time. Producers must therefore install separate
vacuum pumps again to support their skin packaging lines. As market standard
those pumps are typically oil lubricated rotary vane pumps which are installed
remotely to avoid oil and heat emission into the hygienic and air-conditioned
food processing rooms. At fine-vacuum, the often >20 m long pipework in
between the pump and the packaging system causes so much throttling effect,
that typically a dry compression Roots-type booster pump is added inside the
machine to compensate the pipework losses.
Leybold
qualified an alternative to this uncomfortable solution. By using the dry
compressing, screw-type DRYVAC pump, the food producer can improve the
situation clearly as he can install such pump locally.
Being
a 100% water-cooled pump, the DRYVAC does not emit any heat into the food
processing room. None of the processed meat is accidentally heated and no
expensive additional heat load for the air condition is emitted.
Having
an oil-free compressing room, the DRYVAC does not emit any oil. Unlike
oil-sealed pumps this pump is therefore fully hygienic.
Being
installed either inside the machine or inside a hygienic enclosure next to the
machine, the DRYVAC also offers an unmatched hygiene level.
Due
to the local installation without long, throttling pipework and it’s superiorly
low final pressure of <0,005 mbar, the DRYVAC pump does not require an
additional Roots booster, still ensuring a faster pump-down time and/or lower
pressure inside the package.
In
praxis, one locally installed DRYVAC DV650 could replace up to 3x 300 m³/h
remotely installed rotary vane pumps plus 1x 1000 m³/h Roots booster pump,
offering lower energy consumption and less maintenance with same or better
cycle time!