The Swiss subsidiary of Dutch company DSM Nutritional Products AG makes use of the spray drying technique when producing vitamin and carotenoid powders for the pharmaceutical and meals industries. The procedure uses pump technology to convey numerous emulsions into a sprig tower, the place they’re dried into powder. But the feed and booster pump that was getting used proved to be an uncertainty issue as a result of the diaphragm required for the pumping course of tended to tear when the pump was began up. Generally, such production interruptions may be corrected by way of quick maintenance and repair work.
However, it is extremely costly to exchange a diaphragm or a complete system. DSM was looking for another and at last made a discover after they talked to the pump specialists at Lewa Nikkiso Switzerland, who beneficial a Lewa triplex process diaphragm pump for the spray tower application. The drive unit features a safe start-up mode that keeps the diaphragm positioned within the impartial position, and steady regulation utilizing an built-in monitoring system. Since the hermetically tight pumps are electropolished and CIP-approved, it is straightforward to fulfill the meals industry’s stringent hygienic provisions.
one hundred PERCENT INTEGRATION
“Pump technology plays a central role in drying oil-in-water emulsions for the food and pharmaceutical industries. These emulsions contain substances corresponding to vitamins, carotenoids, or polyunsaturated fatty acids as active ingredients,” explains Natalie Ibald, plant manager of formulations at DSM Nutritional Products AG. “As part of the process chain, every pump is 100 percent integrated into the closed plant system. The pumps are used for conveying the mixtures into the spray tower.”
With the earlier system, the danger of unexpected interruptions to this course of couldn’t be dominated out. As a end result, the different emulsions could not be processed further. In other phrases, it was not attainable to dry them into powder. The pump diaphragm was the explanation: it was often too sensitive to withstand the stress positioned on it when starting up the pump and would rupture. Replacing the diaphragm lowered the system’s service life and typically meant that trouble-free operation couldn’t be assured.
FINDING THE RIGHT PARTNER
In the course of trying to find a reliable different, DSM got in touch with the Swiss subsidiary of pump manufacturer Lewa.
“We have been already acquainted with Lewa Nikkiso Switzerland as a supplier of sturdy systems with long service lives within the SFP sector. To guarantee trouble-free spray drying, we thought it would be sensible to affix forces with the specialists from Lewa and provide you with a design to unravel the technical issues,” says Ibald.
DSM is dedicated to continually improving its processes and investing in technology. This commitment, together with prior experience with the short service lives of the earlier pumps, led DSM to place particular focus on reliable perform and a sturdy design during the venture planning phase. The record of necessities also included a substantial number of stringent hygienic provisions that needed to be fulfilled.
“Certain meals have provisions relating to microbiological purity which are many instances more stringent than these for producing other food merchandise,” explains Ibald. “This meant that the model new feed and booster pump had to meet these tougher conditions and every type of contamination had to be ruled out to provide the widest possible variety of products on the system.”
ROYAL DSM: PARTNER PROFILE
Royal DSM is a worldwide science-oriented firm that is especially energetic in the areas of diet, well being, and sustainable dwelling. DSM’s mission is to enhance the lives of all. Products and options from DSM tackle some of the world’s greatest challenges while concurrently creating financial, environmental, and societal value for all its stakeholders—including clients, staff, shareholders, and society at giant.
DSM delivers innovative options for the nutrition, animal diet, private care and aromatics, medical products, environmentally friendly merchandise and applications, in addition to new mobility and interconnectivity.
DSM and its affiliated companies make use of greater than 23,000 folks and generate an annual web turnover of approximately 10 billion euros. The firm was founded in 1902 and is listed on the Euronext Amsterdam inventory exchange.
For extra data, visit www.dsm.com.
GUARANTEED SAFE START-UP OPERATION
After a visit on the company premises to assume about the spatial and technical parameters, Lewa Nikkiso Switzerland beneficial a sort G3F triplex course of diaphragm pump for the spray tower utility. This pump features a fully safe start-up operation, since a spring constantly holds the integrated sandwich diaphragm positioned in a impartial position.
เกจวัดแรงดันปั๊มลม protects the diaphragm against incorrect positioning and prevents it from being damaged whereas the pump is starting up, rising system availability substantially. And the Lewa triplex is controlled utilizing a stress relief valve that’s installed in the hydraulic half and could be configured for the specific scenario. Therefore, the pump could be adapted to totally different operational situations in order to stop any overloads that may arise. This ensures that the unit has an extended service life and smooth regular operation for the whole system.
THE POWER OF DESIGN
In addition to the pressure relief valve and the spring management, the design of the diaphragm also performs an essential role in guaranteeing reliable pump operation. The patented sandwich diaphragm consists of two separate PTFE diaphragms which might be extremely long-lasting. They are related to one another by way of optimistic interlocking through the discharge stroke and mechanical force-fitting during the suction stroke.
This makes the pump hermetically tight and effectively prevents external contamination. As an extra safety function, the DPS monitoring system from Lewa continuously monitors the situation of the diaphragm. The monitoring unit promptly displays any damage to the system that leads to elevated stress within the diaphragm house.
This makes it potential to carry out preventive upkeep and restore work before the diaphragm even begins to rupture and potentially contaminates the pumped fluid. Thus, it is usually pointless to change the pump off right away, which signifies that neither the pumping process nor spray drying are negatively impacted to a major extent. If injury to a diaphragm is detected, production can proceed with none problems as much as a deliberate upkeep cease. The parts can then get replaced quickly and simply by releasing the cassette for the meeting.
ASEPTIC, FDA-COMPLIANT OPERATION
The hermetically tight design of the method diaphragm pump does extra than simply guarantee dependable steady operation. It can also be a central element for fulfilling the stringent hygiene provisions that the spray tower application is subject to. The Lewa triplex maintains a hermetically tight area with out dynamic seals, guaranteeing fully clear and aseptic manufacturing circumstances. All pump heads that come into contact with the product are additionally electropolished, which makes it potential to ensure FDA-compliant pump operation.
Because the pump may be cleaned in place (CIP) utilizing completely different alkaline and acidic agents and with out prior dismantling, it is potential to satisfy the particular necessities for baby meals as nicely. The provisions for baby meals are 1,000 times extra stringent than those for other merchandise in the food sector. Thanks to the hermetically tight design, electropolishing, and CIP cleaning, we had been able to rule out any contamination of the pumped medium and clearly meet the required hygiene normal.
QUICK RESPONSE TIMES AND WELL-FOUNDED EXPERTISE
The first quote was obtained in June of 2018 and in September of the same yr, DSM Nutritional Products AG placed an order for the triplex process diaphragm pump. In operation since April 2019, the pump has turn into an indispensable a half of production on the plant in Sisseln.
“In every phase of the challenge, Lewa Nikkiso Switzerland demonstrated fast response instances and well-founded expertise, which made a key contribution to implementing the venture successfully,” says Ibald. “Our specifications with regard to quality, robustness, and hygiene have been followed to the letter on this challenge. As a outcome, our manufacturing has become noticeably extra efficient and reliable.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Lewa develops technologies and supplies options for the huge array of purposes amongst its clients. Its merchandise are used mainly in the oil and gas industry, in gas odorization, in refineries and petrochemicals, in addition to in the manufacturing of plastics, detergents, and cleaners. Additional software areas include the chemical trade, cosmetics business, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, food and beverage trade, and vitality utilities. For extra information, visit www.lewa.com.
Share