The pursuit of top food quality is a recurring but fairly delicate topic within the industry. One of the biggest problems capable of affecting quality is excess moisture during transport. As a solution, many companies invest in pneumatic conveying.
In general, the pneumatic conveying system, adopted in the powder and grain industry, solves the problem of excess moisture by being fully enclosed. This reduces the chances of contamination.
It’s important to note that, even with pneumatic conveying, moisture control is also a necessity that requires good industry management and the adoption of some complementary equipment.
So check out the benefits of pneumatic conveying that ensure higher food quality and what precautions are needed to control moisture within this system.
Pneumatic Conveying: More Quality for Transported Food
Adopting strategies and techniques to prevent food contamination is a widely discussed topic among industries in the sector.
The presence of mites, insect hair, and rodent hair (which can result from excess moisture) can compromise an entire production system and the company’s image with consumers and shareholders.
To prevent this, one of the strategies and techniques for improving transport quality — and consequently food quality — is to use a pneumatic conveying system.
The main characteristic of this system is that it’s fully enclosed, reducing the chances of contamination, since the product has no contact with the environment. In other words, the volume of product/particles placed at the start of the system will be transported without losses and with the same quality all the way to its destination.
Advantages of Pneumatic Conveying for the Food Industry
The entire pneumatic conveying system was developed with the purpose of improving the transport quality of food and other powdered inputs within an industrial plant.
However, due to its characteristics, the system also delivers other advantages, among which the following stand out:
- More hygienic: being a closed system, pneumatic conveying prevents product contamination, making transport more hygienic;
- Increased speed: compared to other systems, pneumatic conveying makes the process faster, meaning it’s quicker;
- Excellent cost-effectiveness: both acquisition and maintenance of this system cost less compared to mechanical systems;
- Adaptability potential: the same system can be used for different types of products within the plant. It’s just a matter of properly adjusting the airflow for each one;
- Operational savings: besides a lower cost to acquire the equipment, there’s a significant reduction in waste, since all movement takes place within a closed system.
This way, pneumatic conveying, when properly handled, offers complete transport safety for the product, since it allows the material to flow to the desired location while minimizing product contamination.
Watch Out for Dehumidification in Pneumatic Conveying
Despite the many advantages presented, the pneumatic conveying system depends on an essential precaution related to today’s topic: air moisture control.
Whether inside or outside the system, air moisture can put product quality at risk, mainly through fungus formation in the piping and powder clumping in dilute-phase systems, which can increase the particle size of the transported food and cause clogging.
As a strategy to solve this problem, installing an air dehumidification device is the best recommendation. This equipment will keep moisture levels within the range recommended for pneumatic conveying, ensuring product quality.
So, even though it’s more efficient than any other transport system, pneumatic conveying also requires the use of dehumidifiers to remove moisture from the air, always according to each industry’s needs.
For your next project, be sure to consult Globe Systems. We have the ideal, safer, and more efficient solution for your conveying project!
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