Case Study: High-Hygiene Bulk Solids Handling for Baby Food & Nutritional Powders
.
The Challenge: Precision Feeding of Cohesive & Free-Flowing Ingredients
A renowned manufacturer of infant nutrition and specialty drinks required a sophisticated bulk solids handling solution to automate the transfer of raw ingredients to their mixing and packaging lines. The project presented a complex engineering hurdle: moving three materials with vastly different flow characteristics—free-flowing sugar, hygroscopic milk powder, and highly cohesive, non-free-flowing cocoa powder. The system needed to guarantee dust-tight containment to meet stringent food safety standards while navigating a constrained production footprint that prohibited traditional straight-line conveyors.
A renowned manufacturer of infant nutrition and specialty drinks required a sophisticated bulk solids handling solution to automate the transfer of raw ingredients to their mixing and packaging lines. The project presented a complex engineering hurdle: moving three materials with vastly different flow characteristics—free-flowing sugar, hygroscopic milk powder, and highly cohesive, non-free-flowing cocoa powder. The system needed to guarantee dust-tight containment to meet stringent food safety standards while navigating a constrained production footprint that prohibited traditional straight-line conveyors.
.
Our Solution: Custom-Engineered Flexible and Rigid Screw Technology
We designed a hybrid mechanical conveying network that prioritises sanitary design and material degradation prevention:
We designed a hybrid mechanical conveying network that prioritises sanitary design and material degradation prevention:
- Flexible Screw Conveyors for Sugar & Milk Powder: For the sugar and milk powder streams, we utilised flexible screw augers housed in food-grade, ultra-high-molecular-weight (UHMW) polyethylene tubes. This “spiral” technology allows for a curved conveying path, providing the plant with versatile geometry to bypass existing structural columns.
- Rigid Screw Augers for Cohesive Cocoa: To combat the “bridging” and packing tendencies of cocoa powder, we engineered heavy-duty rigid screw conveyors. These units feature high-torque drives and precision-pitched flights to ensure a consistent, metered flow into the mixer without material accumulation.
- Hygienic 316 Stainless Steel Construction: All product-contact parts were fabricated from 316 stainless steel, featuring continuous-weld finishes to eliminate crevices where bacteria could thrive—a critical requirement for baby food grade production.
- Automated Batch Control: The system integrates seamlessly with the plant’s PLC for loss-in-weight feeding accuracy. This ensures the automated transfer from the primary intake hoppers to the packaging stage is both repeatable and verifiable for quality assurance audits.
.
The Result: A High-Availability, Dust-Free Production Environment
The commissioned system delivered a significant upgrade to the plant’s CAPEX efficiency and operational safety:
The commissioned system delivered a significant upgrade to the plant’s CAPEX efficiency and operational safety:
- Elimination of Airborne Particulates: The fully enclosed, dust-tight design ensures zero product loss and a cleaner workspace, significantly reducing the risk of cross-contamination.
- Optimised Material Recovery: The low-clearance design of our screw augers minimises residual material left in the system, simplifying the Clean-In-Place (CIP) protocols.
- Increased Plant OEE: By replacing manual handling with a synchronized conveyor network, the facility achieved a continuous, high-throughput production cycle with minimal maintenance downtime.