Fluids Handling

Watson-Marlow Pump Reduces Chocolate Flavour Changes From Hours To Minutes

Watson Marlow 07/12/2020

282 3 minutes read

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Watson-Marlow 530UN/R2 process pump selected after intensive search
Previous four hour flavour change cut to just five minutes
Hugely simplified process reduces the need for manual handling and cleaning

Devon-based Moo Free Ltd is taking advantage of a 530 series process pump from Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Group (WMFTG) to optimise the manufacture of dairy-free, gluten-free vegan and organic chocolate products. Acquired as part of a production process redesign, the 530 pump is helping the company to reduce the time required for flavour changeovers from half a day to just five minutes.

Moo Free’s multiple award-winning products are intended to taste no different from their dairy counterparts. The company was established in 2010 by husband and wife team Mike and Andrea Jessop. Mike is lactose intolerant, while Andrea is gluten intolerant.

Laborious process

At the heart of Moo Free’s factory in Holsworthy is the moulding line, where the company’s various flavours of chocolate are shaped into bars and other products. Until recently, the company relied on 14 individual 400kg tanks filled with chocolate. The required percentage of flavouring would then be added to each tank, before being wheeled to another location for tempering and mixing.

Moo Free Engineering Manager Simon March

“” explains Engineering Manager Simon March. “We also knew that if we no longer needed the tanks – which cost £15,000 each – we could sell them to help recoup any investment in new technology.”

Chocolate at Moo Free is produced in three tonne batches and pumped into a large stainless-steel holding tank from where (until recently) it was transferred into the 400kg tanks ready for individual flavouring.

“By investing in a peristaltic process pump from WMFTG to dose the flavours, we conceived a way of transferring the chocolate directly from the holding tank to the moulding line,” says Mr March. “This move has reduced labour and space requirements, and eliminated the need for the 400kg tanks, some of which have already been sold to more than cover the cost of the new pump. Importantly, the whole process has been simplified ”

Straightforward and cost-effective

Mr March commissioned the manufacture of a small stainless-steel hopper which sits above the Watson-Marlow 530UN/R2 pump to provide gravity feed for the flavouring. After a tempering process the chocolate passes through a mixing screw and into another hopper – it is the turning of the screw that provides the auxiliary signal for the dosing pump to introduce the flavouring (via a drive relay). The chocolate is mixed again before it ends up in a bar on the moulding line.

“Before selecting WMFTG I looked at various dedicated dosing machines,” explains Mr March. “A number of these systems relied on a Watson-Marlow process pump, but in a way that was far more complex than we required. Moreover, many of these solutions cost around £14,000. I knew that by simply acquiring a pump, for far less outlay, I could feed my system in a straightforward manner. I’d also encountered Watson-Marlow in a previous employment and knew the pumps were reliable ”

Fully operational over a double shift (16 hours a day), the Watson-Marlow 530UN/R2 pump has proven 100% reliable since its installation in February 2020, dosing at a flow rate of

5-55mg/min from its location next to the moulding line. (4.8mm diameter bore).

Ultra-quick changeover

Flavour changes are reasonably frequent at Moo Free, sometimes occurring twice a day, and it is here that the 530UN/R2 pump has delivered the biggest gains.

“Changing flavours is now a super easy job – I just use different Marprene tubing for different flavours,” states Mr March. “We simply change the tube, empty and clean the hopper, fill it back up with another flavour and we’re ready to go again in about five minutes. Previously, every flavour change would take at least half a day to empty the chocolate from the 400kg tank and clean all the pipework associated with the tempering unit. Thankfully, those days are behind us.”

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Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Solutions

01326370370
info@wmftg.co.uk
https://www.wmfts.com/
Bicklandwater Road, Falmouth Business Park, Falmouth, Cornwall, TR11 4RU GB

About us

Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Group (WMFTG) peristaltic tube and hose pumps meet requirements including: value for money; low cost of ownership; reliability and ease of maintenance to the food and beverage, chemical, pharmaceutical, mining and many other industries.

We demonstrate how pumps deliver significant process efficiencies over the lifetime of the equipment. Whether performing flavouring addition in food processing, chemical metering in water treatment or mineral recovery, we have a solution which can cut pump downtime and reduce costs through higher accuracy metering and transfer. WMFTG has dedicated application engineers available to help customers make the right pump and tubing choice from a range providing microlitres per minute to 80 cubic metres per hour flow rates.

The only part of the pump to come into contact with the product is the tube or hose. This means there are no seals or valves that can wear or fail. Replacing the tube or hose can be performed quickly and safely. Peristaltic pump benefits include:

Total fluid containment with no seals No ancillaries Handle viscous and abrasive slurries and sludge Self-priming capability Dry running without damage to the pump In addition to their range of positive displacement pumps, Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Group has added PTFE-lined chemical and industrial hoses to their range. Aflex hoses are reinforced to withstand the most severe conditions and use.

Where we supply to

Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, South America, North America

Industries we supply to

Automation, Chemicals, Consultants, Components Electronics, Energy and Power, Food and Beverage, Glass Ceramics Cement, Metals and Minerals, OEM, Paper and Pulp, Pharmaceutical Cosmetics Toiletries, Plastics and Rubber, Recycling, Textiles, Tobacco, Water and Wastewater

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