Tag: Chocolate

A pet food manufacturer that we work with typically processes a number of meat slurries made of white fish, lamb, chicken, duck, turkey, etc. Due to the different meats and the fact that these slurries are kept in tank hoppers at 40 degrees F or colder, the viscosity of each slurry created pumping issues. The customer had used PD pumps with some success, but they were having to replace or repair these pumps frequently. They wanted a different solution that would minimize maintenance and allow them to pull the meat slurry out of the hoppers. The customer had used PD pumps with some success, but they were having to replace or repair these pumps frequently. They wanted a different solution that would minimize maintenance and allow them to pull the meat slurry out of the hoppers.

The M.G. Newell account manager thought that a twinscrew pump would be a good solution. He contacted the pump manufacturer who brought in a demo pump to try on the meat slurry. The twin screw pump was able to push the slurry through the 4” line and it was able to suck the slurry from the hopper. After the trial, the customer upsized to a 5” inlet on the pump to further improve the suction capabilities on this high-viscous slurry. The pump was sized to reflect a flow rate of 18 gpm with a 10HP gear reducer. This size will pump a meat slurry up to 23,000 cps. The customer is currently evaluating the pump on one of their 4 hoppers. If the pump continues to perform, they’ll be putting a twin-screw pump on the other 3 hoppers as well. Want to learn more about how twin-screw pumps work? Are they the right solution for your process? Click: Twin-Screw Pumps

For one chocolate processor, they sometimes never knew what the chocolate situation was going to be in their plant. They only knew each sweet product brought its own unique challenges. One of our customers manufactures candy bars and protein bars. Common ingredients include melted white and dark chocolate, caramel, liquid sugar, peanut butter, syrup, and some custom flavorings. Each product presents unique demands in processing. For example, one process may require a very thick and abrasive dark chocolate, but then very thin and smooth white chocolate for another.

Due to these variations in product properties, choosing a transfer pump was a headache for the plant. The customer had 4 different brands of pumps in their lines. For each brand, they had 3-4 different sizes and models with different pumping capacities. Each one had a different design and different spare parts, resulting in a large number of spare parts on stock. And maintenance? Maintenance was performed line-specific since most of the pumps were not interchangeable. It was simply a daily headache for the production and maintenance teams.

M.G. Newell carefully studied the customer’s process requirements and specifications including temperature, flow rate, product abrasiveness and elastomer compatibility. We were able to standardize the customer’s transfer pumps down to one brand, one model and 3 sizes to handle their entire pump needs. By standardizing on the Waukesha Cherry-Burrell Universal 3 Series of positive displacement pumps, the number of spare items was greatly reduced since two of the 3 sizes share common spare parts.

Also, since the pumps share a common design, maintenance has improved and streamlined. Each technician can work on any process line and pumps can easily be replaced by a same size pump. They’ve also reduced their spend on spare parts by reducing the number of spares in inventory. Simply put, it’s one more way We Make It Work Better.