The Customer
The Jordans & Rivita Company Ltd is a leading UK based producer of whole grain breakfast cereals, breakfast bars and crispbread.
Jordans process 350 tonnes of cereal through their ovens every week. The cereal passes through the ovens at 230°C and is transferred for further processing via two 1500mm wide conveyors made of fine mesh.
The Challenge
The cooking wheat causes the cereal to build up within the holes of the fine mesh conveyors. After 8-10 weeks of use the conveyors become embedded with residual grains and must be replaced at a cost of £3,000 and a downtime of up to 8 hours each.
The Solution
After consulting with the customer Secomak commissioned two high velocity blowers and air knife systems, each covering a length of 1550mm. The air knives are positioned above the return of each conveyor and use a stream of high pressure (78mbar) air to blow through the fine mesh and strip the residual cereal from the conveyor and divert it to waste.
The Benefits
The new system enables at least another 10 weeks of conveyor use, providing an additional 66 minutes of production per week and a cost saving of £21,667 per annum.
“We have increased our belt life to allow full payback from all costings in the first year, as well as the sustained quality in achieving a standard bake out.” – Paul Smith
