Cooker/coolers change-over times reduced

Latest technology in cooker/coolers have significantly minimized the cleaning change-over on short runs to as low as 15 minutes, and on a totally automated mode without the need for manual labor.

As food processors become more and more concerned about quick change-over, faster clean-up and turn-around time, recent product developments by Lyco Manufacturing with their Clean-Flow, technology in cooker/coolers have significantly minimized the cleaning change-over on short runs to as low as 15 minutes, and on a totally automated mode without the need for manual labor.

Their Clean-Flow equipment can accommodate for as many as two product changeovers per hour, or 16 changeovers per shift, allowing for maximum flexibility and efficiency.

Where a processor was used to running one product through a process line continuously, now may be running a different product every day, or twice a day, and may have the necessity to run 8 or 10 products a day, but limited by change-over time.

On a standard commercial cooker/cooler rotary drum, it would typically take two hours to complete the cleaning for a line transition.

That makes it impractical to execute more than one transition per 8h shift.

Clean-Flow utilizes Lyco's rotary drum system, which provides water injection for agitation that keeps the product in uniform suspension while moving through the unit.

It has a very accurately made screw similar to what is used in a screw blancher, residing in a stationary wedge-wire screen that encapsulates the screw from the 3:00 to 9:00 o'clock position.

The tolerance between the screw and the screen is less than one-half a grain of rice.

The water agitation injected through the screen keeps the product off the floor of the screen, where it is maintained in total suspension.

Damage to fragile product is a fraction of one percent, and even less than in a rotary drum.

Clean-up time is reduced from hours to minutes in the Clean-Flow design because the screw is totally exposed for cleaning.

During clean-up the screen is released from its fixed position, and is continually rotated 360 deg around the screw alternately exposing the interior and exterior of the screen to Clean-in-Place manifolds located in the cover of the machine.

The screw can be rotated at the same time as the screen, again exposing all surfaces to the cleansing water sprays.

"Sanitation and clean-up times are factors that have become critical to food processors," said Dave Zittel, founder of Lyco Manufacturing.

"Imagine wanting to run five different products in a day, but if it takes 1-12h to clean up the machine there obviously is not enough time in a shift to do it.

Clean-Flow meets the needs of quick change-over by speeding up the sanitation process, which provides the flexibility to run a variety of different products daily on the same line.".

Back to top