Fragrances & Flavours
Off-Line Occasional Manual Dosing from Drums
For various reasons, there may be occasional raw materials
that are not suitable for online integration,
or out-of-spec products that need to be blended
in small portions into other batches.
Since high precision is generally not required, a valve
equipped with a long lever/handle is sufficient.
As shown in the photo, the nitrogen-pressurized
pipe pump unit is designed to extend right to the edge
of the drum; by tilting the drum on a pallet,
all the liquid collects at that point for complete emptying.
Furthermore, the pressurized nitrogen filling the drum
escapes through the pump tube as it is removed,
drying it thoroughly and preventing any dripping.
Distillation technology
A few years ago, I designed small 100-litre distillation units for the production of deterpenated citrus oils,
capable of almost completely removing limonene without any loss of decanal or linalool.
This system has been fully built and field-tested. The process is completely automated: the unit is loaded
in the morning and discharged the following morning, ready for a new cycle.To preserve outstanding product quality,
the reboiler operates at only 40–45°C.
To complete the process and obtain a perfectly soluble product, free from color and waxes, while also removing
pesticides almost completely, with only minimal traces potentially remaining, the material is subsequently
processed through a short-path evaporator at very low temperatures, with total recovery of sinensal and valencene.
(See photo of the tray distillation column.)
My Lastest Project
I am currently designing a very large and complex tea extract production plant.
The process starts with 700 kg/h of black tea leaves fed continuously,
24 hours a day, in a fully automated operation.
Given the low bulk density of the leaves, the raw-material
handling system requires significant volume.
After extensive research into the scientific literature
and consultation with experts worldwide,
Idesigned a highly innovative system that, to my knowledge,
has never been built in this way before.
Since no single company globally possesses all the technologies
required to manufacture such a plantespecially
for conducting large-scale extraction trials
I brought together a consortium of specialized vendors.
A full week of pilot-scale testing yielded extremely positive results.
The process begins with ambient-temperature extraction
using a very new technology, followed by multi-stage filtration down to bacterial-removal level.
Cold-concentration technologies are integrated to minimize thermal degradation,
followed by final pasteurization and the recovery of concentrated aroma fractions.
Drum Heating Cabinet
Heated cabinet for preparing products that are solid or
too viscous at room temperature before transferring them
into the corresponding in-line containers, where they are
kept at the required temperature.
High-Volume Packaging in 200 L Drums (or Smaller) and 1,000 L IBC Totes
To package a high volume of drums ranging from 50 to 220 L, or 1,000 L IBC totes (in the plant I built,
this involved multiple 25,000 L tanks), we avoided a complex, expensive, and space-consuming system.
I developed a remarkably simple solution that eliminates the need for roller conveyors.
The system is semi-automatic, featuring fully automated, high-precision weighing. Filling a pallet of four 200 L drums
is so fast that an operator using a forklift to haul away the filled pallet can barely keep up.
How It Works: Multiple large storage tanks can be connected.
A 2” pipe leads from a large tank, housed inside a containment basin for safety, and connects via a 1 ½” flexible hose
first to a pump, then to the packaging system. Initially, the flow can pass through a standard, relatively small coarse filter.
From there, it goes either directly to the drums or through a secondary cleanable stainless-steel backwash filter
with a 50, 25, or 5-micron.
Downstream, a bypass loop with two solenoid valves handles automatic dosing: a 1 ½” valve handles bulk filling
down to the final 1 or 2 kg, while a secondary 3/8” or ½” valve performs the fine dosing.
The 1,000+ kg scale features a 100 g resolution, delivering a real-world accuracy of ±50 g (and likely even better)
on a 200 kg drum. The automatic dosing controller, as well as all scales I typically use, is supplied by Mettler-Toledo.
To simplify inserting the heavy discharge line into the drums, a balanced, articulated arm manufactured by OVD
holds the pipe suspended exactly where the operator leaves it.
Once a drum is filled, the operator effortlessly moves the lightweight, highly maneuverable discharge line to the next drum.
A drip collector keeps the entire area clean.
A single click initiates the next weighing cycle. Filling a drum takes under a minute. Compared to a fully automated system
with fixed roller conveyors, the cost savings are incomparable, and footprint requirements are kept to an absolute minimum.
Value Proposition: Drastically reduced capital expenditure and minimal floor-space footprint compared to fully automated
conveyor lines, paired with maximum filling throughput.
Miscellaneous systems
Fragrance & Flavour
