Production pump project for food sector

The station (pictured) is designed to transfer viscous meat mixes for savoury products such as sausage rolls. Two machines are being commissioned ready for installation at the leading UK food manufacturer's site. When the food manufacturer needed a solution to help deposit meat mixes on a new production line, Delta Food Systems began designing a chassis, and it called on Watson-Marlow to help with the pump – the highly viscous meat mix and solid particulates up to 30mm in size meant that an ordinary pump would not work. The chassis supports a hopper that holds 250kg of meat at maximum capacity. This is fed to an auger box before entering a pump that feeds material into a 10-lane distribution head which deposits the mix into 10 equal portions, in either spot deposit or continuous mode. Watson-Marlow proposed its pulse-free MasoSine pump, which can dispense an even volume with each revolution. Delta's technical director John Pratt says the hygiene benefits of this model were a key consideration, particularly for its use in the food industry: "It can be stripped completely for cleaning within two to three minutes." He added: "Watson-Marlow helped specify the correct type of seals and scraper gates required to handle the specific viscous meat mix being transferred. This level of co-operation is vital if the end user is to enjoy longevity of machine service." The company worked with Watson-Marlow to fit the MasoSine SPS2.5 with servo-drives able to stop and start the pump in a controlled way and create individual portions. Alternatively the system can deposit and leave a gap if required, before depositing again. The machine is PLC controlled with a user-friendly HMI that allows operators to switch recipes with ease. Each machine is 1.5m square and although very robust can be easily moved around on a pallet truck.