Pumping pies
1 min read
Aiming to lower decibel levels, reduce cycle times and cut energy consumption, Pukka Pies has replaced pneumatically operated air pumps with positive displacement pumps to transfer meat fillings at its headquarters in Syston, Leicestershire, from where it produces over 60 million pies every year.
Maintenance manager Simon Kemp says: "We were using a pneumatic air pump to transfer pre-cooked meat from a 200 litre capacity mixing bowl to a depositor feed hopper ready to fill the pies. In the first instance, the pump was very noisy and we wanted to improve the working conditions for our bakery operatives. We also found that the meat mixture – which is rich, thick and full of meat chunks and therefore must not be damaged – was problematic for the pumps we had on site. We needed to find a pump which could suction lift the mixture from the mixing bowl up to the depositor feed hopper, whilst maintaining product integrity."
The answer was found in MasoSine SPS 2.5 model positive displacement pumps from Watson-Marlow. The pump's sinusoidal rotor overcomes the limitations of conventional rotary lobe pumps to produce powerful suction with low shear, low pulsation and gentle handling, all of which contributes to lower noise output.
"With the installation of the first MasoSine SPS 2.5 we managed to lower noise from 94 decibels peak, to 74 decibels peak," says Kemp.
"Furthermore, since the installation of our first MasoSine pump around two years ago, we now use far less compressed air – to the tune of 660 litres per minute."
The company now has a number of such pumps on site, including several operating with a flooded suction and three which utilise the suction lift capacity of the sine pump.
Since installation, Pukka Pies report no reliability or maintenance issues, with the pumps operating every day between 08:00 and 17:00, transferring around 200 litres of pre-cooked meat every 20 minutes.
