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download articleMachinery involved in honey production
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Hot Air Reception
Description
The opened drums are put upside down on a grid, whereupon a cover is being lowered over the drums. The air within the cover is hot, so the honey will melt and flow out of the drums into a reception tank. This tank is heated with hot water and the honey is stirred.
Flow rate
Quick reception (60ºC): 8 drums per hour = 1600 litre per hour
Night reception (30ºC): 8 drums per night = 100 litre per hour
+ Can also be used for plastic drums
Can also be used for drums with a narrow gap
- A lot of height is needed
Suitable for 500/1000 ton per year
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Hot Steam Reception
Description
The closed drums are rolled into a tunnel. Low pressure steam is inserted into the tun-nel. Because the drums are cold, the steam will moisturize against the outside. The outer thin layer of honey will melt. Then the drums are opened and put up side down. A big lump of honey will fall out into a press, which presses it through the pipelines.
Flow rate
Normal: 10 drums per 20 min = 6000 litre per hour
Strong crystallized: 10 drums per 30 min = 4000 litre per hour
+ The process is quick, only the outer thin layer (about 4 mm) is heated so the HMF, which is formed here, is to little to be measured on the total amount.
- Can only be used with metal, straight drums
Suitable for 2000 ton per year
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Sauna
Description
The honey is stored in a closed room. The room is heated, so the water will vaporize and the air in the honey will rise from it, because it is heated. After one night in the sauna the honey is being transported to the next processing step.
Advantage
The sauna can be used for reception, deaeration and heating.
Flow rate
1000 litre/hour (depending on the size of the sauna)
Suitable for 500/1000 ton per year
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Fine Filter through Gravity
Description
The fine filter is filled with honey, which is dripping through because of gravity. All the particles that shouldn’t get through remain in the filter.
Filter size
100µm
Flow rate
100 litre/hour
Suitable for 500 ton per year
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Fine Filter through Pressure
Description
The honey is pressed through a fine filter to cleanse and purify it.
Filter size
100µm
Flow rate
1000 litre/hour
Suitable for 500/1000/2000 ton per year
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Fine Filter (self cleansing)
Description
The auto filter is a fully automated self-cleaning filter. In the cleaning process a scraping plunger is scraping the dirt into a sludge chamber in the bottom of the filter. Drainage of the filter takes place through the discharge valve, that can be set at appropriate intervals.
Filter size
30µm - 1000µm
Flow rate
3000 litre/hour
Suitable for 2000 ton per year
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Crude Filter through Gravity
Description
The crude filter is filled with honey, which is dripping through because of gravity. All the particles that shouldn’t get through remain in the filter.
Filter size
100µm -1mm
Flow rate
100 litre/hour
Suitable for 500 ton per year
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Crude Filter through Pressure
Description
The honey is pressed through a crude filter to take out the bigger particles like wings, bees, wax, etc. If the process is continouos, two filters are necessary because they need to be cleaned regularly while the process goes on.
Filter size
100µm -1mm
Flow rate
1000 litre/hour
Suitable for 500/1000/2000 ton per year
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Crude Filter (Self Cleansing)
Description
The auto filter is a fully automated self-cleaning filter. In the cleaning process a scraping plunger is scraping the dirt into a sludge chamber in the bottom of the filter. Drainage of the filter takes place through the discharge valve, that can be set at appropriate intervals.
Filter size
30µm - 1000µm
Flow rate
3000 litre/hour
Suitable for 2000 ton per year
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Plate Heat Exchanger
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Description
A number of plates are positioned next to each other. Between two plates honey flows counter-current to the warming/cooling medium. This process can be repeated as much as needed by putting more or less plates next to each other.
The warming/cooling medium can be water or honey. The later has an advantage that the honey which needs to be heated gets heated by the energy of the honey that needs to be cooled.
Flow rate
1000 litre/hour
+ Can be easily adjusted to the needed capacity by the number of plates installed.
- Dead spots in plate corners, which is a breed for bacteria
Rubber Gaskets wear out and are hard and expensive to be replaced
Suitable for 500/1000/2000 ton per year
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Tubular Heat Exchanger
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Description
The raw cool product flows in the inner tube counter-current to the heated product which comes from the heating section and heats the cold product. Savings of over 90% of the total heating or cooling load are realized.
Flow rate
3000 litre/hour
+ Can also be mounted to the wall or ceiling to safe floor space.
High velocity flow
Unlimited capacities
- Heat expansion material will wear out
Suitable for 2000 ton per year
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Scraped Heat Exchanger
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Description
This is basically the same as the tubular heat exchanger. The only difference is that the wall of the inner tube is being scraped all the time, so no crust can be formed on the wall. This is a great advantage when honey is cooled.
Flow rate
5000 litre/hour
+ Able to heat and cool high viscosity fluids
This solution can also be used in the process of crystallizing honey.
- Expensive solution
Higher maintenance costs
Suitable for 2000 ton per year
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Vacuum Chamber
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Description
The honey is sprayed into a vacuum chamber. Vapour and gases rise to the top of the chamber, while the product falls down. Through a condenser at the top, all the water, vapour and volatile products are being condensed and fall back into the product, while the non-condensable gasses are removed from the product. At the bottom the honey is released.
Flow rate
tank volume flow rate
200 litre 5,000 l/h
500 litre 10,000 l/h
1,000 litre 20,000 l/h
Suitable for 500/1000/2000 ton per year
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Scraped Vacuum
Description
The honey is coming in through a scraped tube, which is in a vacuum. In this room also a condenser is applied so the water, vapour and volatile products are being condensed and fall back into the product, while the non-condensable gasses are removed from the product. At the bottom the honey is released.
Flow rate
5000 litre/hour
+ Also high viscous honey or strongly crystallized honey can be processed
Suitable for 500/1000/2000 ton per year
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Filling and Capping
Description
The jars are filled by a multiple filling head machine. By increasing the number of heads, the capacity can be changed.
Flow rate
| Filling | Capping | Flow rate | Suitable for |
| 1 head | 1 head | 40 | 200 ton / year |
| 4 heads | 1 head | 75 | 400 ton / year |
| 6 or 8 heads | 4 heads | 150 | 800 ton / year |
| 12 or 16 heads | 6 or 8 heads | 300 | 1500 ton / year |
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Manual Labelling
Description
The jars are labelled by hand. This can only be done in countries with relative low labour costing and a relatively low flow rate.
Flow rate
400 jars per hour per labourer
Suitable for 500 ton per year
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Labelling 2x
Description
The jars are labelled by a machine. When a one head machine is used, up to 400 litre per hour can be achieved. Above this amount a bigger machine is necessary. This will be a four head, because two or three head machines don't exist.
Flow rate
One head: up to 400 litre per hour
Four head: 1600 litre per hour
Suitable:
One head: 500/1000 ton per year
Four head: 2000 ton per year
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Staple
Description
The drums or buckets are put on top of each other.
+ No racks have to be bought
- No stable piling
With each story surface is lost
Hard to trace a drum
Hard to get a drum from the lower stories
A forklift is necessary
Suitable for 500 ton per year
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Rack
Description
The drums are put on top of each other
+ Easy to find a certain drum
Stable piling
No surface is lost with each story
Separation of different kinds of honey
Different kind of drums can be stored
- Racks have to be bought
A forklift is necessary
Suitable for 500/1000/2000 ton per year
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Storage Tank
Description
The honey is stored in isolated tanks. This is done to create a buffer, so in times there is no honey processing it is still possible for the filling line to continue.
In the tanks a whirl radar makes sure the honey won’t crystallize. This wheel is rotating with a speed of just 2 rpm.
Size
Must be able to contain the total volume per hour of the reception tank.
2000 litre or 4000 litre
Suitable for:
2000 litre: 500/1000 ton per year
4000 litre: 1000/2000 ton per year
For more information: t3 engineering
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