A large number of flavors and colorants are used in the production of colorful sweets – and have completely different physical properties. Natural and organic food colors in particular have a high viscosity of up to 3,000 cps. If the metering technology used has small feed diameters, only a low flow rate is achieved, which quickly results in a high injection pressure of up to 45 bar. However, the same systems must be able to process very liquid water-based colorants and flavors at high flow rates of up to 6,000 g/h. These challenges in the production of confectionery like lollipops or jelly sweets and other candies were increasingly pushing metering systems of one global candy manufacturer to its limits. The experts from LEWA Italy therefore developed a new solution with twelve individual single head pumps, each with its own electric stroke drive, with which six colors and just as many flavors of different viscosities and flow rates can be metered in parallel. Due to limited space within the production line, LEWA implemented the new system in a tight installation space of 2.8 m (length) to 1.2 m (width).
A global manufacturer of confectionery most recently used an injection system with a twelve-headed pump and single motor from a well-known LEWA competitor. However, the system, which dated back to the 1990s, could only be operated manually, meaning that it had to be monitored around the clock by an operator. In addition, it was no longer possible to set the metering quantity with the required precision. This is because the natural and organic food colorants used today have a high viscosity of around 2,500 to 3,000 cps. In contrast to water-based colorants and most flavorings, they are very difficult to handle with small bore openings and a correspondingly low flow rate and can only be handled under high back pressures.
On the one hand, this led to fluctuating proportions of colorants and flavorings in the finished sugar mass for the jelly sweets. On the other hand, the lack of automation resulted in high consumption of drinking water and energy as well as relatively high production waste – which is particularly significant in the case of expensive flavorings. Finally, the manufacturer had discontinued technical support for the system, which was around 30 years old. At this point, there was no question: in order to guarantee the high quality of their sweets in the future, a new metering system for the different colors and flavors was needed. Last year, the customer turned to LEWA Italy, which developed a customized metering system with twelve individual pumps specifically for this application.
LEWA ecoflow brings viscosities and flow rates under one roof
“The biggest challenges with the new metering system were the strict space requirements,” explains Andrea Boccotti, Sales Director at LEWA Italy. “As part of the production line, the dimensions could not exceed those of the old system.” With a size of 2.8 x 1.2 m, it was installed in the middle of the production line and could only be operated and maintained from the front. In order to enable the independent handling of six dyes and six flavors, each with very different conveying properties, the pump specialists recommended a compact yet highly flexible system consisting of a total of twelve LEWA ecoflow LDB metering pumps, each with its own drive unit. Of course, all components in were planned in SS316 (food grade). “This pump model is extremely compact and space-saving,” explains Boccotti, “but at the same time powerful enough to convey different fluids with viscosities from 10 to 3,000 cps without restrictions.”
However, the colors and flavors used differ not only in their viscosity: depending on the recipe, the ingredients have to be metered into the sugar mass at a flow rate of between 100 and 6,000 g/h. In order to guarantee the high quality of the colorful jelly sweets for every flavor, precision must not be compromised. For this reason, all twelve LEWA ecoflow metering pumps each have a separate electric stroke adjustment and an automated control circuit with the tried-and-tested Coriolis flow meter. “This allows the injection quantity for each of the six colorants and flavorings to be precisely controlled,” adds Boccotti. “This not only ensures product quality, but also minimizes production waste and avoids wasting costly ingredients.”
High degree of automation increases productivity
The biggest improvement compared to the old system is the high degree of automation: the new metering solution from LEWA Italy continuously checks the fill level of the storage tanks and the flow rate of the pumps and issues a timely warning in the event of deviations or problems. As it no longer needs to be monitored and controlled manually, the system can easily run around the clock, up to seven days a week. The recipe-specific parameters are set via a clearly arranged 15-inch touch panel. Up to 150 recipes can also be stored there and called up at a later date with just a few clicks. Moreover, the system is Industry 4.0-ready and can be controlled remotely and integrated into higher-level PLCs. “For this kind of candy production the manufacturer needs a customized metering system that can process as many colors and flavors as possible. With the flexible modular concept, we were able to develop a customized solution that meets all requirements: from the small installation space and high metering flexibility to the reliable and automated control of the delivery rate,” summarizes Boccotti.
More information: https://www.lewa.com/en/systems/customized-production-units
