Tetra Pak upgrades sugar-dissolving unit
The processing and packaging firm said its latest Tetra Albrix, which has many food applications including in soft drink, confectionery and bakery and snack production, cuts heating energy costs by 42% and reduces cooling energy costs by 55% on its previous offering.
Potential energy savings and cost
The company added that operating hours had also been reduced by around 50% and raw material costs cut around 20 %.
CO2 emissions were also said to have been slashed by 62% on the last version.
Ulrica Westheim from Tetra Pak Processing Systems told BakeryAndSnacks.com: “Dissolving granulated sugar is an essential part of the production in a variety of products such as confectionery.”
“The new Tetra Albrix unit is ideal for producers who produce sugar solution in batch tanks and those who buy sugar solutions and want to start dissolving their sugar themselves.”
She added that producers who buy refined sugar but want to buy raw sugar could use the unit to cut costs and be more flexible in production.
“We currently have customers using the new Tetra Albrix unit in China and Saudi Arabia. In addition, new installations are currently being set up in Spain and Trinidad and Tobago,” she said.
Westheim said the price of the machine would depend on the specific scope and capacity each customer requires, but the unit price for a Tetra Albrix dissolver was around €155,000.
How energy is saved
Tetra Pak said reductions in energy consumption on the last version had been achieved through some amendments.
A Brix set-point control now allows producers control dosage and maintain the correct temperature for the amount of sugar needed for dissolution.
“By dissolving right on target, energy use is cut,” said Tetra Pak.
The company added that a new cross-flow filter had been introduced for the latest version that helps to control the size of sugar crystals thereby minimising dissolution temperatures and cutting costs.
Tetra Pak also said the cross-flow filter would allow producers to use cheaper grades of sugar.
It said electric energy consumption, including cooling, was 4 kWh and heat energy consumption was 14.5 kWh per 1,000 litres of product
