Drying Fruits & Vegetables with Less Damage

Process improvements in one area can often have beneficial side-effects across an entire line. Read more to learn how JetAir Technologies’ High-speed centrifugal blowers and air knife systems can improve the bottom line in more ways than just one.

Problem
A large tomato processing facility in Southern California using traditional washing, brushing and radial blower technology wanted to grow but could not. Adding throughput to their production facilities required either more space or higher line speeds. In their case, adding additional space was impossible and increased line speed overwhelmed the system’s ability to dry tomatoes after washing. Too much wetness resulted in additional downstream process problems and quality issues at final packaging.

Solution
After reading about JetAir’s industry leading efficiency, the plant engineer contacted JetAir about the possibility of using a high-speed centrifugal blower to replace the radial systems in place. JetAir applications engineers visited the plant and determined that they could integrate a high-speed centrifugal drying system onto the existing line. By locating the system right at the discharge of the washer, the plant could isolate 90% of the blown-off moisture thereby keeping the brush rollers dry and less likely to re-wet tomatoes. Plus, the line speeds could then be accelerated by 20%+with no excess moisture on the tomatoes and no downstream process problems.

JetAir’s Engineering team designed a modular, enclosed blow-off system to be integrated onto the wash line. The system supported and enclosed the blower and electronics for a wash-down environment. The custom system was designed to fit precisely over the conveyor, supported by existing conveyor sidewalls. Overall it was a clean, simple design that called for minimal installation time.

The tomato company also looked at compressed air to dry the tomatoes but found the higher pressure and lower flows of compressed air damaged the fruit and didn’t “reach” to the brushes, causing re-wetting. Further, the compressed air solution required two rows of 3x comb nozzles consuming over 120kW of power compared to JetAir’s 2x High Speed Centrifugal Blowers consuming only 30kW. The energy savings were enormous, not to
mention the space and noise issues avoided.

JetAir continues to offer leading design solutions that incorporate our efficiency innovations and experience in working with many growers and processors.

STANMECH is the exclusive distributor for JetAir Technologies, LLC products in Canada.

---