CRISP'N'TASTY
An Acrison Model 170-00 feeder installed at a Belgian snackfood company is ensuring that we get tasty crisps.Lani Belgium specializes in short runs of crisps—typically up to around 1000 packs of any one flavor. It doesn’t have dedicated lines for each flavor so its feeders are continually being cleaned, stripped down and refilled to accommodate its diverse range.
Dosing feeders in this environment must be able to handle any flavor, from free-flowing salt to sticky, cohesive paprika or cheese and onion. The penalty for feeding too much (or, in the case of bridged additives, no flavor at all) is a wasted batch of product and a dissatisfied customer.
After an unsatisfactory episode using a flexible-walled feeder and vibrator system, their requirement for accurate and easy to clean feeders led Lani BVBA to Acrison. Acrison recommended using the all stainless steel Model 170-00, a volumetric feeder with a small footprint, suitable for low feed rates, and ideal for quick product changeovers.
Its flat-bottom feed chamber incorporates a slow-speed horizontally-rotating conditioning agitator, directly below which and offset to one side is the metering auger. This design makes it particularly suitable for feeding flavors with poor flow characteristics. The secondary discharge port enables total and rapid cleanout, essential when quick and frequent product changeovers are required.
"The metering performance is crucial as the crisps’ flavor is totally dependent on the feeder," said Stanny Laevers, managing director at the plant. "Because our business consists of short runs, our feeding equipment needs to be extremely versatile and always accurate to within 0.5%. It’s a tall order for a feeder—but the Acrison feeder does the job nicely!"
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Acrison recommended using the all stainless steel Model 170-00, a volumetric feeder with a small footprint, suitable for low feed rates, and ideal for quick product changeovers.
Click to enlarge
Its flat-bottom feed chamber incorporates a slow-speed horizontally-rotating conditioning agitator, directly below which and offset to one side is the metering auger.