Changing raw materials to food that humans and animals can consume is known as food processing. Generally, butchered, slaughtered, clean, or harvested components are used for producing marketable and attractive food products. An array of equipment and machinery, instruments, gages are utilized in the food processing industries.
The role of engineers in this industry has gained immense prominence in the past few decades. This industry is immensely diverse, evolved, and complex. There is a constant requirement for process innovation, with the consumer market turning more sophisticated and demanding. The consumer expects excitement, value for money, novelty, and a good safe in the tamper-proof packaging.
Types of Food Processing Machinery
Below are the various forms of food processing machinery categorized resting on the usual functions utilized in food processing industries to make processed foods. Take a look at the different types of food processing machinery,
Preparation Equipment– Under this includes;
Cleaning
Skinning, peeling, sorting, grading, and cleaning are the unit operations that manufacturers employ to prepare raw materials. The cleaning process is divided into dry and wet, and this is done for removing foreign matter and contaminants from the raw food materials surface. The different food processing machinery employed at the time of this process include,
Wet process
Under this comes,
- Spray washers or spray washing
- Washing systems
- Floatation tanks/soak tanks
- Ultrasonic cleaners
- Sterilizers
- Dry Process- Under this comes,
- Magnetic separators
- Air classifiers
- Screening separators
Grading
This form of processing is related closely to sort and often preclude. Assessing different food matter characteristics can assess the overall quality. During this process, the equipment employed include,
- Laboratory Equipment
- Tungsten Lights
- Image Processors
Skinning/Peeling
To increase the final product’s appearance or quality, undesirable or inedible materials are removed through this food process. Various food processing equipment used during the process include,
- Conveyors and furnaces
- Rotating/stationary blades
- Pressure vessels
- Carborundum abrasive rollers.
Sorting
This operation is akin to the process of dry cleaning. Depending on measurable physical characteristics, sorting helps classify and separate foreign matter and contaminants from raw food material. During this process, the food processing equipment utilized include,
- Equipment utilized in the dry process for cleaning.
- Disc separators
- Sorting conveyors
- Machine vision sorting systems
- Sorting machinery
- Sieves/screens.
Mechanical Processing Equipment
After having some idea on the different preparation equipment, the next step includes an insight into the mechanical processing operations that have several unit operations like forming, cutting, and grinding/crushing.
Size Reduction
The initial unit operation done under mechanical processing will be to cut down average particle sizes of solid food matters with mechanical processes that entail shear, compression force, or impact. The forms of equipment included are,
Grinding/Crushing
Under this includes;
- Attrition mills
- Strainers/pulpers
- Impact mills
- Pressure mills
- Jaw crushers
- Roll crushers.
Cutting/Chopping
Under this includes;
- Band saws
- Meat grinders
- Knives/blades
- Slicing machines.
Size Enlargement
Different mechanical processes like extrusion, forming, or agglomeration increase food matters’ particle size. Here the equipment included are,
Extrusion
Under this includes;
- Single-screw extruders
- Refrigerated extruders
- Non-thermal extruders
- Twin-screw extruders.
Forming
Under this includes;
- Biscuit and Pie formers
- Enrobing machines
- Bread molders
- Confectionary molders.
Agglomeration
Under this includes;
- High-speed agitators
- Tableting equipment
- Rotating pans
- Rotating drums
- Pelletizing equipment.
Apart from this, the food processing machinery list also includes homogenization or emulsification, mixing and blending.
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